Roman Reigns' latest title defense at Clash At The Castle had fans talking, and not just because of that bizarre ending where Drew McIntyre sang to the crowd. The WWE’s undisputed champion is still in possession of both the Universal and WWE titles, which continues his impressive streak of winning. With each success, however, Monday Night Raw continues to exist without a major champion and the hype builds about his eventual loss (especially with guys like Cody Rhodes dropping cryptic hints about potentially challenging). People want to know how long Reigns will keep both belts, and a new rumor is suggesting that’s a complicated situation the WWE is dealing with.
News on the plan (or lack thereof) for Roman Reigns losing a title arrived via WrestleVotes. According to this latest rumor, the WWE is hearing plans for Reigns to eventually lose a title, though there are some very specific parameters at the moment that make the road to it happening very complicated:
The situation w/ the world titles & Roman Reigns is “complex” according to a source. They would like to go into “Mania season” & WrestleMania itself with 2 champions, but they also don’t want Reigns losing AT ALL prior. I’m told HHH & co are open to all things creatively here.September 13, 2022
The WWE wants two champions for WrestleMania and the Road to WrestleMania which kicks off in January. Right now, if the top brass wants Roman Reigns to drop a title at an upcoming WWE event, there are only a few big pay-per-views left in the year. With that said, it doesn’t sound like anyone is interested in Reigns actually taking a loss to lose a title, so this could happen at any time. The bigger question is what can be done so that the champ drops one or both of his titles before 2023 in a way where he doesn’t actually lose.
The most obvious idea is that Roman Reigns will be stripped of a title, for one reason or another. Perhaps a storyline can be arranged where Reigns refuses to appear on Monday Night Raw, and as a result must relinquish the WWE championship. I could also maybe see a situation where Roman and the Bloodline (which recently added the Uso’s younger brother Solo Sikoa) do something so dastardly they’re all suspended from the WWE and Reigns is stripped of his titles. A storyline like that could keep Roman looking strong, and also bolster his heel persona too.
Another option could be that the WWE unifies the two titles into one new championship held by Roman Reigns, and creates a new world title for Monday Night Raw. Vince McMahon’s retirement and Triple H stepping in as head of creative has marked a new era for the WWE. It would only make sense for that new era to have new titles worth celebrating, especially with so many other changes taking place.
At the same time, retiring the WWE title would be the end of an era for one of the longest-lasting championship belts within the brand, as it was first established in 1963. I’d sooner believe the younger Universal Championship would discontinue, but seeing as SmackDown is Reigns’ home show and his current reign with that title is up to over 700 days, that doesn’t seem likely.
It all sounds like a complicated task. The easiest option would be to have Roman Reigns lose his title by taking a pin (and there are a lot of stars capable of beating him). The WWE reportedly isn’t ready to see Reigns lose just yet, but without one title, does that really matter? I guess we’ll have to wait and see what plan the creative team comes up with, assuming this rumor is legit.
SmackDown airs on Fox on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Now might be a time to keep a closer eye on it if there’s a chance of Roman Reigns dropping his titles, however that may be.
