It’s been 2 years since WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has been pinned in a match on TV. Ever since his return back at Summerslam 2020, he was built as a top heel force in the WWE that’s similar to Brock Lesnar back in the days. The two were eventually supposed to collide in a huge main event match at WWE Day 1 which was pulled off.
Roman Reigns tested positive for COVID-19 prior to WWE Day 1, which resulted in his Universal Title defense against Brock Lesnar getting canceled. Lesnar was then added to the WWE Championship match, thus making it a Fatal 5 Way match also featuring Big E, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Lashley. Lesnar would eventually go on to pin Big E to win his sixth WWE Championship.
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Now the popular belief is that Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar should happen in the main event of Wrestlemania 38 in a Champion vs. Champion encounter. Now, WWE loves to surprise their fans with major changes in their plans and Wrestlemania could be no different. This calls in for a major title change to happen at Royal Rumble 2022.
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Seth Rollins to stop Roman Reigns’ undefeated streak
It was teased on SmackDown, last week that RAW Superstar Seth Rollins would be challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at The Rumble. Recent reports also claim that the former Shield brethren may end up dethroning The Tribal Chief for the title at the upcoming show.
Dave Meltzer revealed on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is planning to make Seth Rollins the next Universal Champion at Royal Rumble. Brock Lesnar, who is set to face Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship, is likely to retain. This indicates that Roman Reigns will face The Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania 38 and that match will happen for the WWE Title, instead.
“The plan for Day 1 was that Seth was gonna be the WWE Champion coming off of the show and Lesnar was gonna be the Universal Champion coming off of the show. So Lesnar is now the WWE Champion. Seth was going to defend the title on one of the WrestleMania nights and then Lesnar and Roman were gonna be for the other title on the other WrestleMania night,” said Meltzer. (quotes courtesy Wrestling News)
Rollins was reportedly set to win the WWE Championship at Day 1 while Roman Reigns was supposed to lose the Universal Title. The plans were changed after the latter was diagnosed with COVID-19. Now the big title change has been pushed back to Rumble, it appears.
