When & Why Did WWE Decide to Unify WWE & Universal Championships?

The WWE and Universal Championships would likely never have been unified had Roman Reigns not contracted Covid-19 in early 2022.

WWE made the bold decision to unify the two World Championships last year, and Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38: Night Two to do just that. Reigns has defended the 'Undisputed WWE Universal Championship' since then and has held that specific title for 395 days. As Universal Champion, Reigns has dominated as champion for 976 days.

In a report from Fightful Select, it is said that WWE had no plans for the titles to be unified prior to the WWE Day 1 2022 Premium Live Event. That show was supposed to see Reigns defend the Universal Championship against Lesnar before the Tribal Chief contracted Covid.

Lesnar was instead added to the WWE Championship match and dethroned the champion Big E to win his title. It isn't clear when exactly WWE made the decision to move Lesnar to the other championship, but it is described as a "late decision." It is noted that as soon as WWE decided on Lesnar winning the WWE Championship, plans were made for the Unification match.

Within weeks of the two World Championships being unified, news broke that Reigns had signed a lucrative deal with WWE that would see him compete far less. Fightful Select reports that "there were some internal documents that indicated a plan to split the WWE and Universal Titles." Many expected a title split by WrestleMania 39 and the report adds there was a time when WWE planned on Seth Rollins or Drew McIntyre facing Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship.

It is also noted that plans were altered "within a few weeks" of being made and the idea of the titles being split was abandoned. It was not disclosed to Fightful how the titles were going to be split.