7 Reasons Why The WWE Universal Championship Is Cursed

Okay, I know what you're thinking. "Cursed? Is this guy insane?"

Hear me out. There have only been five WWE Universal Champions in WWE history, but I think the WWE Universal Championship has already proved to be more of a burden than a prize, and I'm going to explain why.

The WWE Universal Championship is just shy of two-and-a-half years old and has only saw five champions, with two of whom had to vacate the title.

With the belt now sitting as vacant again, it'll be on either the shoulder of The Beast Incarnate or The Monster Among Men on November 2nd - but should Brock Lesnar or Braun Strowman actually WANT to win this title?

Well, if either of them are superstitious, then they may believe that the writing is very much on the wall.

The Universal Championship was unveiled on July 25, 2016 as the world championship of the Raw brand after the brand split saw SmackDown take the WWE Championship.

Going one bigger and better, the Universal Championship was named after the WWE Universe - but the red belt may have been cursed from the get-go.

#7 The crowd completely hated it from the start

Well, a new championship unveiling is ALWAYS exciting - but the belt can make or break a reaction.

This was a unanimous break.

The majority of the WWE Universe didn't seem thrilled by the name of the Universal Championship, with several opinions being voiced that it undermined the WWE Championship, which was always seen as the "original" title.

"Chants of This belt sucks" even rang through the arena.

But worse than that was the design! The unique red strap of the belt did not go down well with...well, anyone.

The belt was critically panned and even saw the crowd boo a match for the title in which Seth Rollins felt that he was "let down" as the appearance mattered less than the meaning behind it.

#6 Roman Reigns' heartbreaking exit

In one of the most horrific coincidences ever, Roman Reigns was robbed of his first Universal Championship and what looks like at least a lengthy period of his wrestling career this week after he delivered the heartbreaking news that he'd be relinquishing the Championship and taking a leave of absence to deal with the resurgence of his Leukemia.

While there are much more important battles for Roman Reigns to fight right now than defending the Universal Championship, it's incredibly sad when you take some time to absorb the news and realise that Reigns fought so hard to finally overcome The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar, only to have to relinquish the title so quickly after winning it.

While Reigns has held the belt since SummerSlam, he didn't get to be the fighting champion he promised to be - something The Big Dog seemed genuinely upset about on RAW - due to The Shield's reunion.

Needless to say, this one is the most heartbreaking on the list and obviously Reigns' health is much more important than the belt, and we wish Reigns all the best in his recovery.

#5 Kevin Owens gets squashed

KO lost his title in spectacular fashion

Well, we all had incredibly high hopes for Kevin Owens when he won the WWE Universal Championship, even if The Prizefighter did have a little bit of help in winning the gold.

However, all that came crashing down to Earth and canvas when Goldberg took the title from KO in ridiculously quick fashion at WWE Fastlane, thanks to Chris Jericho.

We all knew it was coming, KO was going up against Jericho at Mania, Goldberg against Lesnar, it was always happening - but that didn't make this any less painful to watch.

While Owens got to hold the belt for a bit and boast at that time that he was the longest reigning Universal Champion ever, and had an incredible run as champ with Y2J by his side - the quick loss and being somewhat of a transitional champion definitely hurt KO, and he never got a rematch.

#4 Goldberg gets booed

How do you make the WWE Universe hate Goldberg? Only by putting the belt on him.

This one was bizarre, but an obvious reflection of how Goldberg won the title. KO's quick loss was Goldberg's downfall as, even though Owens was a heel, the fans absolutely loved KO and thought he deserved the title, for the most part.

WWE deciding Lesnar and Goldberg was THE programme for WrestleMania and putting their foot firmly on the accelerator essentially resulted in them shooting themeselves in the face.

Goldberg went from immense fan-favourite to incredibly polarising when he held the red belt because fans wanted a full-time, younger star to hold it. While Goldberg's commitment can't be faulted as he did show up on RAW, we never saw the title be defended and the WWE Universe did not seem to appreciate Goldberg's final run.

#3 It made Brock Lesnar disappear

Okay, I'm obviously being facetious, Lesnar kind of made the title disappear.

The only lengthy Universal Championship reign saw record be broken as Lesnar became the longest reigning World Champion in WWE in modern times, breaking the 500-day mark.

The big question, though, should be, "How often did we see the belt?"

Brock Lesnar is an attraction, no-one can deny it - maybe that goes hand-in-hand with him NOT being on television all the time.

Much like Goldberg, though, the crowd completely turned on Brock Lesnar when he won the WWE Universal Championship and essentially held the belt hostage for over a year.

Brock Lesnar's priority always seemed to be UFC, and WWE were content on pushing him as an unbeatable Champion for that reason - but Lesnar's reign may go down as one of the worst of all time, purely because of the limited defenses and the champion being off of TV.

#2 Finn Balor's one day reign

Well, we go right back to the beginning with this one. Finn Balor's Universal Championship reign was the most exciting thing WWE had offered for a long time when it happened.

After an undefeated streak, we saw Balor fast-tracked into the main event scene where he would defeat Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins on his way to the title, with The Demon even making his main roster debut at SummerSlam for the title.

Sadly, though, Balor got injured during the match and still went on to finish the match.

Balor held the title for a grand total of 22 hours before relinquishing the title the next night and spending the best part of a six months sidelined due to the injury, never seeming to get back to the position where he once was.

Sadly, now, we'll never know what WWE was meant to look like with Balor freshening everything up by winning the title and becoming the inaugural champion.

#1 No-one gets a rematch

Okay, so with only five WWE Superstars ever holding the WWE Universal Championship, it's no surprise that no-one has ever held it twice.

Not only that, though, none of them have EVER got a Universal Championship rematch. Finn Balor received a title shot over a year later when Roman Reigns said he was going to put things right and give Balor his rightful rematch - but it wasn't an official rematch as Balor didn't lose the title and thus couldn't challenge the champion he lost it to.

Balor didn't get a rematch due to injury, Owens just didn't get one as the title was taken off him to be put straight into a rivalry. Goldberg seemingly retired immediately after losing the title and Brock Lesnar's rematch against Roman Reigns was initially slated to be a Triple Threat Match, but is now a one-on-one match for a vacant title.

With the final champion, Roman Reigns, relinquishing the title, a rematch is impossible for him, too, as he didn't lose the title.

So what do you think? Is the WWE Universal Championship cursed? Let us know in the comments.