WWE Announces Roman Reigns' First Title Defense Since WrestleMania
Roman Reigns has been the champion for over 1,000 days and to commemorate that on a recent SmackDown, Triple H gave the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion a new belt. The main criticism of Roman's reign, especially of late, however, has been that Roman Reigns doesn't defend his championship. He wasn't at Backlash, at Night of Champions he competed for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship, and at Money in the Bank it's looking more and more like Roman and Solo Sikoa vs The Usos. It could be until SummerSlam in August that Reigns defends his championship again.
Surprisingly though, WWE and Cincinnati's Heritage Bank Center have announced Roman's next defense, and it's coming much sooner, as in this Saturday, June 17. Unfortunately, it's not a televised defense, as Reigns is set to take on none other than Rey Mysterio in the main event of a live event from Cincinnati. The fans in attendance will not only get to see Reigns, but a supershow of combined Raw and SmackDown stars, despite WWE's reinforced brand split in the draft. World Champion Seth Rollins will be there, along with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Raw stars Gunther and Matt Riddle, and SmackDown stars The Usos.
This Won't Be The First Time Rey Mysterio Has Challenged Roman Reigns
Rey Mysterio is having one of the best years of his career at the age of 48. Not only did he become a WWE Hall of Famer, but he had a stellar feud with his son, Dominik Mysterio, and became part of the reinvented fan favorite faction, the LWO. This won't be the first time Mysterio has challenged Roman Reigns during his title run. Almost two years ago to the date, on June 20, 2021, Rey Mysterio took on Roman Reigns in a Hell in a Cell match during WWE's Thunderdome era.
There was a time when it was commonplace for WWE's Champions to defend their titles at house shows every weekend, but with Reigns' part-time status, having him be at a live event at all is big news. Roman Reigns defending his title won't the only big wrestling event happening this Saturday. June 17 is also the debut of AEW Collision and the return of CM Punk, with he and FTR set to take on Samoa Joe, Jay White, and Juice Robinson.
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