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Examining What WWE Might Do With The Other World Title After WrestleMania

By Joel McIntyre • Published 22nd March 2022
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We are just under two weeks away from WWE WrestleMania from Dallas Texas. The card seems to be shaping up to be a solid card all things considered.

We have a dream match between AJ Styles and Edge. We have the impending return of Cody Rhodes against Seth Rollins. We have “Stone Cold” Steve Austin returning to WWE to confront Kevin Owens. There’s Bianca Belair looking for revenge against Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. Then there’s the big match of night two between WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Take All Title unification match.

Now, let me be clear. I hate the stipulation to the match. I do not think Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns needed both titles to make this match feel important. Roman Reigns has not been pinned or submitted since December of 2019. He has been the WWE Universal Champion for 567 days and counting. You add in the fact that Brock’s longtime confidant and advocate Paul Heyman turned his back on him and you have the makings of a pretty epic angle that was already great without the WWE Title being involved.

With that aside, the question then becomes: “What happens after WrestleMania?” If reports are to be believed, WWE still has plans to have two champions after WrestleMania, which is the right call. Roman Reigns is their biggest needle mover. He’s also single-handedly carrying Smackdown. You don’t want to burn him out by having him work both Raw and Smackdown every week as WWE Unified Champion. Plus, I doubt Fox would be okay with sharing Roman Reigns with the USA Network every week, especially considering they personally requested Roman Reigns to be a part of their show.

I remember what it was like when WWE had one Undisputed Champion on split shows. It sucked because when the champion is feuding with a guy on one show, the other show is left without a top title program. You’ve gotten a small glimpse of what Raw would be like without a World Champion considering the entire feud between Roman and Brock has taken place on Smackdown. Raw has been able to survive largely because of the roster they have on that show. They’re deep enough on Raw that they could afford to be without a WWE Champion for a few weeks. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens have carried that show in recent weeks. I can’t say that Smackdown would do as well if Roman or Brock was feuding with somebody from Raw. No disrespect to the talent but Smackdown just is not as deep to be able to carry a show without a World Champion in a program.

That’s the problem we find ourselves in and why I generally hate the stipulation added to this match. You know it isn’t going to stick and that they’re going to find some way out of it after WrestleMania. So what is that way? What way out of it will they find after Wrestlemania? What will happen to either the WWE Title or the Universal Title after Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar end their latest chapter on April 3rd? Well, there are a few options.

Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar will hold both titles to start off. When Becky Lynch won both the Raw and Smackdown Women’s Titles at Wrestlemania 35, she held both titles until Money in the Bank 2019 when she lost the Smackdown Women’s Title to Charlotte Flair. I fully expect the new Unified Champion to be in place until at least the following premium live event, WrestleMania Backlash on May 8th. After that show, however, I expect both titles to be split once again.

I’m leaning toward Roman Reigns as the winner on April 3rd, but there are only a couple of options they could go with coming out of the Show of Shows. Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar could win the title Unification match and then go into WrestleMania Backlash and defend both the WWE and Universal Titles much the same way Becky Lynch did in 2019.

There could be a triple threat match for one of the titles which would keep the champion from looking weak by getting pinned. Based on the talent, I believe the WWE Championship from Raw would be best suited for a triple threat. You have guys like Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Edge, and possibly the returning Cody Rhodes that you could fill that triple threat with. Another option is that the winner simply gives up the other title. This would really only make sense if Roman Reigns walks out of WrestleMania with the victory. I can’t see Brock willingly giving up one of the titles, but we’ve seen the disdain Roman has for Raw. He’s mentioned several times on camera how inferior Raw is to Smackdown. I could easily see a scenario where Roman wins both titles, but says they don’t “pay him enough” to appear on Raw and he’s staying on the A show, Smackdown. After that, Reigns could give Adam Pearce the WWE Title, and they precede to crown a new champion. What if the Men’s Money in the Bank wasn’t for a contract to face the current champion but for the WWE Title? It’s happened once before.

Whatever they decide, WWE has put themselves in a unique position after WrestleMania. They could create something unique with both titles or they can just take the easy way out and have Roman or Brock just give up one of the titles. I like the possibility of Money in the Bank being for the WWE Championship. If you want to sell out Allegiant Stadium (Money in the Bank is in Las Vegas on July 2), that is a great way to do it.

If I was a betting man, I’d bet money on the winner losing one of the titles pretty soon after WrestleMania. They could do a triple threat for the WWE Title and have either Roman or Brock lose without even getting pinned. That would protect Brock, who’s already lost more since his return than I thought he would by this time. It would also protect Roman, who hasn’t suffered a pinfall or submission since December of 2019. It’s an easy concept and helps them with two champions again after WrestleMania. Becky Lynch lost that Smackdown Women’s Championship pretty quickly in 2019. I would be shocked if we still only had one Unified World Champion by the time Money In the Bank is over on Saturday, July 2nd. Just my opinion.

Thanks for reading. Check out my TJRWrestling writing archive here. I’m on Twitter @GiftedMoney talking about wrestling among other things, so feel free to message me on there with any thoughts or comments.