By slim margins, Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre at WWE Clash at the Castle to retain his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
There were a couple of instances where it looked like McIntyre would maybe dethrone him as the champion, but Reigns emerged victorious thanks to some help from his cousin, Solo Sikoa. The Tribal Chief has been the Universal Championship holder for more than two years now, and a new report indicates that the historic reign won't end any time soon.
A WWE source informed WrestlingNews.co that "there are still no plans for" Reigns to drop his championship this year. The report noted that when Reigns returned as a heel two years ago, the idea "was for him to be the champion when he eventually wrestled The Rock and Vince McMahon wanted Reigns to retain the title."
Though he's still working as the company's top heel, the report added that the plan remains "for Reigns to become a top babyface." Finally, the source told WrestlingNews.co that new WWE creative team leader Triple H is rolling with these initial plans. The plan remains for Reigns to hold the championship heading into WrestleMania 39.
Finally, it was noted that though the match isn't confirmed, WrestlingNews.co reported "the belief is that, if plans stay the same, Reigns would beat The Rock and then lose the title sometime after Mania."
There have been numerous reports that Reigns and The Rock will headline WrestleMania 39, which will take place inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Rock himself has expressed interest in a match with Reigns.
Reigns, who's battled leukemia twice, removed himself from WrestleMania 36 for health and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. After more than four months away, he returned at SummerSlam 2020 and attacked Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman following their Universal Championship match.
Five days later, Reigns aligned himself with longtime heel manager Paul Heyman to cement the villainous turn. At Payback, Reigns outlasted Wyatt and Strowman to become the new Universal Champion. Fast forward two years later, and Reigns is still on top of the world and in the midst of one of the greatest individual superstar runs in history.
WWE Is All-In On Roman Reigns
There's no denying that the heel version of Reigns has been a giant success in WWE up to this point, and it's no wonder that creative wants to keep the title belt on him long-term. Even as a bad guy, Reigns has received strong crowd reactions and tremendously high critical acclaim. Ultimately, it makes sense to keep the Reigns train moving as long as the momentum continues.
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