Right after Wrestlemania 39, it was reported Roman Reigns' title reign is "secure" until at least September 2024. Almost two months later, Seth Rollins wins the newly introduced World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions for RAW. For those who may have been wondering why RAW is getting its own Champion like this, it's because NBC Universal (USA Network's parent company) and FOX want their own top champion.
Having now reached 1,000 days as WWE Universal Champion, at this point it's looking more and more likely Roman Reigns could break the long assumed untouchable reign of Bruno Sammartino of 2,803 days. It was a title reign that lasted 10 years. Of course, Sammartino didn't defend the title every month and he didn't appeaer at every show. He didn't need to because when he did work matches, you knew he was gonna sell out the arena.
WWE is clearly looking to do the same with Roman Reigns as WWE Undisputed Universal Champion now. This coming August will make it 3 full years since Reigns' title reign began and he will jump to third place on the all-time list next August. Reigns would STILL need to hold the WWE Universal Championship for 5 or 6 more years after that in order to break Sammartino's record. It's just a question of weather or not WWE is willing to keep the title on him for that long or not. If so, Reigns will need to hold the title until at least 2029. Reigns is 38 years old now and he'll be 44 or 45 years old at that time.
![SmackDown spoilers] New Undisputed WWE championship belt : r/SquaredCircle](https://preview.redd.it/smackdown-spoilers-new-undisputed-wwe-championship-belt-v0-25zxs3cojp3b1.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=1810d8b650f0fb4a5234335fe61d0a4070ce5974)
On the June 2 edition of Smackdown, Triple H threw another curveball out of left field when he introduced a recolored Universal Championship title for Roman Reigns. It's the same design as the WWE Championship and Universal Championship titles but is mostly gold and clearly will not change colors when the holder changes brands.
I did see this coming after the titles were unified at Wrestlemania 38. When Randy Orton unified the titles almost 10 years ago now, the current design was introduced as the then new single WWE Championship. Then the brand split was brought back. Dean Ambrose took the WWE Championship to Smackdown so Universal Championship title was introduced for RAW since USA Network wanted RAW to have its own top Champion. It's simply happening again almost 10 years later for the same reasons.
The difference is this time, obviously the titles have different designs from each other.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns weren't the only ones to recently get new belts.
On the June 9 episode of Smackdown, Asuka traded the RAW Women's Championship for the new Women's Championship title. It's noticably modeled after Roman Reigns' new belt but with a white strap instead of black.
On the June 12 episode of RAW, Rhea Ripley traded the Smackdown Women's Championship for the new Women's World Championship title. It's noticably modeled after Seth Rollins' new belt but with a white strap instead of black.
We all thought it weird there was no title swap when the RAW and Smackdown Women's Champions changed brands via the WWE Draft this year. Now we know why. For those who might not remember, Charlotte Flair was the first-ever RAW Women's Champion and was also the last-ever Divas Champion. She retired the Divas Championship at Wrestlemania 31in a Triple Threat Match that also involved Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. At the time, it was referred to as just the Women's Championship. It became the RAW Women's Championship after the brand split later that year. Becky Lynch became the first-ever Smackdown Women's Champion after winning a 6-pack challenge match. She also now holds the distinction of being the only woman ever to hold both singles titles at the same time when she won them at Wrestlemania 35.
Charlotte is gunning for Asuka. Assuming their match happens at Money in the Bank AND she beats Asuka--Asuka's never beaten Charlotte for a title before on that note--she will tie her father Ric Flair and John Cena for 16 Championships overall. Her father has made it known he would like himself and John Cena to be present when Charlotte eventually breaks their tie. We'll have to wait and see.
All that said, the brand names being removed from the Women's titles is pretty telling for a few reasons. The biggest one being it makes unifying the titles inevitable. I know WWE has repeatedly said there are no plans to unify the Women's singles titles but we did just see Roman Reigns' two titles get traded in for one. Speaking of, it's probably not a stretch to assume the Tag titles will be unified into one pair of titles. More so since it seems there are no plans to split the titles up again anytime soon.
