Night of Champions is almost upon us. Not just a huge show for WWE as the company returns to Saudi Arabia, but a massive milestone for Roman Reigns. By the time the premium live event begins, The Tribal Chief will have been Universal Champion for 1,000 days. While making that happen may have been on the table for a while, a new report claims Reigns was supposed to lose at least one title heading into WrestleMania 39.
Seth Rollins At WrestleMania
Fightful Select (via Wrestling Inc.) reports that at one point, WWE planned on having Seth Rollins go into this year's WrestleMania as a champion. Which of Reigns' titles Rollins would have gotten his hands on ahead of the biggest show of the year is unclear. When Rollins would have won the title and who he would have defended it against also hasn't been revealed.
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It's also possible the plan was for Reigns to lose one of his titles to someone else and for Rollins to then win it from what would have amounted to a transitional champion. WWE ultimately nixed that plan and pushed on with Reigns' dominant run as Undisputed Champion. This is the second time, we know of, that WWE has considered splitting the titles in the past year and decided against it. It was also reported Drew McIntyre was considered to take a title from him at Clash at the Castle.
Settling For The Secondary Belt
WWE's reluctance to pull the trigger on a title split has led to a third championship needing to be introduced. That will happen this Saturday at Night of Champions. Rollins will compete against AJ Styles for the chance to be the new title's first holder. Even though it's an entirely new design, WWE is rumored to have decided its lineage will follow on from the World Heavyweight Championship which was effectively retired in 2013.
While Rollins seems like the obvious choice to win on Saturday, the WWE Superstar's appearance on the set of Captain America: New World Order has convinced some that the company won't make someone clearly keen on cracking Hollywood its new champion. Styles also hasn't given off the impression he even wants the new title, openly labeling it secondary while Reigns hogs the already-established championships.
