Roman Reigns’ run at the top of WWE has been so dominant that it’s unclear who could possibly defeat him.
The Tribal Chief has been World Champion for almost 1000 days and has been the Undisputed Champion since defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38.
Reigns’ latest challenge came at WrestleMania 39, but Cody Rhodes became the latest star to fall short against the long-reigning champion. A decision that hasn’t gone down well with a number of WWE fans.
On April 24th, Triple H announced that due to Reigns continued domination, impending Draft, and the star’s part-time schedule WWE would be introducing a new World Heavyweight Championship. The new champion will be crowned at Night of Champions, the same night that Reigns marks 1000 days as World Champion.
The announcement has been met with a great deal of cynicism, with fans claiming that the title will be seen as “secondary,” and the champion not on Reigns’ level. Interestingly, it appears that Raw announcer Corey Graves agrees.
Speaking on After The Bell, Graves stated that it was a good thing that there would be two World Champions once again.
“I think it’s exciting to have that championship back because it gives ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown’ both the opportunity to identify themselves as separate, strong, complete brands,”
However, the announcer admitted that until the World Champion defeats Reigns, they’ll be seen as “slightly less than” the Tribal Chief.
“But with the introduction or reintroduction of the World Heavyweight Championship comes an epic workload. Until somebody beats Roman Reigns, there will always be a perception that any other champion, any other superstar, is slightly less than. So the onus is on whoever becomes World Heavyweight Champion at Night of Champions to put in the work.”
Graves added that it will be on the new champion to prove that they are on the same level as Reigns.
“It is now on your shoulders to prove that you are not less than Roman Reigns, you are just different than Roman Reigns because you are on a different branded show.”
Roman Reigns Remains On SmackDown
As predicted by many, Roman Reigns was the overall number-one draft pick in the 2023 WWE Draft. The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion will remain on SmackDown along with Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa who were drafted alongside Reigns as “The Bloodline.” This means that the new World Heavyweight Championship will be exclusive to Raw.
To add more intrigue, The Usos were not listed as part of The Bloodline and will be drafted separately.
There looks to be trouble ahead for the group after The Usos failed to regain the Undisputed Tag Team Championships on SmackDown.
H/t to WrestlingInc