Roman Reigns’ three-year run of dominance, by and huge, has been constructive for WWE, with the corporate’s inventive route and long-term storytelling actually taking a flip for the higher because of the multifaceted intrigue surrounding The Bloodline.
The Tribal Chief’s stranglehold on two belts — the WWE championship and the common championship, which he unified by defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 — has come at a worth, although. Reigns solely works so many dates these days, as WWE’s undisputed prime star, and he not often exhibits up Monday nights on “RAW” as somebody who’s a part of the Friday night time “SmackDown” model.
So, WWE, led by chief content material officer Paul Levesque (aka Triple H), devised a plan and earlier this week launched the brand new world heavyweight championship, which might be awarded Could 27 on the Evening of Champions premium reside occasion in Saudi Arabia. The title will belong to whichever model Reigns isn’t a part of following the 2023 WWE Draft, scheduled for this Friday and subsequent Monday. And the thought, in accordance with Triple H, is to have a champion who’s keen to defend the belt on a constant foundation.
Let’s assume Reigns doesn’t someway wind up with this title, as nicely. The pure inclination is likely to be to contemplate Cody Rhodes the frontrunner for the gold, seeing because the American Nightmare simply pushed Reigns to the restrict in a shedding effort at WrestleMania 39. However placing the belt round Rhodes’ waist can be counterproductive in that it dilutes each the title and the battle Rhodes has endured in his quest for championship glory. We’d mainly be taking a look at a comfort prize, which the brand new belt already kinda looks like, if we’re being sincere.
The identical most likely could possibly be mentioned as regards to Brock Lesnar, who Rhodes is scheduled to face subsequent week at Backlash, if solely as a result of Reigns beat the Beast Incarnate to turn into the undisputed WWE common champion. Why reverse course, particularly when Lesnar already has sufficient star energy to hold angles with none title hooked up?
Alas, there are a couple of normal suspects worthy of consideration, like Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, who each misplaced to Gunther in an epic intercontinental championship match at WrestleMania earlier this month. And heck, even somebody like The Miz, an underrated employee, or Edge, a legend, most likely deserve no less than some consideration. To not point out, there are a couple of names who would possibly quickly make the soar from NXT.
However upon assessment, 4 superstars stand out as candidates to win the brand new WWE world heavyweight championship.