Ibrahim Oladamola
Undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns’ near-1,000-day title reign has been historic but has also resulted in far fewer appearances from the promotion’s top champion than any time in modern history. During Raw on Monday night, Triple H attempted to address that issue with the creation of a world heavyweight championship.
As he announced the return of the title, which is WWE’s version of the old WCW heavyweight championship, Triple H did take some shots at Reigns for being something of an absent champion while also announcing that the first champion of the new version of the title will be crowned at Night of Champions on May
Triple H announces new world heavyweight championship
Triple H came to the ring mid-show to make an announcement that would “shake WWE to its foundation.” After talking about making WWE “all it can be for generations moving forward,” Triple H said he was out to talk about Roman Reigns and his nearly 1,000-day reign as champion. He said Reigns was in a position where he no longer needs to frequently defend his title and while that’s great for Reigns, it’s not great for the WWE universe.
Triple H then confirmed Reigns will take the undisputed WWE universal championship to whichever brand drafts him. But at Night of Champions on May 27, WWE will crown a new world heavyweight champion who can be respected and admired and who will defend the title anywhere, any place, any time all over the world. A new championship belt was then unveiled
Randy Orton beat John Cena to unify the world heavyweight championship and WWE championship on Dec. 15, 2013, at which time the world heavyweight championship was retired. Now, it appears to be reborn.
Bad Bunny and Damian Priest set for street fight at Backlash
Rey Mysterio def. Damian Priest via disqualification after hitting Mysterio with a chair. After the match, Priest hit Mysterio with South of Heaven and was getting ready to put Mysterio through the announce table when Bad Bunny’s music hit. Bunny walked to the ring with a kendo stick. Priest got in the ring and dared Bunny to get in, which he did, hitting Priest twice with the stick and knocking him from the ring. Bunny continued to use the stick, forcing Priest to run away. Bunny then grabbed a microphone and said he’s no longer hosting Backlash, “I’m going there to kick your ass.” Bunny then announced he would be facing Priest in a street fight.
The Bloodline def The LWO via pinfall after hitting a 1D on Cruz Del Toro. Before the finish, Solo Sikoa hit Del Toro with a Samoan Spike. After the match, The Usos vowed to win back the undisputed tag team titles at SmackDown, saying they would do so in dedication to Roman Reigns. Sami Zayn confronted Jey Uso backstage, asking what would happen if The Usos came up short after putting Reigns’ name on the match. Kevin Owens stormed out on Zayn later in the show after finding out he was talking to Jey.
The Street Profits def Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin via pinfall after Montez Ford hit Cedric Alexander with a frog splash.
Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez def Damage CTRL via pinfall when Belair hit Bayley with the KOD. IYO SKY said she wanted Belair in the ring later in the show, which led to Bayley changing the challenge to a six-woman tag match.
Bronson Reed took out Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley. Lashley and Theory were arguing before Lashley attacked Theory. Before he could get much momentum, Reed joined the fray, helping Theory beat down Lashley. Reed then turned his attention to Theory before putting him down with a Tsunami.
Mustafa Ali def Chad Gable via pinfall with a roll-up.
Cody Rhodes def Finn Balor via pinfall with Cross Rhodes. The match came about when Balor interrupted Rhodes’ show-opening promo about his Backlash match with Brock Lesnar.
Seth Rollins and Omos came face to face. The pair were put into a match at Backlash with no storyline or build and finally exchanged words, with Rollins saying someone like Omos only comes once in a generation, but only because he was born that way but Rollins is once in a generation because he made built himself into something special.
