The WWE was forced to change their SummerSlam plans when Roman Reigns violated the Wellness Policy back in June. The latest rumors have revealed the original plans for WWE's biggest event of the summer.
Reigns was the WWE World Heavyweight champion when he tested positive for Adderall leading to a 30-day suspension. He also dropped the title to Seth Rollins, who later lost it to Dean Ambrose. The Guy got some backstage heat and he was punished by getting pushed down the midcard.
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), Reigns and Rollins were supposed to face off at SummerSlam for the WWE World Championship. The original plan for the brand extension is to have the WWE World title on Raw while the WWE Universal title on SmackDown.
It is also noted that A.J. Styles was originally scheduled to become the first-ever WWE Universal champion. Finn Balor, who got the push for Reigns, won the Universal championship at SummerSlam was penciled on to take on Chris Jericho.
However, those plans were eventually scrapped because of Reigns getting suspended and subsequently punished. Reigns went into a feud with Rusev for the United States championship while Rollins put over Balor.
Ambrose is still the WWE World champion and Styles is his new No. 1 contender. Chris Jericho was put in a tag tea with Kevin Owens and everything worked out perfectly with the exception of Balor's shoulder injury.
Nevertheless, the WWE is always ready to adapt and they will come up with new storylines. As recapped by WWE.com, the new WWE Universal champion is going to be decided in a Fatal 4-Way Match next week on Raw.
Reigns, Rollins, Owens and Big Cass all earned their spots in the match by winning their respective singles matches. The favorites to win the "bloody" title are Reigns and Rollins, who were originally scheduled to face each other at SummerSlam.
It has been a very bizarre year for the WWE with injuries and suspensions. Sasha Banks and Balor are out with injuries while Reigns, Paige, Alberto Del Rio and Eva Marie violated the Wellness Policy and received 30-day suspensions.
The WWE shows have been very good ever since the brand extension last July and it will continue to flourish as long as better stories are created. Check out the video below to see Reigns defeat Jericho to earn his spot in the Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Universal Championship.