Backstage News On Why WWE Had Roman Reigns Unify Top Titles
The original idea of having Roman Reigns unify the top titles in WWE was heavily debated by fans and insiders when it happened. According to WrestleVotes, there was a real simple reason as to why Reigns fused both the WWE Title and the WWE Universal Title together, so he could appear on both "Raw" and "SmackDown" more regularly.
According to a source, the creative decision to unity the titles was with the understanding it would allow Roman Reigns to appear on BOTH shows more regularly.
...maybe that wasn't the best decision.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) June 14, 2022
That's hard to do when the "Head of the Table" isn't at the table that often, as referenced in WrestleVotes' tweet. It was recently reported, that Reigns is currently booked for only one "Raw" right now this summer, the go-home episode at Madison Square Garden on July 25. Reigns was not booked for WWE's Hell In A Cell premiere live event two Sundays ago and now it looks like the champion will be off the upcoming Money In The Bank card in Las Vegas as well.
However, Reigns is set to defend his championship on the 6/17 episode of "SmackDown" as he'll battle Riddle one-on-one. Riddle won the right to face Reigns in last week's "SmackDown" main event against Sami Zayn. Per the stipulaton for their match next week, if Riddle does not beat Reigns he will not be allowed to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship as long as Reigns holds the top titles.
The reported intended SummerSlam plans call for Roman Reigns to face Riddle's RK-Bro brother, Randy Orton. Back on May 22 following a live event victory against Drew McIntyre, Reigns offered some interesting comments about what his non-televised schedule could look like moving forward.
"From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate all of ya'll," Roman Reigns said. "I obviously had the Internet talking last week or the week before that. I'm not going to be doing too many live events like these, on Sundays, going forward. So, this could be my last one."
Reigns unified WWE's top titles against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, which also happened to be his last televised title defense. Before the titles became unified, he was the longest-reigning Universal Champion in WWE history. Reigns first won the title at WWE Payback after aligning with Paul Heyman and, as of Tuesday, has been the champion a total of 653 days.