4 Ups & 3 Downs Of WWE Universal Championship

2. New Belt, No History

WWE Big Gold Belt
WWE.com

The Universal Championship is coming-in to WWE completely cold. This is a brand new belt without any history, stories, or weight behind it. The likes of Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will go-on to craft the title’s legacy, of course, but these things take time, and the Universal strap will never come close to matching the WWE Championship’s historical prestige.

It’s a fresh start for the rebuilt Raw brand, and it allows young superstars to build a brand new championship from the ground-up, but the Universal Championship is a B-level belt by default. The WWE Championship is the one with all the importance, and the Raw roster are already facing an uphill to chip-away at the “second rate” tag and establish the Universal Championship as a genuinely illustrious prize.

Perhaps they’ll never be able to put both belts on equal footing. During the previous split, there was a very brief period of time when the WWE and World Heavyweight belts were on an even keel, but more often than not, one was a secondary prize. It begs the question why WWE didn’t just reinstate the “big gold belt.” The old World Heavyweight Championship was active in WWE for 11 years, but its lineage can be traced all the way back to the original “World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship,” first established in 1905.

That’s not to say WWE should be calling-back on ancient history to market their new strap, but the old title comes with ready-made prestige that the Universal Championship just can’t match.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.