Whether it be a raspberry jam belt, a blueberry jam belt, or a mustard belt, the Universal Championship has delivered some great matches. These are the 10 greatest WWE Universal Championship Matches ever.
00:00 - Start
00:26 - 10
01:24 - 9
02:12 - 8
03:13 - 7
04:05 - 6
04:56 - 5
05:52 - 4
06:46 - 3
07:49 - 2
08:54 - 1
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00:00 - Start
00:26 - 10
01:24 - 9
02:12 - 8
03:13 - 7
04:05 - 6
04:56 - 5
05:52 - 4
06:46 - 3
07:49 - 2
08:54 - 1
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Since it was introduced, the Universal Championship has gone from universally despised Jam Belt
00:04 to universally tolerated Mustard Belt.
00:06 In that time, eight different men have held it.
00:08 Unless LA Knight managed to win it yesterday, in which case I've just made a killing on
00:11 a bet, so screw you guys, I'm off to sunny Mexico.
00:14 But if not, over the next two lists you're gonna see a lot of the same names, and within
00:17 these various combinations, there have been some absolute gems.
00:21 These are they.
00:22 I'm Dan Haling from PartsFunknown, and these are the 10 Greatest Universal Championship
00:25 Matches Ever.
00:26 10. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins - WrestleMania 35
00:30 With honorable mention to their great clash at SummerSlam a few months after, I have really
00:33 fond memories of this brief match that kicked off what was probably the last single night
00:37 WrestleMania.
00:38 It started with a great bit of theater.
00:40 Host Alexa Bliss had manifested Hulk Hogan, and they were mugging to the audience when
00:43 through the middle of them charged a mightily grumpy Paul Heyman.
00:47 In true whingy heel fashion, Heyman grabbed a mic and complained that since his client
00:50 wasn't gonna be on last, they'd instead go on first and get out of this town as quickly
00:54 as they could.
00:55 This brought out the challenger, a fired up Seth Rollins, who was enjoying a great run
00:58 chasing the title after winning the Rumble.
01:01 Immediately Lesnar manhandled Rollins, and it looks like he's gonna rough him up to make
01:04 quick work of him, but one swift arm to the gonads cuts the beast off in his tracks as
01:08 Rollins hits a trifecta of stomps for the win, much to the approval of the faithful
01:11 in attendance.
01:12 WWE were smart to capitalize on the fans' energy behind Rollins in this moment, and
01:16 use this as a quick way to set the live crowd up for the night ahead.
01:19 They only needed to sustain it for a further, ooh, five hours.
01:23 Good luck.
01:24 Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns - Royal Rumble 2017
01:27 Owens and Reigns have had three matches at the Royal Rumble for the Universal title.
01:30 We could have happily picked any, but I went for this one because of six simple words.
01:33 Chris Jericho in a shark cage.
01:36 Wrestling is brilliantly stupid.
01:37 I appreciate that this match doesn't hang about in its quest to take advantage of the
01:40 no DQ stipulation as the pair brawl into the crowd in the early going, while Jericho hangs
01:45 above the ring in a cage.
01:46 At one point, Owens builds a Jenga tower of chairs, and they do a will-they-won't-they
01:49 spot where each man teases throwing the other one through it, much to the crowd's appreciation
01:54 of Jericho still hanging in a cage.
01:56 A few tables get shattered, as do a few vertebrae, as Kevin falls off the ropes through his chair
02:00 tower and then is powerbombed through the announce table before Braun Strowman interferes
02:03 to take Roman out and leave the door open for Owens to sneak a victory, during all of
02:07 which I can confirm that Jericho remains hanging in a cage.
02:11 Excellent stuff.
02:12 8.
02:13 Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre - Clash at the Castle 2022
02:15 Now then, I like this one very much, because, fact of fact, America, British crowds do it
02:20 better.
02:21 Having your beloved Scott in front of a rowdy Welsh crowd in the first live premium show
02:24 on this fair isle in 30 years is enough to send even the most mild-mannered of Brits
02:28 careening wildly into a fountain of lager.
02:31 Diolch yn fawr.
02:32 Also, it does rather help that this was our first live watch-along show, and when the
02:35 match itself then delivers heart-in-your-throat levels of suspense that had Oli Davis clutching
02:39 my arm so much that I've still got a mark, it makes you remember why you fell in love
02:42 with this whole game in the first place.
02:44 All signs pointed to this being the moment that the head of the table was turfed out
02:48 of his high chair, the build of Drew finally getting his crowning moment in front of actual
02:51 human beings, the use of his classic Broken Dreams theme over a montage of actual footage
02:56 of baby Drew holding a toy belt right through his career to this point, and then the match
03:00 starts as a slow burn that builds to a crescendo.
03:03 There's a desperately unwanted cash-in attempt that's stifled by a fellow Brit, and the
03:06 claymore makes Cardiff come unglued before the most devastatingly well-executed nearfall
03:11 breaks all of our dreams.