On a relared note. We are about to see the NXT and Women's Tag Titles get unified. For those who might not know or remember, originally the Women's Tag titles were defended across all three brands. Things changed in late late 2020 when Nia Jax and Shayna Bazsler, who held the Women's Tag Titles at the time had a DQ finish to their title match on NXT to protect both sides from taking a loss. The NXT Women's Tag Titles were introduced as a result of that. Now the NXT Women's Tag titles are no longer needed.
Almost a full month after Carmella announced her pregnancy, Alexa Bliss and her husband Ryan Cabrerra jointly announced they are also expecting their first child together. Bliss, like Carmella also happen to join Becky Lynch and Lacey Evans in having become pregnant not long after working with Asuka. It's quite the coincidence to say the least. What does this mean for Bianca Belair, Nikki Cross, Bayley, Charlotte Flair, Io Sky and others Asuka has also had matches with? We'll have to wait and see I guess!
Alexa Bliss originally took time off so she could participate in FOX's The Masked Singer. She was preparing to make her return when she found out she was pregnant. Alexa and her husband have been open about this pregnancy being a surprise but clearly welcome. They revealed they found out they're going to have a boy.
Alexa said she plans to be back in the ring about a month after giving birth. Assuming things work out for her, she could be back in time for the 2024 Royal Rumble. Clearly she and her husband did plan for if they had kids and she obviously takes care of herself. We'll have to wait and see if she's able to keep her return window or not. Personally, I would not rule out Alexa making appearances in promos before she gives birth or even right after.
Speaking of Bianca Belair. According to some reports, there may be plans for the now former RAW Women's Champion and The Street Profits to turn Heel later this year. It would make a lot of sense for that to happen and more so given the RAW and Smackdown Women's Championships have now been phased out. Not so subtle hints toward Belair turning Heel have been getting dropped every week since she lost the title to Asuka as well.
Most might not remember but Bianca Belair worked as a Heel in NXT. She was directly involved with the build for Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair's eventual Wrestlemania 36 match and had a match with both of them. Shortly after she moved on to the main roster, Belair became a Babyface.
The Street Profits have been babyface up to now in comparison but there definitely is a lot a potential in them becoming Heels. More so if they're set to feud with The New Day and the current tag team champions KO and Sami Zayn. The Tag Team titles are not getting unified so if the Street Profits turn Heel, they could take the Smackdown Tag titles and build the Smackdown tag division around them.
2-Time WWE Hall of Famer and NXT Commentator Booker T recently commented on questions now being raised about Randy Orton's wrestling career. Orton has been out with a nagging back injury for almost a year now. He did have surgery successfully but the news about Orton's situation is pretty serious: Orton was apparently advised by doctors against wrestling ever again.
This is a situation Booker T can speak to since I retired for similar reasons. Commenting on Orton's health situation in a podcast, Booker T spoke about his surprise appearance in the 2023 Royal Rumble and what he felt immediately after he was eliminated. As he said, all who work in the business know constant pain is one of the prices you pay when you're in their line of work for any amount of time.
There is a difference between being in pain and being hurt. When a doctor tells you the next time you take a bump you could be paralyzed, that should give you enough pause to stop and think about putting your health before your career. More so if you have kids. Booker T spoke of the nerves in his fingers feeling tingly and a little numb after he was eliminated from the Royal Rumble match. He was ok but it reminded him of why he retired from the ring when he did. This also helps explain why he returned to being a commentator last year.
There are reports WWE has internally set a date for Orton to make his return sometime later this year. Weather it will be to announce his retirement or in-ring, we'll have to wait and see. Triple H, like Vince McMahon is the kind of person who would legit protect talent if need be. If Orton returns as an in-ring competator, it's safe to assume he was cleared by WWE for it.
At this point, I now agree with wrestling legends who've recently said AEW is basically a dumpster fire.
Eric Bischoff recently doubled down or comments he made last month in which he said AEW is making the same mistakes as WCW. Many AEW fans saw his recent comments about the company to be a betrayal and more so given his company almost pushed WWE to the brink 25 years ago.
On the other hand, I do think WWE having competition is good. At this point, I no longer believe that AEW can be even be a TNA-level threat let alone the WCW-level threat it sees itself as. The one thing AEW was long rightfully criticized for was taking shots at WWE at every show. They couldn't go a single show without saying something about WWE or Vince and it got old fast.
