Tag: universal title

Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio confirmed for WWE Hell in a Cell

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Roman Reigns and Rey Mysterio inside Hell in a Cell is official for next Sunday.

WWE confirmed this afternoon that the two will meet at the pay-per-view, which takes place on June 20. Paul Heyman, in a promo that took place on Talking Smack, accepted the Universal title match on behalf of Roman Reigns. Mysterio had issued the challenge on SmackDown but attacked Reigns before he could respond.

Mysterio and Reigns started their feud on last week’s SmackDown, when Reigns attacked Mysterio and his son Dominik after they looked to defeat the Usos for a second time on the same show to retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles. Reigns attacked Dominik after he attacked Rey, laying them both out.

On Friday, Reigns cut off Rey when Dominik came back with a kendo stick. Still, Reigns cut off Dominik and powerbombed him from the ring to the floor. The show closed with Reigns taking out Rey while he was checking on Dominik.

Roman Reigns wins Universal title at WWE Payback

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Roman Reigns is once again Universal champion.

Reigns defeated The Fiend Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match tonight to win the championship for a second time. 

Strowman jumped The Fiend before the bell rang and the two went back and forth with one another during most of the match, with Roman Reigns nowhere to be seen. A storyline throughout the show was that Reigns had still not signed the contract to compete in the match prior to the main event.

The climax had The Fiend giving Strowman a superplex that, upon impact, caused the ring to collapse. Roman Reigns then came out, Paul Heyman in tow, and signed the contract. He went to pin both men, who both kicked out. Reigns attacked Strowman with a steel chair and attempted to pin him for a nearfall.

The Fiend locked in the mandible claw, but Reigns low blowed the Fiend and hit the spear on Strowman to win the championship.

The Fiend won the Universal title last Sunday at SummerSlam, pinning Strowman to win the championship.

‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt wins Universal title at WWE SummerSlam

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Fiend is once again Universal Champion.

Bray Wyatt, under his fiend persona, defeated champion Braun Strowman tonight at SummerSlam in a falls count anywhere match. The finish had Strowman grab a boxcutter and tear open the ring mat, exposing the wood paneling. The Fiend cut off Strowman with a uranage, then pinned Strowman after two Sister Abigails.

After the match had ended, Roman Reigns returned to the company and took out The Fiend with a spear. He also speared Braun Strowman on the outside. After attacking The Fiend with steel chair shots, Roman closed the show by spearing The Fiend once more.

Reigns hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. He was originally set to face Goldberg for the Universal title at WrestleMania 36, but pulled out.

Strowman was put in the title match and defeated Goldberg for the championship on the April 4 card.

Goldberg wins Universal title at WWE Super ShowDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With WrestleMania 36 approaching, WWE has a new Universal Champion.

Goldberg won the Universal title by defeating “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt in the main event of Super ShowDown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia today. He pinned Wyatt after giving him a Jackhammer.

Goldberg hit four spears on Wyatt during the match and fought out of the Mandible Claw twice. Wyatt got up as Goldberg was celebrating after, but the lights then went out and Wyatt was gone when they came back.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio overnight that Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns is planned for WrestleMania 36. Goldberg’s challenger for WrestleMania will be decided by an Elimination Chamber match at WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 8.

Meltzer noted that John Cena is planned to be Wyatt’s new WrestleMania opponent. Cena will appear on tomorrow’s episode of SmackDown in Boston, Massachusetts.

After Goldberg’s title win, it was teased on commentary that he’ll also be appearing on SmackDown tomorrow.

Wyatt had been Universal Champion since defeating Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel in October 2019.

This is the second time Goldberg has held the Universal title. He was Universal Champion for less than a month in 2017, winning the title from Kevin Owens at Fastlane and losing it to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33.

WWE Raw notes: Reigns vs. Balor, Lesnar & Heyman, return

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Additional notes by Bryan Rose

A big Universal title match will headline tonight’s Raw.

Fightful.com has reported on the script for tonight’s Raw. Although the script did not have any mention of Paul Heyman or Brock Lesnar, Heyman did appear on tonight’s show invoking Brock Lesnar’s rematch clause.

The show will be promoted around Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor for the Universal title. Reigns came out to start the show and challenged Finn Balor to a Universal title match. Balor came out to accept, and the match was made for later tonight when Kurt Angle came out and overruled Constable Corbin, who didn’t want the match to happen.

There is a Stephanie McMahon segment that will include Ronda Rousey, and a HHH segment on the show.

 The match lineup for tonight is:

  • Bobby Lashley vs. Baron Corbin
  • Bayley & Sasha Banks & Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad
  • Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre
  • Curt Hawkins vs. Elias
  • Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews vs Authors of Pain
  • Bo Dallas vs. Scott Dawson
  • Reigns vs. Balor for Universal title

Brock Lesnar retains the Universal title at WWE WrestleMania 34

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Everyone thought it was Roman Reigns’ night…until it wasn’t.

Brock Lesnar retained the Universal championship tonight in the main event of WrestleMania 34. They had a action-packed match where Lesnar repeatedly laid out Reigns with his signature move, the F5. Reigns kicked out every time, resilient despite Lesnar’s dominance. At one point, Lesnar drilled Reigns with enough elbows that he bled. Reigns hit two spears, but Lesnar fired back with one more F5 and pinned Reigns to retain the title.

It remains unclear what the status of Brock Lesnar is following this match. Dana White has said recently that Lesnar would be coming back to the UFC, though he didn’t say when. Lesnar would need to sit out the rest of his USADA suspension after failing a drug test at UFC 200 back in July of 2016. His suspension has been frozen since announcing his retirement last February and has not re-entered the testing pool since then.

Kevin Owens wins the WWE Universal Championship

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Despite being told repeatedly that he would never reach the peak of the professional wrestling world, Kevin Owens again proved all doubters wrong on Monday night.

Owens defeated Big Cass, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a fatal four-way match to become the second ever WWE Universal Champion.

He received help along the way, with Triple H returning to television and interfering in the match. Triple H originally took out Roman Reigns in the first meeting of the two since their WrestleMania 32 main event earlier this year. It seemed that he was intent on helping Rollins win the championship, but Triple H then laid out his former Authority protege with a Pedigree.

Owens got the pin and he celebrated with Triple H as the show went off the air. The crowd reacted big to Owens’ win, telling him that he deserved it.

Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley looked on in confusion at the finish to the match.

The fatal four-way was announced on last week’s Raw after inaugural Universal Champion Finn Balor was forced to vacate the title due to the torn labrum he suffered in his match against Rollins at SummerSlam.

WWE announced earlier on Monday that it would be an elimination match. Cass was the first participant eliminated after Owens hit him with a frog splash. Rollins eliminated Reigns with help from Triple H, and Owens finally got the win when Triple H turned on Rollins.

Despite conventional wisdom being that his body type and size would keep him from reaching WWE stardom, Owens signed with the company in 2014. He quickly became one of the biggest stars in NXT and won the brand’s title before being called up to the main roster. Owens has won the Intercontinental title twice, but this is his first time holding one of WWE’s top championships.

Video of Owens’ win is available to watch below: