4 Ups & 3 Downs Of WWE Universal Championship

4. Marketability

On the positive side, the Universal Championship is going to boost Raw’s marketability tenfold. People are more likely to be drawn to a wrestling show when they know that the “world champion” is going to be in the house, and by installing the new belt, Raw have recovered the championship pull that they lost in the Draft.

If a second title hadn’t been installed, SmackDown would have an immediate advantage in terms of ratings and live crowds. The promoted inter-brand competition is for show and nothing else, but WWE need both of their flagship brands to succeed in pulling viewers in and keeping their attention. Regardless of whoever holds the belt at the time, people tune-in to watch the champion in action, and both Raw and SmackDown will soon have one on their books.

Raw now has the Universal, United States, Women’s, and Tag Team Championships on their books, while SmackDown carries the WWE and Intercontinental belts. The balance of gold still leans in Raw’s favour, but without a top prize, Raw’s lustre was greatly diminished. Those concerns should now be alleviated, and Raw is just as marketable as it was before.