5 Unlikely WWE Superstars who could win the Universal Championship this year

#1 Finn Balor returns to the WWE main roster and wins the Universal Championship

The Prince @FinnBalor is coming for The Head of the Table, The Tribal Chief, The Universal Champion @WWERomanReigns & the title he never lost! Who Will Survive? #ReignsvsBalor #SurvivorSeries #UniversalChampionship #ItsTime pic.twitter.com/qD3FXmDMXM

— Will (@Will97441039) May 28, 2021

It was in 2016 when WWE introduced the Universal Championship on Monday Night RAW. There were several major names who were in contention to become the first Universal Champion. However, WWE had other plans as they put their faith in Finn Balor, who was definitely an established name in the business but was new to the main roster.

On his first night on RAW, Balor defeated Rusev, Cesaro, and Kevin Owens, and then defeated Roman Reigns in a singles match to earn the opportunity to compete for the Universal Championship at WWE SummerSlam 2016. At the pay-per-view, Finn Balor wrestled in his Demon King avatar and defeated Seth Rollins to become the first Universal Champion.

On This Day in 2016, Finn Balor became the first Universal Champion - defeating Seth Rollins to claim the belt pic.twitter.com/03TCiNe6BR

— Wrestle Critic (@WrestleCritic) August 21, 2019

Unfortunately, he severely injured himself during the match and had to relinquish the title the next night on RAW. Fans still wonder to this day how different things would have been if Balor had a proper run as the Universal Champion in 2016.

Nearly five years later, Finn Balor has moved back to NXT and is having a great run there, even winning the NXT Championship once again. However, we might see him return to the main roster and join SmackDown soon, possibly sometime later this year.

Finn Balor has time and again proven just how good he is, and if given the opportunity, he could win the Universal Championship and go on to finally have the run that the WWE Universe never saw from him in 2016.