All 8 WWE Universal Champions ranked from worst to best

Major WWE news broke recently regarding a world championship and its lineage. The Universal Championship has officially been declared retired by World Wrestling Entertainment following WrestleMania 41.

The lineage has been updated as a result of the title being retired. Roman Reigns is listed as the final champion, thus meaning Cody Rhodes isn't recognized as a former Universal Champion. This is consistent with how the promotion retired the NXT UK titles a few years ago.

With the Universal Championship now retired, it could be fun to take a look back at each former champion and rank them from worst to best. Much of this is based on the quality of their reign, but memorable moments and fan sentiment can also play a part in someone's position.

Below are all eight WWE Universal Champions ranked from worst to best.

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#8. Finn Balor was sadly champion for only a day

The Universal Championship's first holder was decided at SummerSlam in 2016. Finn Balor went one-on-one with Seth Rollins at the massive premium live event. Balor holds the honor of being the first man to win the belt.

Unfortunately, the WWE star suffered an injury in the match and had to forfeit the title 24 hours later on Monday Night RAW. Given that he couldn't even lose his title in a match, it was certainly the worst reign despite Finn's talents.

#7. Goldberg's reign didn't amount to much

Goldberg is a step up from Finn Balor in terms of WWE Universal Championship reigns, albeit just barely. He is a two-time champion, but both reigns lasted for only about a month.

Da Man first won the gold by defeating Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017. He lost it to Brock Lesnar the next month. He then won it again at Super ShowDown in 2020 and lost it at WrestleMania. Both reigns were essentially filler and meant nothing in the grand scheme of things aside from padding Goldberg's stats.

#6. Braun Strowman's reign was lackluster

Braun Strowman is a peculiar case. He won the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, it isn't even completely clear when he won the title officially, as it was pre-taped without fans.

With that being said, WWE recognizes his reign as beginning at WrestleMania and ending at SummerSlam the same year. He began the reign by dethroning Goldberg and ended it after being defeated at the hands of The Fiend, aka Bray Wyatt. It was an okay reign in one of the darker eras in the company's history.

#5. Bray Wyatt's reign wasn't as good as it should have been

The Fiend should've been one of the best WWE Universal Champions. He was extremely over and one of the most interesting characters in company history. Unfortunately, he was booked awfully by Vince McMahon.

His first reign began at Crown Jewel in 2019 during a disastrous feud with Seth Rollins. He then lost the title in short order to Goldberg in February 2020. He then won the belt from Braun Strowman at SummerSlam 2020, only to lose it to Roman Reigns a week later.

This is a shame, as he could've been something truly special as Universal Champion. The story of Bray Wyatt's career, in many ways, was mismanagement from McMahon. That certainly applies to his time as champion.

#4. Brock Lesnar was a middling champion

Brock Lesnar has the record for holding the WWE Universal Championship the most times with three reigns. He won the belt in 2017, 2018, and 2019 by defeating Goldberg, winning the vacant belt, and pinning Seth Rollins.

With 686 recognized days combined as champion, one would think that his reigns would be highly regarded, but none of them really were. Due to his part-time schedule, Brock's time with the gold was often disappointing and even middling at best.

#3. Kevin Owens' one world title reign was fun

Kevin Owens has had just one world title reign throughout his WWE tenure. He was the second man to ever hold the Universal Championship, winning the belt in 2016 after Finn Balor was forced to vacate it.

His reign was a lot of fun and it even saw Owens form a friendship with Chris Jericho that eventually led to The Festival of Friendship. The only real drawback to Owens' 188 days as champion is the ending. He lost the title in seconds to Goldberg, which was disappointing, to say the least.

#2. Seth Rollins is always a strong champion

Seth Rollins is a two-time WWE Universal Champion. Both of his two reigns with the titles came in 2019 when he first defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and then again at SummerSlam.

Neither of The Visionary's runs with the gold made it to 100 days, but both were still two-to-three months long. He also always delivered in the ring. Rollins has been a strong champion any time he's held gold over the past decade or so and this was certainly true with the Universal Title.

#1. Roman Reigns is the greatest WWE Universal Champion

Out of everybody who has held the Universal Championship, there is little doubt that Roman Reigns was the face of the belt. The WWE star held the belt twice but for a combined total of 1,379 days.

Roman's first run with the gold was in 2018, but it ended abruptly when he revealed he had leukemia. His second reign began in 2020 and he held it for nearly four years straight until Cody Rhodes dethroned The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 40.

With such a long and impressive reign as champion, it can't be disputed that Roman Reigns is the greatest Universal Champion ever.