Welcome to the 200th episode(although not the 200th post) of Henry's Universe Mode! With the series set to return soon with the build towards No Mercy, I thought it would be appropriate to recap everything that's gone down in Season Three, at least up until now. For anyone new to the series or just anyone who needs a refresher after a few months away, this is for you. Enjoy, and I'll see you for the official return of Henry's Universe Mode very, very soon.
Monday Night Raw
We began Season Three immediately following WrestleMania, where Samoa Joe toppled Goldberg to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, although the belt was soon renamed to become the Universal Championship. Seth Rollins would be the first to take on "The Destroyer", returning to Raw after his injury to defeat Finn Balor. In Joe and Rollins' first ever meeting at Payback, Braun Strowman would ruin their championship match, intent on making a name for himself after joining the red brand via the 2017 WWE Draft. Rollins and Joe would get a rematch at Extreme Rules, this time in a steel cage, which saw Joe retain his championship. After Balor brought out "The Demon" to defeat Braun Strowman, he would be named the new number one contender, and would face Samoa Joe at Bad Blood. Balor would come within seconds of claiming the championship before Strowman's music cost him the win. After months spent as champion, Samoa Joe began to brag that no man alive or dead could defeat him. This brought about the return of The Undertaker, who challenged Joe to a match at Summerslam. At the event, the two men went to war, but ultimately, the reign of Samoa Joe continued.
Champions of Raw
Universal Champion: Samoa Joe - defeated The Undertaker at Summerslam
United States Champion: Rusev - defeated Jinder Mahal at Summerslam
Raw Women's Champion: Becky Lynch - defeated Asuka at Summerslam
Raw Tag Team Champions: The Shield(Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns) - defeated The Hardy Boyz at Summerslam
SmackDown Live
The blue brand spent the entirety of Season Three under the control of one man: "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles. After defeating Shawn Michaels in a dream match at WrestleMania, Styles and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson of The Club began to make SmackDown Live their playground. AJ's next challenger would be Brock Lesnar, who defeated Cesaro and Roman Reigns to earn the opportunity. Styles and Lesnar would square off at Backlash, and in a bit of a shocker, the champion retained. AJ would be staring down the barrel of a loaded gun one month later at Money in the Bank, when the vengeful Triple H returned, after sustaining a nasty neck injury at the hands of Styles. Despite giving everything he had, "The Game" could not capture the WWE Championship, and has not been seen since. The Club would soon face a new challenge in the likes of sadistic Wyatt Family. The two near unstoppable forces would collide in a match at Battleground where the WWE and SmackDown Tag Team Championships were on the line. They needed a cheap shot with a chair to do it, but The Club would completely take over SmackDown, winning all the gold. Earlier in the show, John Cena defeated Kenny Omega and Cesaro took out Roman Reigns in a grudge match, and the two men would be named dual number one contenders. At Summerslam, Cena would win his first world championship in Universe Mode, putting "The Swiss Superman" down with an AA.
Champions of SmackDown
WWE Champion: John Cena - defeated AJ Styles and Cesaro at Summerslam
Intercontinental Champion: Kenny Omega - defeated Randy Orton at Summerslam
SmackDown Women's Champion: Alexa Bliss - defeated Emma at Summerslam
SmackDown Tag Team Champions: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens - defeated The Club at Summerslam
NXT
One of the biggest changes at the start of Season Three was the return of NXT, which was entirely absent during Season Two. A 16-man single elimination tournament began, with the winner to become the new NXT Champion. At Takeover: Chicago, Hideo Itami would become that man, defeating Ricochet to win his first singles championship. After losing a non-title match to the debuting Adam Cole on NXT, Hideo would make his first defense against Cole a few weeks later, in a match that saw his showcase his darker side. He would later team up with Kassius Ohno against Sanity, attacking Kassius after the match and defeating him in singles action. Apollo Crews would begin to petition for a championship match, and earned his shot against Adam Cole. However, the match would be changed to a triple threat, with the mysterious Aleister Black now competing for the championship match. Black won, and at Takeover: Brooklyn, defeated Hideo to become the new champion. In a strange turn of events, Black completely disappeared after the show, and no one has seen or heard from him since.
