During the WWE Draft that took place last month, Dean Ambrose was chosen by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan to be a part of the SmackDown Live roster. Dean Ambrose being the WWE World Champion helped the blue brand have the most prized possession in the WWE.
To change the scenario, a new belt – the WWE Universal Championship, was introduced by RAW commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General manager Mick Foley, exclusively for the RAW brand.
A few days ago at SummerSlam, Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins to become the first ever Universal Champion but recent reports indicate that WWE had different plans regarding the brand new championship.
RAW being the “flagship show” of the company was rumored to have the WWE Championship, while the new belt would have been exclusive to SmackDown Live. Supporting reports also suggest that AJ Styles was in consideration to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion.
It is interesting to note that, initially, WWE had other plans for Balor’s first pay-per-view match on the main roster. The Demon King was rumored to be booked in a rivalry with former World Champion, Chris Jericho, which would have progressed towards a Triple Threat match at Hell In a Cell featuring Y2J, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens. With Finn Balor vs Jericho at WWE Summerslam, the main championship feud for RAW would have featured Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
The ideas were later dropped due to Reigns’ Wellness Policy violation, which resulted in several changes of the creative plans. WWE had to find another babyface for RAW, and so Finn Balor was given the oppurtunity to face Seth Rollins at Summerslam.
WWE wanted to push Reigns down the card as a punishment for his suspension. Hence, he was projected as part of the ‘mid-card’ and was slotted into a feud with United States Champion, Rusev.
Unfortunately, WWE again had to change their plans for the Universal Championship due to Finn Balor’s injury and the subsequent relinquishing of the title. A fatal four way match will now be contested between Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Big Cass and Roman Reigns to determine the next Champion. While Rollins seems to be a favorite to win this match, the creative team may put the title on Roman Reigns.
WWE is well aware of the negative reaction on Rollins for injuring Finn Balor in their recent match, and at this point, putting the Championship on Rollins will only damage the reputation of the company.
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