WWE Officially Retires Championship Following WrestleMania 41

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | Last updated Apr 22, 2025 10:13 AM ET

WWE has officially retired a championship belt following WrestleMania 41.

On Tuesday, it was noticed the website page for the Universal Championship was updated to show "Retired." The page notes Roman Reigns as the championship's final holder, with his Reign, of course, ending on April 7th of last year.

Per the WWE website:

When the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown LIVE following the WWE Brand Extension, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley created the Universal Championship as the flagship title of Monday Night Raw. The Universal Title then switched to the blue brand with "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt's 2019 victory over Seth Rollins.

The belt was first introduced in 2016 with its inaugural winner being Finn Balor. Balor's reign would last just a day, however, as he would vacate the title after suffering a shoulder injury. The final holder of the Unversal Championship was Roman Reigns. The Tribal Chief held the title for a record 1,316 days, from August 30, 2020 to April 7, 2024. Reigns, of course, lost the title to Cody Rhodes on night two of WrestleMania 40.