WWE Unified Titles So Roman Reigns Could Appear On Both Raw & SmackDown

Roman Reigns has yet to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on television or pay-per-view. The Tribal Chief will finally put the title on the line on this Friday’s SmackDown when he faces Matt Riddle. WWE didn’t originally plan on Reigns’ appearances being so sporadic when they decided to unify the belts.

Shortly after unifying the titles, news broke that Roman Reigns was moving to a much lighter schedule. Roman has appeared on WWE television a handful of times since then, but his matches have become a rare commodity. A new report says that was never the promotion’s intention.

WrestleVotes tweeted that a WWE source described the creative decision to unify the titles. The idea was that Roman Reigns could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. With the benefit of hindsight, that choice may not have been the best.

“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.

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…maybe that wasn’t the best decision.”

After his championship defense against Riddle, Reigns is only scheduled for one episode of Raw for the remainder of the Summer. He is also likely to wrestle at WWE’s stadium shows, SummerSlam and Clash at the Castle. That might not be enough for many fans, some of whom are hoping for a title change.

Had Roman Reigns not changed up his schedule, the decision to unify the championships may have worked out. As it stands, most episodes of Raw and SmackDown don’t have a world champion to speak of. While WWE may have had the best of intentions, it looks like their creative direction has come back to bite them.

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