Why Roman Reigns should lose the World Heavyweight Championship before WWE WrestleMania 43, and why he probably won’t

WWE

Numerous WWE stars could serve as problems for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns in the near future, as we approach the end of 2026.

From LA Knight and the 946 to whoever wins the Money in the Bank ladder match, The OTC will not be short on potential opponents anytime soon.

Despite this, Reigns’ history with lengthy title reigns has many fans convinced that the Tribal Chief will still be champion heading into WrestleMania 43 season, as we slowly approach the Show of Shows.

While Reigns is the favorite to win his upcoming title defense, there has been some speculation about the World Heavyweight Champion potentially being dethroned before the end of 2026.

In reality, a Roman Reigns title loss could actually do wonders for Raw, the road to WrestleMania 43, and Roman Reigns himself.

Here’s why Roman Reigns losing the World Heavyweight Championship could be great for WWE.

“That’s one fine looking world title picture… Why doesn’t line look like that?” – Raw, probably.

The Undisputed WWE Championship picture is super exciting right now, with there being an air of unpredictability surrounding the gold.

The top prize on SmackDown has changed hands five times in 2026 so far, first with Drew McIntyre defeating Cody Rhodes for the gold in a Three Stages of Hell match on the January 9 SmackDown episode.

Rhodes won back the gold on the March 6 edition of SmackDown, ahead of a first-time champion being crowned at Night of Champions, with Sami Zayn finally winning WWE’s top prize.

Zayn was only champion for nine days before CM Punk won the gold in his return match on the July 6 Raw show in Chicago.

Sami Zayn currently holds the Undisputed WWE Championship, having defeated Punk to win the title back on September 11.

Not only does the title frequently changing hands make it feel like championship switches could take place in any given defense, SmackDown has also built up multiple stars as top contenders, with the likes of CM Punk, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano all looking like credible threats to the WWE Championship.

Meanwhile, the World Heavyweight Championship has only changed hands once this year, with Roman Reigns winning the gold from CM Punk in the main event of WrestleMania 42.

Since then, Reigns has defended the gold four times; against Jacob Fatu at Backlash and Clash In Italy in May, against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, and against #1 contender’s tournament winner Penta on the September 14 Raw in Mexico City.

To put that into perspective, Roman Reigns has defended the World Heavyweight Championship just one more time than the Undisputed WWE Championship has CHANGED HANDS in the same period of time.

Yes, the title defenses have been good matches so far, but when fans don’t believe the gold is leaving Reigns’ shoulder anytime soon, they lack the unpredictability which has been present in bouts in SmackDown’s world title scene.

The future is… waiting

Night of Champions in June saw Sami Zayn win his first WWE world championship, defeating Cody Rhodes and GUNTHER to reach the top of the mountain.

Not only has a first-time Undisputed WWE Champion been crowned this year, the likes of Johnny Gargano and Trick Williams have interacted with Sami Zayn recently, teasing future matches where new first-time world champions could be crowned.

Raw is not short on stars who could win a world title for the first time either, with there being some debate recently about the likes of LA Knight, Penta, Jacob Fatu and Bron Breakker potentially becoming the face of the red brand in the future.

The difference is that there’s only one star who the masses believe could seriously pose a threat to Roman’s reign, in a match which WWE appears to be saving for a special occasion.

Roman Reigns recently made headlines by stating that he believes Cody Rhodes is the only other star capable of carrying the company’s banner. In reality, nobody has the chance to prove that they can carry the company’s banner when Reigns holds onto that banner for multiple years at a time.

Some people will argue that the Undisputed WWE Championship is being “hot potato-ed” around too much, but the only way to build new main eventers is to – drum roll please – put new people in main event matches.

The Ruler in the room

With Oba Femi issuing a challenge to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42, it has been heavily speculated that The Ruler will be the star to dethrone Roman Reigns.

Previous reports have indicated that WWE plans for this match to take place at WrestleMania 43, one whole year in the making.

If Roman Reigns keeps the World Heavyweight Championship until April 2027, that would mean we’re set for six more months of sporadic title matches where most of the audience can already guess the result.

Of course, this gives WWE the opportunity to give us a huge surprise and have another star dethrone The OTC ahead of the WrestleMania season.

LA Knight is set to challenge for the gold at Money in the Bank, but he is just one star who Raw fans want to see hold the World Heavyweight Championship.

I’ll acknowledge that Roman Reigns is great as the face of the company, but with Reigns publicly discussing retirement plans, it’s time for WWE to acknowledge other stars on the roster.

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