Roman Reigns’ Suspension Led WWE To Completely Change Summer Booking Plans

New information is coming out regarding the impact Roman Reigns’ wellness policy had on the entire landscape of WWE. It’s actually pretty staggering how much changed. Here’s what was planned, courtesy of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Prior to Roman Reigns’ suspension, the WWE Championship was going to be on RAW and the Universal Championship would have been the SmackDown title. Reigns and Rollins would have battled for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam and Finn Balor was scheduled to face Chris Jericho.

Finn Balor wound up as the first Universal Champion, but the original plan was for AJ Styles to hold that distinction. Based on what transpired, it appears Dean Ambrose winning the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank was somewhat of an ‘audible.’

With Ambrose defending the title against AJ Styles at Backlash, and Styles’ big title win derailed due to the fallout from Reigns’ suspension, there seems to be a good chance The Phenomenal One will be wearing gold in the near future.

Roman Reigns is still a favorite of management and has a bright future ahead. However, the extent to which his infraction forced WWE to change booking plans gives some insight into why he’s now working a mid-card feud and was not part of the top matches at SummerSlam.