Real Reason Why WWE Unified Its World Titles
In a case of 'brilliant' planning, this is why the WWE Title and Universal Title were unified.
Given how sparsely Roman Reigns has appeared on WWE programming since WrestleMania 38, many have been wondering why the company decided to unify its WWE Championship and Universal Championship, just to put it on a star who hasn't wrestled a televised match since this year's Showcase of the Immortals.
In an update from the ever reliable WrestleVotes, the apparent reasoning for 'Mania 38's big title unification bout was so that it would afford Reigns the chance to appear on both Raw and SmackDown on a more regular basis.
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.
Advertisement…maybe that wasn’t the best decision.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) June 14, 2022
For those wondering, since competing at Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 on 3 April, the Head of the Table has appeared on two episodes of Raw (one of which was the Monday after 'Mania), six SmackDown outings, and was involved in a six-man tag bout at WrestleMania Backlash. Reigns has not wrestled on TV during that time, was completely absent from the Hell in a Cell premium live event, and is expected to likewise not be in action at next month's Money in the Bank show.
Of course, Roman will be back between the ropes this coming Friday, with him set to defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Riddle. It's also worth noting that the Bloodline leader did work several live dates in the immediate aftermath of WrestleMania 38.
Adding an extra caveat to this story, the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio saw Dave Meltzer claim that the Tribal Chief will only be appearing on one Raw across this entire summer; that being the 25 July episode of Raw from Madison Square Garden which will serve as the go-home red brand offering for this year's SummerSlam.
On top of this, it's now common knowledge that Roman Reigns signed a new deal earlier this year that meant he'd be working a lighter schedule moving forward.