At WWE Roadblock: End of the Line , Roman Reigns will challenge Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship. Despite holding the WWE United States Championship, Roman will not put his title on the line this Sunday at the PPV. It has been reported that Reigns is expected to become WWE’s “double champ” and hold both the Universal and United States titles after WWE Roadblock: End of the Line .
Of course, nothing will be official until Sunday night. However, WWE programming is quickly heading into 2017, which means the WWE Royal Rumble PPV is right around the corner. It’s being planned as one of the biggest PPVs in WWE history, so WWE wanting “The Guy” to be the WWE Universal Champion at the event isn’t out of the question. It’s just unfortunate it may come at the expense of Kevin Owens’ world title reign.
Right now, WWE officials must have big plans ready for the WWE Royal Rumble PPV and Wrestlemania 33 next year. However, the plans for the WWE Universal title aren’t confirmed, and Roman Reigns may not be leaving WWE Roadblock: End of the Line with the championship. Instead, WWE officials could be looking to elevate the U.S. title because major changes are being reported for Roman Reigns’ United States title reign.
According to a new report , WWE officials, and Vince McMahon in particular, are planning major changes for the United States Championship after the WWE Roadblock: End of the Line PPV . Apparently, McMahon is tired of the U.S. title’s outdated appearance, and that could be a reason why the title has not being featured as strongly on WWE programming since the brand split. More than likely, the title will be redesigned in 2017.
WWE could wait until Wrestlemania just like they did when the WWE Women’s division was rebranded this year in Dallas. Whenever the rebranding happens over the coming months, the plan could be for the U.S. title to remain on the shoulder of Reigns in order to rebrand it with prestige and a face. However, it’s also being reported that WWE could swap the U.S. title with the Intercontinental Championship after Wrestlemania .
WWE could be thinking about moving Roman Reigns to SmackDown with the United States Championship, which may be part of a trade that could send AJ Styles to Raw after Wrestlemania . Either that or Roman Reigns will be dropping the U.S. Championship to another WWE Superstar over the first quarter of 2017.
As of this writing, the strongest rumor for Roman Reigns’ creative plans heading into Wrestlemania 33 is a match with Braun Strowman for the United States Championship on the grandest stage of them all. Reigns versus Strowman could be a huge match for both men because WWE could be rebranding the championship with Roman and then use the title’s prestige to elevate Strowman to the next level of WWE’s echelon.
On paper, that would work, but WWE Roadblock: End of the Line will be a huge indicator of what WWE has planned for Reigns heading into 2017. If he’s successful in capturing the WWE Universal Championship on Sunday, the U.S. title could be vacated or dropped to another WWE Superstar rather quickly. Especially, if WWE officials are planning to rebrand the title and give it new life on Raw over the next few months.
The prestige of the United States Championship has been high and low over the past few years. Rusev and John Cena took it out of the midcard and brought it great importance in 2015, but that prestige was lost and the title has been mostly floating around on WWE television ever since. If WWE has major plans for the U.S. Championship in 2017, expect Roman Reigns to be involved no matter what happens on Sunday night.
[Featured Image by WWE]