03:13 7.
03:14 Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar - WrestleMania 33
03:15 For some it might be quite high, but I love this match.
03:19 It's such a perfectly measured conclusion to an excellent story.
03:23 It's a textbook three-act structure of a programme that began at Survivor Series 2016
03:27 with that truly astonishing squash from Goldberg.
03:29 It continued through an unceremonious elimination of Lesnar by Billy Bobs at the Royal Rumble
03:33 and culminated with an excellent bit of action figure wrestling at the ultimate thrill ride.
03:37 It's also a triumphant make-good for their ill-fated match at WrestleMania 20 where they
03:41 each got booed out of the building.
03:43 Not a lot happens, but that's all to the better, and you wouldn't know it from the
03:45 roars of the crowd.
03:46 The move list, in order, is German suplex, spear, jackhammer, more Germans, F5, pin.
03:51 That's it.
03:52 It's no more than it needs to be, and it doesn't come close to outstaying its welcome.
03:56 You'd never know it from listening to me monologue on the Raw Review, but sometimes
03:59 brevity is key to the maximum impact, and I'm genuinely impressed with the restraint
04:03 WWE showed in the booking here.
04:05 6.
04:06 Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar - SummerSlam 2022
04:08 I've spoken before about how Last Man Standing is one of my least favourite wrestling stipulations.
04:12 I just don't think there's anything of spectacle about two men staggering to their feet for
04:16 a nine count every couple of minutes.
04:18 So how do you fix that and win me over?
04:20 By introducing a tractor to the equation.
04:21 Apparently.
04:22 How old am I?
04:23 5.
04:24 Before the match starts, Lesnar calls himself a big ol' country boy and then throws his
04:27 mic at Roman who catches it in one hand which is just straight up baller.
04:30 And then he jumps off the tractor onto him.
04:32 Excellent stuff.
04:33 And how do you argue with the giant tractor lifting the ring up and causing Roman to tumble
04:36 out of the ring like a live-action game of Fall Guys?
04:39 And then a cut to Brock Lesnar looking like a child who can't believe he's getting away
04:41 with it?
04:42 I'm not a live starter for this alone.
04:43 The fact is WWE had been trying to make Fetch happen with these two for so long by this
04:47 point that the fatigue was very real.
04:49 So the extra spice of country boy Brock having the time of his life and the sheer bombastic
04:53 nonsense of it all makes this an absolute riot.
04:56 5.
04:57 Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles - Money in the Bank 2019
04:59 There was a reason WWE went with these two men to wrestle the match that crowned a new
05:02 world heavyweight champ earlier this year.
05:04 And the reason was this match.
05:06 It's a showcase of two wrestlers deeply comfortable in their own styles and their craft trusting
05:10 each other to work a fast paced, tightly contested match that needs pinpoint precision and timing
05:15 to keep everything looking spectacular while staying safe.
05:17 To illustrate that point, as the match nears its climax, Rollins goes for a stomp that
05:21 somehow with a fluidity so beautiful it might as well have been animated, AJ reverses into
05:26 a Styles clash.
05:27 And I kid you not, as I was watching this back I screamed out loud.
05:30 If you draw this match on a graph, and it's one of my favourite things to do, it's a beautiful
05:33 curve starting slow as they feel each other out before getting faster, more dramatic and
05:37 more high risk as it goes.
05:39 Chemistry is 9/10ths of wrestling, and these two have it in spades.
05:42 It was the very first one on one encounter between these two greats of the game, and
05:45 it's a match so good I'm genuinely grateful that they've, at least somewhat, resisted
05:50 the temptation to run it back over and over.
05:52 4.
05:53 Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan - Smackdown 2021
05:55 The only match on our list that took place on weekly TV.
05:58 Not only that, it's the Ruddy Thunderdome, which is usually an instant DQ around these
06:02 parts so its presence here is even more impressive.
06:04 TV presents its own set of challenges towards putting together a quality match.
06:08 It's hard to get momentum and sustain it when you have to construct it around regular commercial
06:11 breaks.
06:12 But that didn't stop these two.
06:13 They've always meshed well together.
06:14 I mean, it's Bryan Danielson for crying out loud.
06:16 He wrestled Tom McGee to a five star match on a rainy day in Stoke.
06:19 That's two jokes for the price of one.
06:21 You're welcome.
06:22 It's an evenly paced contest with each man at various points getting the upper hand,
06:25 but never long enough to capitalise.
06:26 It becomes a story of endurance.
06:28 They have to dig deep to find their reserves and somehow overpower their opponent.
06:32 In the end, they trade submissions and Bryan passes out.
06:35 It's interesting in hindsight knowing this was Bryan's final WWE match.
06:38 He doesn't tap, but by passing out he gives Reigns a crucial clean win that puts the audience
06:42 in no doubt that this new Roman is an absolute monster.
