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.

by Andrew Pollard
Roman Reigns
WWE.com

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.