Two interesting WWE developments are going down this week, and they’re very much related.
The first already took place. During Monday night’s Raw outside Chicago, Paul “Triple H” Levesque introduced a new World Heavyweight Championship. Opinions on the belt design varied wildly on social media, but there’s no question that the new title is very big, very gold and definitely looks like something a world champion would wear around.
That announcement tied in directly with the happening that’s yet to take place: the 2023 WWE Draft, which kicks off Friday on SmackDown. With everyone, even champions, eligible to be drafted, Roman Reigns figured to take the WWE and Universal Championships with him.
The new championship solves part of the problem that would create. If Reigns is headed to SmackDown, for example, that would mean the male superstars on Raw would have no primary championship to pursue. Of course, Reigns could simply float between the two shows, which is what he was doing before, but WWE obviously wants to go in a different direction.
(And given that there have consistently been reports that WWE’s broadcast partners prefer a talent split when possible so they have their “own” superstars to market, it makes sense to try something else.)
One initial complaint that emerged immediately on social media is that the World Heavyweight Championship feels like a consolation prize — as if it’s going to be worn by the best wrestler not to beat Reigns. In separate segments, both Triple H and Seth Rollins tried to attack that perception right away, and WWE will undoubtedly be working overtime to try to make the new title as prestigious as possible for when it’s handed to someone for the first time at Night of Champions next month.
There’s an even bigger potential issue, however, and that’s what the creation of the new championship could potentially do to the biggest unfinished character arc in WWE. We’re talking, of course, about Cody Rhodes, whose attempt to “finish the story” temporarily failed when he lost to Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
Fittingly for Rhodes’ on-screen persona, he dusted himself off and asked for a rematch only to be immediately waylaid by Brock Lesnar. Those two will now meet at Backlash in a match that appears tailor made to validate Rhodes as a continuing threat to Reigns.
But that only works if Rhodes ends up going to the same show as Reigns in the WWE Draft, and some fans and observers are already afraid that isn’t going to happen.
Late to Raw tonight. No no no to two world titles. Instantly it throws cold water on WWE's 2 top stories – Bloodline and Cody finishing the story. #WWERaw
— Zack Heydorn (@zheydorntorch) April 25, 2023
In fact, there’s a very real concern that Rhodes will be in the mix for the World Heavyweight Championship, which would be the lamest possible way for WWE to try to have its cake and eat it too.
Lmao this is my fear. If this is what WWE had in mind for “finishing the story,” then they must be reading the wrong book. https://t.co/9LoZ2hoNpF
— Graham "GSM" Matthews (@WrestleRant) April 25, 2023
It’s widely assumed that WWE wants Reigns to reach the 1,000-day mark of his Universal Championship run, which, conveniently, he’d hit the day before Night of Champions. He’s not on the Backlash card, so there don’t appear to be any obstacles in his way to achieving that particular bit of history.
He could drop it at any point after that — but the only real challenger who’s a logical choice to knock him off remains Rhodes. Sure, Jey Uso could still be positioned for that spot as well if WWE wants to make the Bloodline saga to have another twist, but that will take some time.
As it stands, Reigns getting drafted to one show and seeing Rhodes head to the other would leave him without any imminent danger to his place atop the mountain. That simply wouldn’t be very compelling. Nor would seeing Rhodes finally achieve his dream, only to have it come by winning a championship that’s only existed for a few weeks.
The solution is simple: Reigns and Rhodes need to end up going to the same destination in the WWE Draft. That keeps Reigns looking over his shoulder and Rhodes focused on writing the storybook ending that eluded him in Los Angeles.
Rollins and a host of others can compete for the new title and do their part to elevate it, and they probably will. But WWE has a golden opportunity to keep one of its best narratives of the past year-plus on track with a simple decision over the next week, and it shouldn’t squander it by trying to get too cute.