At this point, it's become obvious Cody Rhodes leaving AEW marked the beginning of the end of AEW. Apparently, ROH being bought by AEW wasn't as big as AEW's Tony Khan thought it would be. Then there's the very public fallout between AEW and CM Punk barely a year after his AEW debut. The interesting thing is the promotion that stands to benefit the most from AEW's slow but very public implosion isn't WWE but Impact. It's fast becoming the new place for Indie wrestlers who don't want to go to AEW or WWE--or leave those promotions--to head to for a fresh start.
As a reminder, almost half of AEW's current roster came from WWE. If they want to return to WWE, most of them know they need to only ask. Of the rest who came from elsewhere or were home-grown, WWE is actively trying to recruit several people with expiring contracts right now. Anyone on AEW's roster who's really paying attention to things should be making a post-AEW plan if they haven't already.
The Hardy Boyz are definitely returning to WWE at some point to end their careers as WWE Superstars. Jon Moxley might return for the right price. Keith Lee, Andrade and Malakai Black's wives--Mia Yim, Charlotte and Zelina Vega--are all in WWE and of them, Andrade is rumored to be working on returning to WWE. Christian is likely going to end his in-ring career in WWE as well. Those are some of the ones who I'd say probably would be the most open to returning to WWE, some with conditions obviously.
Adam Cole, Kyle O'Riley and Rodderick Strong might join Bobby Fish in Impact if he doesn't return to AEW. It's been rumored for a while Cole wants to reform the Undisputed Era on AEW or Impact. Ruby Soho (FKA Ruby Riott in WWE), Toni Storm and Athena Palmer (FKA Ember Moon in WWE) would all likely go to Impact or NJPW.
Dustin Rhodes (FKA Goldust in WWE) would likely retire if AEW folded. He's made it clear in intervews and on Twitter he's done with WWE and more so now that he recently became a grandfather. With his brother having now returned to WWE, he wants to represent the family in AEW now. Could he still be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame? I think he could and should personally.
All that said. It's probably safe to say AEW is STILL feeling Cody Rhodes' departure 18 months later. He was the heart and soul of AEW and it's become more clear with everything that's been going on after he left. Tony Khan believed AEW would be just fine without him but clearly it's not.
Bray Wyatt has been off TV since February. His only match since his return last year was at the 2023 Royal Rumble where he beat LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Wyatt's initial absence was explained as an undisclosed medical conditiion now it seems that may not be the only reason.
During an interview shortly after his return to WWE last year, Wyatt unemphatically stated "The Fiend is dead", closing the door on the idea of that character returning. First introduced in 2019, The Fiend made his in-ring debut at Summer Slam 2019. Almost immediately, The Fiend became the biggest draw in the company and one of the biggest draws in the business.
A few months after making his in-ring debut, The Fiend would beat Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell Match at Crown Jewel to win the Universal Championship. At Summer Showdown in early 2020, The Fiend would drop the title to Goldberg. The Fiend would later regain the Universal Championship but lose it again to the current holder, Roman Reigns. Fast forward to Wrestlemania 37 which would be The Fiend's last match. Bray Wyatt would be released a few months later but would return the following summer.
No question the biggest mistake WWE made with The Fiend was deciding putting what was then one of the top titles on The Fiend was a good idea. Before that point, The Fiend was built for months as an unstoppable, sadistic embodiment of terror. When you put one of the company's top titles on such a character, it's hard to believe ANYONE can beat him cleanly let alone beat him for a title. Then Goldberg beats him in a squash match. Of course, the intention was for Goldberg to drop the title to Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 36 but the pandemic forced WWE to change those plans as Reigns stepped away for months and Braun Strowman became Universal Champion at 'Mania 36 instead.
The Fiend only took three clean losses--the other two were to Randy Orton at two separate times--but the squash against Goldberg and the DQ finish for his first Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins ruined the character. It's pretty fair to understand WHY Bray Wyatt said he's done with the character. He notably brought back The Firefly Fun House and though we did see The Fiend make a few appearances, it's obviously not being used the same way it was before. Fans quickly figured that out as well.
According to some reports, WWE wants Bray Wyatt to bring back The Fiend. Apparently they thought the Pitch Black Match was underwhelming. In the minds of some, this version of Bray Wyatt is basically the previous version minus The Fiend. Some may remember before his release, Wyatt was off TV for a while due to creative differences. Wyatt had no problem sitting out until WWE eventually released him before. WWE seriously can't afford to repeat that mistake. Of course, I am being mindful there's likely more to this situation behind closed doors we're just not aware of.
