Why the WWE Universal Title Must be Deleted

The WWE Universal Championship was already a bad idea and somehow they found a way to make it worse.

There is nothing wrong with admitting a mistake. Ever since the current world heavyweight champion was drafted to Smackdown, it was obvious that WWE RAW would be receiving a belt of its own to represent that brand’s highest achievement. The Flying Dutchman must always have a captain and the flagship program must always have a champion. There were plenty of rumors floating around regarding the potential design prior to the belt’s formal unveiling and in hindsight, those concepts would have been much more preferable to the visual Hindenburg we saw at SummerSlam.

Unfortunately for Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, the introduction of the belt proved to be such a distraction during their match that every time it was shown on camera the crowd erupted in a chorus of boos. Rollins was vocal in his displeasure with the WWE Universe and took to Twitter not long after the match:

"“More important than a title’s appearance is what it represents for the men fighting over it. You really let me down tonight, Brooklyn.”"

I get what Seth is saying but simply put, you can’t have it both ways. You cannot stress the importance of immediate crowd reactions and then decry those same reactions because you don’t like them. Part of the WWE experience is that the fans feel as if they are part of the show and superstars react to this inclusion. This also means that the superstars must take the good with the bad, no matter how unfair this may seem. It is our right as fans to voice displeasure when warranted and such public (and in this case, overwhelming) feedback should not be ignored. Yes, neither Balor nor Rollins had anything to do with the creation of this abominable belt, but unfortunately for them, they suffered the blowback of someone else’s bad decision. That’s the way it goes for bad belts and bad storylines.

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In their defense, the WWE made a smart move in giving the belt to Kevin Owens who is universally loved by both casual fans and smarks. That being said, there are plenty of ways the WWE can rid themselves of the Fruit Roll Up Championship if they are willing to admit to themselves it was an error in judgment. A jilted Seth Rollins can steal and destroy it much like Sting did to his statute last year. In truth, the WWE can put over any superstar (heel or face) by having them come out and publicly proclaim that the Universal Championship design is awful. No matter who says it, the crowd reaction will be in their favor.

Vince & Co. will continue to ignore the negative reaction to this belt (and whoever holds it) at their own peril. Keeping in line with what Rollins said, the men competing for this atrocious belt will unfairly suffer the collateral damage caused by its toxicity. Unfortunately for us, Vince likely feels that we will just “get over it” and eventually come to love the eyesore of a championship. It’s not too late to fix this mistake, but WWE must accept a universal truth about the universal championship: the belt must be deleted.

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