The WWE unified title was a hastily made decision after Roman Reigns couldn’t appear at Day 1.
Fightful Select has looked into the decision to unify the WWE top titles in 2022, and to establish a new title in 2023.
We’ve learned that prior to WWE Day 1 2022, there were no plans to combine the WWE and Universal Championship. However, when Reigns contracted COVID and was pulled from the show, the late decision was made for Brock Lesnar to be added to the WWE Title match, win it, and then compete in a unification match at WrestleMania 38. Prior to that, there were no plans to unify the two titles.
As of one point last year, there were some internal documents that indicated a plan to split the WWE and Universal Titles. At one point, Drew McIntyre or Seth Rollins were slated to face Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship, but that didn’t end up happening. Within a few weeks, plans were altered and the idea of splitting the titles were abandoned. We weren’t told how the titles were set to be split, but as of that time, Reigns’ opponent was “TBA.”
Originally the King of the Ring tournament was supposed to take place in May, but after WrestleMania, that was altered to accommodate the booking of the new WWE World Heavyweight Title.
