New information has been released regarding the decision to merge the WWE Title with the WWE Universal Title last year, as well as the decision to create the new WWE World Heavyweight Title this year.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, there were no plans to unify the WWE Title with the Universal Title prior to the 2022 WWE Day 1 event. However, after current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns contracted COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from Day 1, a late decision was made to add Brock Lesnar to the WWE Title match, which was originally scheduled to feature then-champion Big E, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and current Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Kevin Owens.
The plan was for Lesnar to win the Fatal 5 Way and then face Reigns in a unification match at WrestleMania 38. There were no previous plans for title unification.
Internal documents from 2022 indicated a plan to split Reigns’ titles, with Rollins or Drew McIntyre facing Cody Rhodes to crown a new WWE Champion. This obviously did not occur, as plans were changed and the idea of splitting the titles was abandoned within a few weeks. It wasn’t clear how the titles would be split, but “TBA” was listed as Reigns’ opponent at the time.
WWE had planned for the King of the Ring Tournament and the Queen’s Crown Tournament to take place this month, but plans changed following WrestleMania 39 to accommodate the booking of the new WWE World Heavyweight Title.
WWE has indicated that a tournament of RAW Superstars will be held to determine the new champion, with the World Heavyweight Champion being crowned on Saturday, May 27 at WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia. Because Reigns was drafted to SmackDown, the title will be exclusive to the red brand.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