After taking over running WWE last year, Triple H wasted little time bringing back a number of talent released during the Pandemic. One superstar whose return is largely considered a disappointment is Karrion Kross. After making a meteoric rise in NXT, Kross' main roster run was hamstrung for two reasons: One was Vince McMahon insisting he wear a helmet during his entrance. The other was his then future wife Scarlett being drafted separately from him to Smackdown.
Despite initially debuting as NXT Champion, Kross' main roster debut fell flat and he was quietly released. While Kross was away from WWE, he and Scarlett got married and he let his hair grow out. When Triple H approached him about returning, Kross had one condition Triple H already had in mind: He and Scarlett would be a package deal.
Before her initial signing with WWE, Scarlett--as Scarlett Bordeaux--was well known on the indies. She was in Impact prior to signing with WWE. There was a lot of excitement around her going to NXT as wrestling fans presumed she would make a huge splash as a singles competator. When she debuted alongside Kross, that surprised a lot of people. She actually was training to return to the ring when she was released along with Kross. She is back in the WWEPC right now as she is expected to FINALLY make her in-ring debut soon.
The larger issue is of course Kross. He's had a string of feuds that have failed to lead to him winning a Championship. Much of it isn't his fault of course. WWE clearly has longterm booking plans for the titles held by Roman Reigns and Gunther in particular. Kross NEEDS a title run to truly make his return worth the investment. Jinder Mahal talked about what winning thr WWE Championship meant for his career during his After The Bell podcast interview. Drew McIntyre did the same. Both were released and came back better.
Kross NEEDS a title run ASAP. More so if rumors Triple H hasn't been happy with his storylines so far are to be believed. This is to say nothing of the reports WWE is going to do some talent cuts anytime now.
That brings me to Lacey Evans.
At this point, she needs to either go back to NXT or added to a stable. I'm not trying to sound insensitive but she's been open about her first priority being to her family since she moved to the main roster from NXT. She home schools her now older daughter and just had her second daughter two years ago. She's made it clear she will always prioritize her family first and that's fine.
Her status as a Marine Vet is probably the biggest reason WWE is keeping her around on that note. This is also why sending her back to NXT would make a lot of sense for her at this point. We saw what going back to NXT did for Mandy Rose. She could restablish herself and likely rule NXT with an iron fist. Otherwise, she should be added to a stable on the main roster. Damage CTRL would be a solid pick if not for the liklihood that stable is breaking up very soon. Alpha Academy could have worked too but it looks like they are merging with Maximum Male Models. Adding her to Imperium could be interesting though. More so since The Judgment Day, the O.C. and LWO all have a female stable member (Evans' character wouldn't fit with any of those stables).
Obviously I am not saying her just having a baby is a problem. Becky Lynch, Candice LeRae and Ronda Rousey all recently had a baby too. Carmella and Alexa Bliss are both pregnant right now and both plan to return shortly after giving birth. A notable difference all but LeRae doen't have in common with Evans is the others are former Champions. Lynch famously announced her pregnancy and vacated the RAW Women's Championship at the same time. LeRae's fan popularity helped her keep relevant despite her absence. When Carmella and Bliss return, they'll have little trouble picking up where they left off too. Evans is in more of weird position because her character is a Heel. She needs time to build her character. This is why a return to NXT would make the most sense for her.
WWE Hall of Famer Sergeant Slaughter recently weighed in on Evans basically copying his gimmick including his signature Cobra Clutch. His comments come almost a month after his daughter got into an exchange with Evans on Twitter. He basically said he stopped watching Smackdown because of her current character and feels disrespected no one from WWE asked him for the ok to use his move in advance.
This might not sound like a big deal to some but it is. It's about respect. Kevin Owens called Stone Cold Steve Austin to ask for his blessing to use The Stunner. It's also fair to assume Seth Rollins got permission from Triple H to use the Pedigree. Why? Both are moves made famous by Austin and Triple H respectively. It's the same with the Cobra Clutch. It's not to be confused with the Camel Clutch which Rusev used a variation of called the Accolade.