06:46 Number 3.
06:47 Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn.
06:48 Elimination Chamber 2023.
06:50 There may be some recency bias here, but I'll acknowledge it.
06:53 What am I like?
06:55 While you may have your thoughts about the Bloodline Saga as we near the end of 2023,
06:59 it's hard to argue that Sami Zayn breaking free of Roman's emotional manipulation and
07:03 challenging for the big belt in his hometown of Montreal represented its apotheosis.
07:07 Yes, I used that word.
07:09 They don't call me the Professor for nothing.
07:10 At this point, the main event of WrestleMania seemed pretty nailed on, but WWE did a fabulous
07:14 job of weaving Zayn into that story that they managed to keep the flicker of hope alive
07:18 in the minds of legions of fans around the world who felt we could somehow collectively
07:22 will him to the title.
07:23 I challenge you to watch his entrance with a dry eye.
07:26 Having his family at ringside was an inspired touch that took already sky-high soap opera
07:30 drama into the stratosphere, and Michael Cole, much maligned but not always fairly, does
07:34 a Hall of Fame job on commentary, reminding us that there's always a chance, begging
07:39 us to believe in miracles.
07:40 And as Sami hits an exploder, a Superman punch, and his signature Halluva kick in quick succession,
07:44 do you know what?
07:45 I was starting to.
07:46 There's nothing like pro wrestling, eh?
07:48 Number 2.
07:49 Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe.
07:52 SummerSlam 2017.
07:54 Before big meaty men slapping meat became a meme, try saying that when you're drunk,
07:57 came this prime steak slap fest.
07:59 It's like a proper kaiju fight.
08:01 It appeals to the most base of our Neanderthal instincts.
08:04 Big man do big bash.
08:05 It's not so much a wrestling fight as a 20-minute display of people running full pelt into each
08:09 other, and it is sick.
08:11 It's utter carnage.
08:12 Within the space of about 40 seconds, Joe gets speared through the barricade while Strowman
08:16 barges Reigns into the fourth row, and then uses Brock Lesnar's body like a rag doll to
08:20 demonstrate how the Spanish announce team failed to correctly follow the Ikea instructions.
08:24 It's breathless, chaotic, destructive action that is WWE at its most sports entertaining.
08:29 It's the kind of match where you wish you were standing with your mate holding a beer
08:32 just so you could pour it over yourself in a rage of unbridled bloodlust, and the Brooklyn
08:35 crowd are the fifth man in this ring playing their part to perfection.
08:39 The only thing wrong with this match is it doesn't end with Strowman taking the title.
08:42 The crowd are so vocally behind him, and he looks like such a beast, that it feels like
08:47 even if this wasn't the plan, maybe this is what you call inaudible.
08:50 But even so, god blimey, just…
08:52 Hang on, I'm gonna go watch it again.
08:54 And number one, Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan vs Edge, WrestleMania 37.
08:58 I picked this for the top slot for a few reasons.
09:00 Firstly, because it's bloody good, and secondly, because it was the closing match of the first
09:04 show in front of a live crowd for over a year.
09:06 Brackets, night two.
09:08 And that felt like hope to me on the cold morning I watched it.
09:10 But most importantly, because this was the first time I was convinced someone was going
09:14 to defeat Reigns, and thus it was also the first time I wondered, how in the hell are
09:17 they gonna take it off him?
09:18 And we're now coming up on three years later.
09:21 Cripes.
09:22 I mean, no, Edge's gear was amazing.
09:23 I mean, look at it.
09:24 The rated R suuuuuperstar had won the Thunder Rumble, and after his triumphant return year
09:29 was blighted by an unfortunate injury and an even more unfortunate global pandemic,
09:33 seeing him have a world title match in front of this live crowd was brilliant enough.
09:36 But then you throw Daniel Bryan into the mix, an ingredient that works with literally every
09:40 dish.
09:41 He is the garlic of the wrestling world, if you will, and just you try and stop me.
09:44 It's tightly plotted, the heavy interference from Jey is still somewhat fresh at this point,
09:48 and they use the triple threat stipulation to absolute perfection, with each near fall
09:53 becoming more breathtaking than the last.
09:55 I was sure either challenger had it at various points, and this was Reigns' first WrestleMania
09:59 defence as Tribal Chief.
10:01 And that final visual of the vicious, brutal Reigns piling his opponents up to make sure
10:06 he covered them both at the same time, like a monster playing with its prey, was enough
10:10 to cement this as the beginning of something truly special.
10:13 Greatness on a different level, not off.
10:15 And that's our list.
10:16 Have we missed any that you just love?
10:17 Whack 'em in the comments and sing their praises.
10:19 No wrong answers in a Daniel Jey list, except if I've got your favorite, in which case
10:23 it's absolutely personal.
10:24 Don't forget to like and subscribe while you're here, and then head off to take a
10:27 look at some of our other fabulous lists, like this one.