Huge Update On WWE's World & Universal Title Plans
How WWE got to the current situation with its World Heavyweight and Universal Championships.
WWE is once again set to run with two world titles later this month, with the newly-created World Heavyweight Championship to be strapped around the waist of a Raw star, complimenting Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns on SmackDown.
Until Night of Champions (27 May), when the new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned, Reigns had ruled WWE as a unified Undisputed champion since WrestleMania 38, where he felled Brock Lesnar. Per Fightful Select, plans for that came together around the Day 1 premium live event (1 January 2022), which Roman was prevented from appearing on after testing positive for COVID-19.
With Roman out of Day 1, WWE called for Brock Lesnar to enter the WWE Championship match, dethrone Big E, then carry the belt into a unification bout at 'Mania. It is stated, too, that WWE had no plans on unifying its top titles prior to this.
Last year saw documents circulate WWE featuring plans to separate the WWE and Universal Championships once more. Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins were to contest the WWE Title at one stage, though this didn't end up happening - and plans to split the belts were ditched altogether a few weeks later.
Fightful note, too, that King Of The Ring being scrapped after WrestleMania 39 was to accommodate the new World Heavyweight Title's booking and creation. King And Queen Of The Ring was flipped to Night Of Champions a few weeks ago.