Who won the first WWE Universal Championship match at SummerSlam 2016?

Finn Bálor won the first WWE Universal Championship match at SummerSlam 2016. He defeated Seth Rollins in the event’s inaugural Universal Championship match on August 21, 2016, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

WWE created the Universal Championship after the 2016 brand split left the WWE Championship on SmackDown. Raw therefore introduced its own world title, named the Universal Championship. Bálor won the opportunity by progressing through a four-way match and then defeating Roman Reigns on Raw.

In the SummerSlam final, Bálor defeated Rollins after delivering the Coup de Grâce. His reign lasted only one day because he suffered a serious shoulder injury during the match and relinquished the title the following night.

A common mix-up is confusing Bálor’s win with the first Universal Championship defense. The inaugural match established Bálor as champion; Kevin Owens later became the first person to hold the title for a lengthy reign.