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WWE's new World Heavyweight Championship has been the talk of the town ever since Triple H unveiled it. It’s being announced that the new champion will be crowned at Night of Champions on May 27, 2023.
As of now, The Game has laid down the rules for how the company plans to pick the top two contenders for the title. However, there are certain flaws in the rules that could potentially take away the thrill of a new champion being crowned.
In this list, we will look at five mistakes that WWE has already made with the World Heavyweight Championship.
A former WWE writer just went after JBL for his comments HERE
#5. WWE presented the World Heavyweight Championship as a consolation prize
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The company had the chance of splitting the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship into the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39. Cody Rhodes could have defeated Roman Reigns and taken the championship to RAW, while The Tribal Chief could have retained the Universal Championship and stayed with SmackDown.
But since Roman Reigns cannot show up to defend the title every week for both shows, WWE brought back the World Heavyweight Championship just so the red brand had a title exclusive to itself.
This comes across more as a way to ensure WWE RAW has something instead of nothing at all rather than giving the red brand back what was theirs before the titles were merged.
#4. The tournament format for RAW and SmackDown
Triple H announced that there will be a tournament on RAW and SmackDown to choose a contender from each brand.
As per the rules, WWE will organize two triple-threat matches on each brand. The winners of the matches on RAW will square off in the semi-finals, and the same goes for SmackDown. The winners of each brand will fight for the World Heavyweight Championship.
This takes away the thrill of putting the championship at the end of a thrilling storyline. Initially, Drew McIntyre was supposed to turn heel and be in a storyline with Seth Rollins, with the World Heavyweight Championship as the final prize.
But now, it’s going to be a mere tournament with no storytelling for the championship, whereas storylines are the basic foundation and essence of WWE.
#3. Adding SmackDown Superstars to the tournament
The whole idea behind bringing back the World Heavyweight Championship was to ensure there was a championship title exclusive to the red brand.
As the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns was expected to show up on both weekly shows and defend the title, but he didn’t want to work on Mondays, and since he’s drafted to the blue brand, the title matches happen on SmackDown.
Hence, a title exclusive to Raw was a requirement. But it defeats the whole purpose of the title being exclusive to RAW if SmackDown Superstars are also eligible for the tournament.
Even though there’s an explanation for why SmackDown Superstars are eligible for the tournament, it does take away the element of surprise to a certain degree. Currently, the focus is on Seth Rollins from RAW and AJ Styles from SmackDown.
#2. Adding Cody Rhodes to the tournament
The American Nightmare suffered a loss against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. Following that, The Tribal Chief was absent from WWE TV while Cody Rhodes was in a violent rivalry with Brock Lesnar.
He defeated The Beast at Backlash 2023, and fans hoped he would see his eyes on the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship again. But he’s been picked as one of the superstars taking part in the tournament.
If he emerges as the contender from RAW, it’ll be rather disappointing, given he should only go after Roman Reigns. In fact, this ensures both Rhodes and Seth Rollins get what they deserve for the talent they are.
#1. Not adding Matt Riddle to the mix
The Original Bro has been receiving immense hype from the audience following his stint with Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. He helped Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn throughout their bout against The Usos and Solo Sikoa, and given that he was taking on WWE’s most dominating heel faction, Riddle showcased immense championship potential.
It’s predicted that either the tag team will turn on Riddle or vice-versa. When that happens, and if that happens, he should have a story that continues to push him forward rather than half his pop with WWE Universe.
It would have been great to add Matt Riddle to the World Heavyweight Championship tournament since that opened other possible storylines for him instead of being sandwiched between the Tag Team Champions and The Bloodline.