I do think this situation is salvagable but Evans and WWE need to (privately) contact Slaughter ASAP before this spirals out of control.
A little over 20 years after his untimely death, Owen Hart is officially #AllElite.
His niece and brother may be closely associated with WWE but Owen Hart's widow has given AEW permission to hold an annual tourament that bears his name. It's also been confirmed Owen Hart will appear as a playable character in AEW: Fight Forever.
For those who might not know, Owen Hart died in a freak accident while making his entrance at a PPV event back in 1999. The harness that was suppose to lower him from the ceiling suddenly failed and he plunged to his death. Everyone thought it was part of the show until WWE announced later that night he died.
Vince McMahon's decision to continue the show despite the accident created bad blood between Vince and his widow Marth Hart. For a while, she was angry with the rest of the Hart family--most of whom were in the business--because in her mind, they didn't seem as upset as she was. That same year, Bret Hart would suffer a career-ending concussion during his WCW match with Goldberg. That was a dark time for the Hart family.
Anyway, Martha Hart sued Vince McMahon and WWE for wrongful death and negligence though Vince quickly settled out of court. The reason Owen Hart is STILL not in the WWE Hall of Fame nearly 25 years later is because of Martha Hart's hatred towards Vince and WWE. She will allow it. The entire Hart family has reportedly tried to convince her to let WWE induct him but she refuses to budge on that.
Personally, I do think AEW is taking advantage of her beef with WWE. More so given it makes ZERO sense for AEW use Owen Hart's name in the first place.
I can't believe I never covered this but in an interview he did shortly after Wrestlemania 39, Cody Rhodes FINALLY revealed the moment that ultimately led to his departure from WWE back in 2016.
I'm paraphrasing but in short, Rhodes was approached by a young fan after a house show while he was in his Stardust gear. A staff member who escorted the young fan backstage introduced him as Cody Rhodes but the kid looked at him with an expression that basically said "Cody Who?". It matches up with the timeline he shared in which he demanded he be allowed to drop the character before being released.
We all know what happened between then and his return last year: He went to Japan, got hot in the indies and launched this promotion called All Elite Wrestling. Maybe some of you have heard of it somewhere. Fast forward to early 2022. AEW and Cody Rhodes shocked the wrestling world when it was suddenly announced Rhodes, who was Executive Vice President of AEW was stepping leaving the company he co-founded with Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. Three months later, Rhodes made his return to WWE at Wrestlemania 38.
Rhodes' WWE return was announced when he left AEW but if not for a copyright issue with his entrance music Kingdom, he might have debuted on WWE a little sooner. In a recent interview, Downstait revealed he and Rhodes were in a three-way conference call with WWE working on getting cleared to use the same entrance theme he used in AEW. If the name of the band sounds familiar, Downstait also did the entrance music for The Miz (I Came To Play) and Dolph Ziggler (Here to Show the World). So, you'd think there'd be no issue with using Kingdom, right?
Let's just say WWE's spent a LOT of money on commissioning bands for new entrance themes and PPV themes ever since they parted with Jim Johnston and then had their messy breakup with CFO$. It was right after their abrupt split from CFO$ that WWE "suddenly" started pressuring various superstars to have their entrance music changed due to copyright involving CFO$' music. WWE owns the rights obviously but they wanted to get out of having to keep paying them royalties. That's just speaking for the CFO$ situation though.
Getting back to Downstait. Things were at an impasse during their conference call with WWE so they got Cody Rhodes on the phone. After explaining the situation, Rhodes basically gave WWE an ultamatum: "If I don't get to use Kingdom, you don't get me." WWE agreed to allow it on the spot and the rest is history.
For those who only heard his theme song for the first time at Wrestlemania 38, here's how it sounded and looked when he was in AEW:
CM Punk using the same entrance theme that he used in WWE in AEW was a pleasant surprise though obviously WWE didn't own the rights to the song. What Cody Rhodes did was the opposite but is a MUCH bigger deal: You literally have one of the faces of a rival promotion bringing their established character into WWE.
I know some will say it's because Rhodes was also a former WWE superstar but then again there's AJ Styles. He was an established name outside of WWE. A few months after his surprise debut, he was headlining Wrestlemania opposite Chris Jericho. Few people people like Rhodes and Styles can cross over and make an immediate splash.
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