We now know the 12 competitors who will be taking part in the upcoming WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament, which begins on tonight’s episode of RAW.
The tournament will feature six Superstars from RAW, and six from SmackDown.
Raw
SmackDown
On Saturday, May 27, a brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned. Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque teased a major announcement ahead of the April 24 edition of “WWE Raw,” and after praising the current reign of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, he delivered on it by reviving and revealing a new incarnation of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. With the Draft set to return, starting this Friday on “SmackDown,” Levesque announced that Roman Reigns will take his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to whichever show drafts him. As for the holder of the new title for the other show, that will be decided at the Night of Champions event in Saudi Arabia.
“This will be a champion you can be proud of,” Triple H declared. “This will be a champion you can respect, that you can admire. This will be a champion that will defend this championship anywhere, any place, any time, all over the world.”
Then, in a not-so-subtle dig at Reigns, he finished his announcement by saying, “This champion will not have to demand your acknowledgment. This champion will earn your acknowledgment, and will earn the title of World Heavyweight Champion.”
Originally, the latest editions of The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments were planned for late May in Saudi Arabia. It would’ve marked the first time since October 2021, when Xavier Woods defeated Finn Balor to become King while Zelina Vega won the first-ever Queen’s Crown tournament by toppling Doudrop (Piper Niven) in the final. Now with the WWE Draft right around the corner and the fact that almost every star from the main roster on down through “NXT” is eligible, it remains to be seen just how WWE will crown its new World Heavyweight Champion come May 27.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Source: WrestlingINC
We noted before that Dean Ambrose was being referred to the WWE Champion on this week’s RAW, a sign that WWE has plans to use two world titles for the upcoming Brand Extension. That change has also been made on WWE’s website with the title now being referred to as just the WWE Championship, not the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE is expected to have two World champions once the brand extension takes place in three weeks. It should be noted that Dean Ambrose was only referred to as the “WWE Champion” on RAW last night. The change was also made on his name graphic and on the graphic for the Battleground triple threat match.
Source: WWE via WrestlingINC
The March 12th “March to WrestleMania: Live from Toronto” WWE Network special has been renamed to WWE Roadblock. WWE has confirmed Dean Ambrose vs. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H for the event. They announced the following:
The Road to WrestleMania has, quite literally, hit a roadblock. On March 12, aspecial event will take place on WWE Network that could completely alter thelandscape of The Show of Shows. That is because at WWE Roadblock, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H will put his title on the line against The Lunatic Fringe, LIVE at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.Roman Reigns captured his WrestleMania World Title opportunity at WWE Fastlane, but the following night on Raw, Triple H systematically dismantled his No. 1 contender and sent him into surgery. While he recouped from the assault, his brother-in-arms Ambrose decided to keep the 14-time World Champion busy — a challenge that The Cerebral Assassin accepted in painful fashion.
The Roadblock title match is already raising many questions. Will The Game even hold the esteemed gold when Reigns finally comes calling on April 3? After all, though Triple H is The Authority, authority is something Ambrose simply does not recognize. For The King of Kings, is conquering the completely unpredictable adversary easier said than done?
Moreover, if Ambrose does manage to defeat The Game, isn’t Triple H entitled to a rematch of his own? Plus, what will come of The Lunatic Fringe’s already established showdown against Brock Lesnar at The Showcase of the Immortals?
After Roman Reigns successfully defended his WWE World Heavyweight Title last night on RAW against Sheamus, Vince McMahon announced that Reigns will defend his title at the royal rumble pay-per-view against 29 other men in the Royal Rumble Match.
At the start of last night’s RAW, Vince and Stephanie McMahon’s plan to have Roman Reigns backfired and Vince was arrested instead for putting his hands on a police officer.
At the end of RAW, Vince came back to the arena after making bail and announced that next week on RAW Reigns will defend his WWE World Heavyweight Title against Sheamus and Vince will be the special guest referee.
Long-running wrestling news magazine, Pro Wrestling Illustrated announced this week that they are no longer recognizing TNA’s World Heavyweight Championship as a World Title. They will only recognize the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as World Title.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
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