On September 3rd 2022 WWE returned to the United Kingdom for a stadium for the first time in three decades. The main event featured the huge clash between Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.
With Drew McIntyre chasing WWE’s top prize back in the United Kingdom many fans expected the Scottish star to defeat Reigns and claim the gold. Especially considering the last the last stadium show in the UK ended with the British Bulldog standing tall with the Intercontinental Championship after a classic bout with Bret Hart. However, it was Reigns who grabbed the win thanks to main roster debut of Solo Sikoa, via a failed Monday In The Bank cash-in by Austin Theory. The star was thwarted at ringside by a right-hand from boxing star Tyson Fury.
WWE Made Late Call To Keep Both World Titles Roman Reigns
However, in the lead up to the event there was a plan in place which would have seen McIntyre emerge victorious. But he would have only left with one of Reigns’ titles. Speaking to GiveMeSport, popular Twitter account and wrestling insider WrestleVotes said that Austin Theory’s cash-in would have led to a Triple Threat Match.
“The only thing they could think of was with Austin Theory. He was going to somehow make it known that he was only cashing in for one of the belts. Therefore, it became a triple threat, and Tyson Fury stopped him like he did, and Drew would then would take one of the titles.
For whatever reason, that didn’t work, and it sounds really convoluted. I don’t know how you’re gonna pull it off on TV.”
It is believed that the idea came from WWE wanting to split the WWE and Universal Titles again, but the company were unsure of how execute the split. This led to discussions about the booking of the match going down to the wire.
“They wanted to make the titles separate in the moment, because they do want to titles again, but they’re struggling to figure out how. I do know that they were talking up until maybe night of or day over here.”
After overcoming Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns returned to action at Crown Jewel where he saw off Logan Paul in the main event. At time of writing the identity of Reigns’ challenger remains unclear.