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WWE Rumors: Roman Reigns And AJ Styles Possibly Switching Brands In 2017

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 09:47 PST, Dec 14, 2016

Roman Reigns and AJ Styles might be the two biggest full-time stars on their respective brands in the WWE. Sure, John Cena is bigger than AJ Styles, but Cena is just part time. Kevin Owens is the Universal Champion, but Roman Reigns is who Vince McMahon wants to push. It appears that the WWE is considering switching Roman Reigns and AJ Styles through a possible trade between SmackDown Live and Monday Night Raw.

Flickering Myth reported that McMahon loves AJ Styles and wants to bring him to Monday Night Raw. According to the report, Vince loved Styles from the beginning and was very impressed with the feud with John Cena, as well as his match with Roman Reigns. The site reports that McMahon wants Styles on Monday Night Raw, and there just needs to be a way to get him there.

With the USA Network wanting SmackDown Live to have better ratings than it used to have, the WWE needs to keep that brand strong. Sure, John Cena is there, but he is part-time now. That means sending someone to SmackDown Live that is of equal value to the WWE. Roman Reigns fits that description.

Fatal3Four reported that Vince McMahon also wants to make changes to the United States championship. The current champion is Roman Reigns, and he is set to face Kevin Owens at Roadblock this weekend. The match is not title vs. title and is just a chance for Roman Reigns to possibly become a double title holder.

However, there are now WWE rumors circulating that Roman Reigns won’t win the Universal Championship, but he will remain the United States Champion. The site also mentioned that the WWE wants the Intercontinental Championship on Monday Night Raw.

A trade sending Roman Reigns and the Universal Championship to SmackDown Live for The Miz and the Intercontinental Championship is not an even trade, despite the emergence of The Miz as the best heel on SmackDown Live.

[Image by WWE]

A trade with Roman Reigns heading to SmackDown Live for AJ Styles is a lot more even. While many WWE fans don’t want Roman Reigns pushed as a major star, he still has a large number of vocal fans as well.

The reports do indicate that the WWE would not consider making the Roman Reigns for AJ Styles trade until after WrestleMania in 2017. At the moment, the biggest rumors are that Roman Reigns will battle Braun Strowman at the event, something that seems small for Roman Reigns after his last two years, but the WWE wants Braun to be an unstoppable giant.

As for AJ Styles, there is no news on what the WWE has planned for him. The word is that John Cena will face The Undertaker and one of them might be the WWE Champion heading into the big event.

If that is true, there is always the chance that an inter-promotional match could take place, and maybe AJ Styles could face Finn Balor in what could be the best match in the entire show. The Inquisitr just reported that Finn Balor wants to be back to the WWE for WrestleMania.

[Image by WWE]

Of course, AJ Styles heading to Monday Night Raw is just a rumor, even though there are signs that Vince McMahon seems to love the former TNA Impact Wrestling star. Moving Roman Reigns to SmackDown Live is interesting but would seem to push Roman Reigns back down as many within the WWE still see that as the “B-show.”

This is also something many WWE fans might reject as well. SmackDown Live is considered the “wrestling show” while Monday Night Raw is the “entertainment show.” Many fans vocally want Cesaro and Sami Zayn moved to SmackDown Live, where they can have better matches.

RELATED WWE REPORTS BY THE INQUISITR

Losing AJ Styles would go against everything that SmackDown Live is about. Plus, if Roman Reigns is booed at Monday Night Raw events, there is no telling what SmackDown Live’s WWE fans would do if he is moved to their show.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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