Roman Reigns’ Next Title Defense Still Not Finalized

Roman Reigns unified both of WWE’s world titles when he defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38. Since then, the Big Dog hasn’t had a single televised defense. The WWE Universe has been anticipating Roman’s first challenger, but thus far, nothing has been set in stone.

The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion is not on the card for Sunday’s sold-out Hell in Cell premium live event. Most reports have speculated that Roman Reigns will only defend the title at major stadium shows. The closest was set to be Money in the Bank on July 2nd, but that has since been moved to a smaller indoor venue.

Roman Reigns’ next opponent is scheduled to be Matt Riddle. That bout was expected to occur at MITB in Las Vegas, but plans could be on hold due to the venue change. Dave Meltzer discussed the plans for Roman’s next title defense in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“While this [Usos vs Riddle & Shinsuke Nakamura] could be added to Chicago, as of midweek the plan was for the title match to be on the 7/2 Money in the Bank show in Las Vegas.

Advertising

Advertising

If that’s the case, that would mean the original main event scheduled for that show, Riddle challenging Roman Reigns for the double title, wouldn’t happen. As of this week, no final decision had been made whether Reigns’ next title defense would be on 7/2, or to wait for SummerSlam on 7/30, where Randy Orton was the scheduled opponent.”

It sounds like WWE fans will have to wait at least a month for Roman Reigns’ title defense. Reigns is now working much lighter schedule, and his appearances are going to be more sporadic. We will see if fans’ patience holds up for that long.

What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments!