“What’s past is prologue.”
William Shakespeare’s words aren’t often applied to the world of professional wrestling, but in this instance, they definitely fit. In a move that had been rumored to happen for years, WWE is officially splitting the brands once again.
Raw and SmackDown will have their own distinct rosters, with the latter going live on Tuesday nights. While the probability of the brand split coming back was debated upon for quite a while, fans likely could not have imagined all of this would suddenly be dropped on them with no warning.
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But now that it has, the question of what will be done with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is surely being asked. Will Roman’s title once again become two separate entities, as it was before? Will fans see a WWE and a World Championship, one for each program?
Or will the company take a page out of the NWA’s old playbook, and have Roman become a traveling champion? He could appear on either Raw or SmackDown, depending on who he’s going to be facing. Is this the right move for WWE? For that matter, are fans ready for any of this to begin with?
The best part about two titles is obvious; not enough guys are getting true main event spotlight. Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews are all doing well on Raw, but what are the chances that any of them will be facing Roman for the title any time soon?
What about Dean Ambrose? The dream match of Dean versus Roman for the championship could’ve happened by now, but WWE will not pull the trigger on either man turning heel. But Ambrose has put his time in, he’s over, and he is definitely a fan favorite. Doesn’t he deserve a title run?
How does AJ Styles fit into WWE’s main event scene now? With back to back losses to Roman on the pay-per-view stage, how could anyone truly believe he will actually get back to serious world title contention now? Styles is an amazing talent and could carry the belt with pride, so why give him one program with Roman, then kick him down to the mid-card?
A second championship means that more guys get a shot. Whether it’s Roman or John Cena carrying the company’s primary championship, the other championship could be held by any of the aforementioned Superstars. Finally, WWE would once again have more than one chance for talents to be elevated that perhaps might not have the opportunity otherwise.
But is that part of the problem with two titles? Are fans so anxious to see their favorites have a shot that they’re willing to accept further devaluation of the Intercontinental and United States Championships? Is WWE so anxious to give its upper card stars a shot that status of both those titles will just continue to drop again?
Perhaps a better idea for the brand split is not two world championships, but each of the existing secondary titles to be featured on Monday and Tuesday. The Intercontinental title could stay on Raw while the United States title could go to SmackDown.
The Miz would be considered the most important titleholder on Raw. Any Superstar that pinned him, even if it was a non-title match, would get a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The same would apply to Rusev and the U.S. title on SmackDown. Eventually, both of these championships would reach such a level of importance that their value could not be denied anymore.
But WWE’s track record for giving both belts any legitimate level of respect is nonexistent at this point. So if that’s not an option and WWE doesn’t want to split the world title once again, then maybe Roman should indeed become the traveling champion.
Roman’s face pop is a fantasy. The crowd has made its decision and they have decided to hate him despite how hard he works to get over. But if he suddenly were not on TV as much, he if here not as physically active as he is now, maybe things would change. WWE insists on portraying Roman as a protagonist, so if he were seen as the professional, humble champion that goes wherever the challenge is, his reaction could improve.
He would be working more new faces than ever before, and that includes NXT talents, who surely will be called up to strengthen both rosters. Roman Reigns versus Samoa Joe. Roman Reigns versus Shinsuke Nakamura. Roman Reigns versus Finn Balor. Any one of these match-ups would be new, fresh, and would test Roman like never before.
Where does the possibility of two championships leave NXT? If WWE does indeed hit the developmental roster hard in order to build Raw and SmackDown, then just how strong would NXT actually be after the moves are made? If Triple H’s Twitter account is any indication, then the end perhaps may be coming for NXT.
Despite how WWE chooses to handle all of the upcoming changes, the fact is that it’s a very exciting time for fans. The company has often been accused of being stale and frustratingly repetitive. But something this big gets over in a very big way; even if fans have indeed seen it all before.
Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Sportskeeda. His podcast, Tom Clark’s Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online here
