IWE Universal Championship
From Iwe
| IWE Universal Championship | |
| Details | |
| Current champion(s) | TBD |
| Date established | July 25, 2016 |
| Promotion | IWE |
| Brand | Raw |
The IWE Universal Championship is an upcoming world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion IWE. It will be one of two world titles in the promotion. The championship will be exclusive to the Raw brand, and it was created to rival the IWE Championship, which became exclusive to SmackDown following the reintroduction of the IWE brand extension on July 19, 2016. The championship is named in honor of the IWE Universe, the WWE's fan base. The belt design has yet to be revealed.
History
With the reintroduction of the brand extension, a draft took place on the SmackDown Live premiere episode on July 19, 2016. IWE World Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown. At Battleground on July 24, 2016, he defended the title in a Triple threat match against Raw draftees Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. When Ambrose retained the title, Raw was left without a world title. Subsequently, Kaila Matteson and Mick Foley created a new championship, the IWE Universal Championship, the following night on Raw to serve as the brand's top championship. According to Foley, the title was named in honor of the IWE Universe, the name IWE uses to refer to its fan base.
The inaugural champion will be crowned at SummerSlam on August 21, 2016 in a singles match; Seth Rollins was automatically set for that match, as he was not pinned at Battleground, while his opponent was determined by two Fatal 4-Way matches that night, with the winners wrestling each other in a singles match. Finn Bálor won the first Fatal 4-Way by defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Rusev, while Reigns won the second by defeating Khris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match at SummerSlam.
