List of current champions in WWE
At the top of WWE's championship hierarchy are the WWE Universal Championship on Raw and the WWE Championship on SmackDown. The Universal Championship is held by record two-time champion Brock Lesnar, who won the vacant title by defeating Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel on November 2, 2018; previous champion Roman Reigns had to relinquish the title due to illness (leukemia). The WWE Champion is Daniel Bryan, who is in his fourth reign. He won the title on the November 13, 2018, episode of "SmackDown Live" by defeating AJ Styles.
WWE The Bash
After winning the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules, Batista was assaulted the next night on "Raw" by former champion, Randy Orton, incapacitating Batista and leading to him vacating his title due to a legitimate tear in his Biceps brachii muscle. The next week on "Raw", a fatal four-way match was held to determine the new champion, which featured Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and The Big Show. Orton won the match, and it was later announced by WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, that the next man to face Orton for the title would be the winner of a 10-man battle royal; Triple H won the match, and became the number one contender. It was also announced on this episode of "Raw" by storyline owner, Donald Trump, that the title would be defended the next week on "Raw" between the two in a Last Man Standing match,where the winner would go into The Bash with the title, defending against the other. The match ended in a draw when neither man was able to answer the referee's ten-count; Orton retained the championship as a result. Later in the show, Mr. McMahon acquired "Raw" back from Trump with his first act back in control being to change the match between Orton and Triple H at The Bash to a Three Stages of Hell match, consisting of a singles match, Falls Count Anywhere, and a stretcher match for the first, second, and third falls respectively.