Champions of NXT
NXT Champion: Aleister Black - defeated Hideo Itami at Takeover: Brooklyn
Cruiserweight Champion: Neville - defeated Roderick Strong at Takeover: Brooklyn
NXT Women's Champion: Nikki Cross - defeated Natalya and Ember Moon at Takeover: Brooklyn
NXT Tag Team Champions: Authors of Pain - defeated British Strong Style at Takeover: Brooklyn
Monday Night Raw
We began Season Three immediately following WrestleMania, where Samoa Joe toppled Goldberg to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, although the belt was soon renamed to become the Universal Championship. Seth Rollins would be the first to take on "The Destroyer", returning to Raw after his injury to defeat Finn Balor. In Joe and Rollins' first ever meeting at Payback, Braun Strowman would ruin their championship match, intent on making a name for himself after joining the red brand via the 2017 WWE Draft. Rollins and Joe would get a rematch at Extreme Rules, this time in a steel cage, which saw Joe retain his championship. After Balor brought out "The Demon" to defeat Braun Strowman, he would be named the new number one contender, and would face Samoa Joe at Bad Blood. Balor would come within seconds of claiming the championship before Strowman's music cost him the win. After months spent as champion, Samoa Joe began to brag that no man alive or dead could defeat him. This brought about the return of The Undertaker, who challenged Joe to a match at Summerslam. At the event, the two men went to war, but ultimately, the reign of Samoa Joe continued.
Champions of Raw
Universal Champion: Samoa Joe - defeated The Undertaker at Summerslam
United States Champion: Rusev - defeated Jinder Mahal at Summerslam
Raw Women's Champion: Becky Lynch - defeated Asuka at Summerslam
Raw Tag Team Champions: The Shield(Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns) - defeated The Hardy Boyz at Summerslam
SmackDown Live
The blue brand spent the entirety of Season Three under the control of one man: "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles. After defeating Shawn Michaels in a dream match at WrestleMania, Styles and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson of The Club began to make SmackDown Live their playground. AJ's next challenger would be Brock Lesnar, who defeated Cesaro and Roman Reigns to earn the opportunity. Styles and Lesnar would square off at Backlash, and in a bit of a shocker, the champion retained. AJ would be staring down the barrel of a loaded gun one month later at Money in the Bank, when the vengeful Triple H returned, after sustaining a nasty neck injury at the hands of Styles. Despite giving everything he had, "The Game" could not capture the WWE Championship, and has not been seen since. The Club would soon face a new challenge in the likes of sadistic Wyatt Family. The two near unstoppable forces would collide in a match at Battleground where the WWE and SmackDown Tag Team Championships were on the line. They needed a cheap shot with a chair to do it, but The Club would completely take over SmackDown, winning all the gold. Earlier in the show, John Cena defeated Kenny Omega and Cesaro took out Roman Reigns in a grudge match, and the two men would be named dual number one contenders. At Summerslam, Cena would win his first world championship in Universe Mode, putting "The Swiss Superman" down with an AA.
Champions of SmackDown
WWE Champion: John Cena - defeated AJ Styles and Cesaro at Summerslam
Intercontinental Champion: Kenny Omega - defeated Randy Orton at Summerslam
SmackDown Women's Champion: Alexa Bliss - defeated Emma at Summerslam
SmackDown Tag Team Champions: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens - defeated The Club at Summerslam
NXT
One of the biggest changes at the start of Season Three was the return of NXT, which was entirely absent during Season Two. A 16-man single elimination tournament began, with the winner to become the new NXT Champion. At Takeover: Chicago, Hideo Itami would become that man, defeating Ricochet to win his first singles championship. After losing a non-title match to the debuting Adam Cole on NXT, Hideo would make his first defense against Cole a few weeks later, in a match that saw his showcase his darker side. He would later team up with Kassius Ohno against Sanity, attacking Kassius after the match and defeating him in singles action. Apollo Crews would begin to petition for a championship match, and earned his shot against Adam Cole. However, the match would be changed to a triple threat, with the mysterious Aleister Black now competing for the championship match. Black won, and at Takeover: Brooklyn, defeated Hideo to become the new champion. In a strange turn of events, Black completely disappeared after the show, and no one has seen or heard from him since.
Champions of NXT
NXT Champion: Aleister Black - defeated Hideo Itami at Takeover: Brooklyn
Cruiserweight Champion: Neville - defeated Roderick Strong at Takeover: Brooklyn
NXT Women's Champion: Nikki Cross - defeated Natalya and Ember Moon at Takeover: Brooklyn
NXT Tag Team Champions: Authors of Pain - defeated British Strong Style at Takeover: Brooklyn
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