
The title was established for Raw after the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown following the 2016 WWE Draft. Bálor defeated Seth Rollins in a pinfall and submission-only match to become the inaugural champion.
Vacated
August 22, 2016 - August 29, 2016
Vacated due to Finn Bálor suffering a legit shoulder injury during his match at SummerSlam.



April 2, 2017 - August 19, 2018 (504 days)

August 29, 2018 - October 22, 2018 (64 days)
Vacated
October 22, 2018 - November 2, 2018
Vacated after Roman Reigns announced that he had a legitimate re-diagnosis of leukemia.
Brock Lesnar (2-times)
November 2, 2018 - April 7, 2019 (156 days)
Originally scheduled as a triple threat match in which Roman Reigns was to defend the title against Lesnar and Braun Strowman. After Reigns relinquished the championship, the match became a singles match between Lesnar and Strowman for the vacant title.

April 7, 2019 - July 14, 2019 (98 days)
Brock Lesnar (3-times)
July 14, 2019 - August 11, 2019 (28 days)
Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
Seth Rollins (2-times)
August 11, 2019 - October 31, 2019 (81 days)

October 31, 2019 - February 27, 2020 (119 days)
This was a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason.
The title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand due to Wyatt's status as a SmackDown wrestler.
Goldberg (2-times)
February 27, 2020 - March 26, 2020 (27 days)
WWE recognizes this reign as ending on April 4, 2020, when the following match aired on tape delay.

March 26, 2020 - August 23, 2020 (150 days)

WrestleMania was taped on March 25 and 26, but it is currently unknown which day this match was taped. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on April 4, 2020, when the match aired on tape delay.
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (2-times)
August 23, 2020 - August 30, 2020 (7 days)
This was a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
Roman Reigns (2-times)
August 30, 2020 - Current (831+)
This was a No Holds Barred Triple Threat match also involving Braun Strowman, who Reigns pinned.
At WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022, Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match and became recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Despite the match being billed as a unification match, both titles remain independently active.

The inaugural champion was crowned at SummerSlam on August 21 in a pinfall and submission-only singles match. Seth Rollins was automatically set for that match as he was Raw's number one draft pick and was not pinned in the WWE Championship match at Battleground. His opponent was determined by two fatal four-way matches on Raw, with the winners wrestling each other in a singles match. Finn Bálor won the first fatal four-way by defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Rusev while Roman Reigns won the second by defeating Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match. At SummerSlam, Bálor defeated Rollins to become the inaugural champion. Bálor was the first WWE wrestler to win a world title in his pay-per-view debut as well as winning his first world title in less than a month of his debut on WWE's main roster. During the championship match, Bálor suffered a legitimate shoulder injury and was forced to vacate the title the following day.
At Crown Jewel on October 31, 2019, SmackDown wrestler "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt won the Universal title by defeating Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason, thus transferring the Universal Championship to SmackDown. The WWE Championship was subsequently transferred to Raw after reigning champion Brock Lesnar quit SmackDown the following day, taking the title to Raw.