WWE made a subtle change to the way it is advertising Roman Reigns just days before his World Heavyweight Championship defense against LA Knight at Money in the Bank.
On Tuesday, WWE announced that Reigns will appear on the Oct. 19 episode of Monday Night Raw in San Diego. The post specifically advertised him as “World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns,” while the accompanying graphic showed Reigns with the championship over his shoulder. The advertisement quickly drew attention because Reigns is scheduled to defend the title against Knight four days earlier in New Orleans.
One day later, WWE released a much larger graphic announcing Reigns’ schedule through the end of November.
This time, the championship was gone.
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Did WWE Just Hint at a Roman Reigns Title Change?
Wednesday’s graphic features Reigns without the World Heavyweight Championship and promotes him simply as Roman Reigns, with “See the OTC Live” displayed prominently behind him. The graphic makes no reference to Reigns being champion despite advertising appearances more than a month beyond Money in the Bank.
That doesn’t mean WWE spoiled Saturday’s result in either direction. Tuesday’s post accurately described Reigns as the reigning champion, while Wednesday’s graphic could simply be designed to advertise Reigns regardless of what happens at Money in the Bank.
Still, releasing the two graphics on consecutive days makes the difference difficult to miss.
LA Knight Needs to Finish His Story at Money in the Bank
Whatever the graphics mean, if anything, WWE has reached the point where LA Knight needs to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
I am not an LA Knight fan, but for his sake, he has to win Saturday.
WWE has spent too much time getting Knight to this moment for another loss to lead anywhere meaningful. He finally has the one-on-one world championship match against Reigns, and if he loses, where exactly does he go from here?
There is also the investment WWE has asked from its audience. Fans have followed Knight’s pursuit of the top of the card for years. Putting him across the ring from Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship only to send him back into the pack would make much of that investment feel like a waste of time and energy.
It reminds me, in a different way, of Cody Rhodes’ pursuit of Roman Reigns. Eventually, the story reaches a point where the chase itself has done everything it can do. The payoff has to come.
Knight is there now.
He doesn’t need to become the next face of WWE or hold the championship for the next year. He simply needs to finish his story. If WWE wasn’t prepared to give him that moment, I’m not sure why this match needed to happen in the first place.
Roman Reigns’ Upcoming WWE Schedule
Whatever happens Saturday, WWE has already confirmed that Reigns will remain heavily involved throughout the fall.
Reigns is advertised for Raw in San Diego on Oct. 19 before appearing at the combined Raw and SmackDown taping in Brooklyn on Nov. 2. He is then scheduled for Crown Jewel in Riyadh on Nov. 7 and Raw in Greenville on Nov. 9.
His schedule continues with another Raw and SmackDown taping in Wichita on Nov. 23, Survivor Series: WarGames in Houston on Nov. 28 and Raw in North Little Rock on Nov. 30.
Notably, Reigns is not currently advertised for the Oct. 12 Raw immediately following Money in the Bank.
