Last night on Raw , Roman Reigns defeated The Miz to become the Intercontinental Champion for the first time in his career. The title win made him WWE’s latest Grand Slam Champion. Originally, WWE officials had plans for this to happen over a month ago before WWE TLC , but The Shield’s reunion took precedence for Roman. His recent hiatus forced the timeline to be a little wacky, but Reigns is the new IC Champion .
It was an exciting moment for “The Big Dog,” but the decision for him to win the IC Title will be a means to an end. Roman Reigns is still heading toward a much bigger WWE Universal Title win over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 , according to the Sun . The WWE Universe shouldn’t expect Reigns to hold the championship for a long time, but the original decision to give him an IC Title reign had much more to do with The Miz’s current status.
Wrestling News reports that The Miz will be taking some time off from WWE television to film another movie and work on some outside projects. As a result, WWE officials needed to take the IC Title off him despite a fantastic run as the champion. After the major title change, The Shield put Miz through the announce table to write him off WWE television for the foreseeable future. Right now, there’s no timetable for Miz’s return.
It’s unlikely that The Miz will return to WWE programming until after his commitments are finished. After WWE Survivor Series , it’s the right time for him to take a hiatus because it’ll be another two months before the WWE Royal Rumble event. Miz’s absence may also provide him with some great opportunities once he returns; the WWE Universe has taken note of his recent run, and he could be in line for a huge turn.
The Miz has been on the cusp of a babyface run for a few of months and could become a main event player again after the WWE Universal Title is back on Monday Night Raw every week. The WWE Universe should expect big things from him upon his return to WWE television, but it seems Roman Reigns will be leading the charge for the rest of the year in Miz’s absence. Whatever happens over the coming months, last night’s title change was the changing of the guard on Raw and on WWE programming for the rest of the year.
[Featured Image by WWE]