The WWE has long been known for rewriting their own history from every angle that benefits them in the current time period.
But astute fans remember there was a competitive women’s division in the 1980s led by Wendi Richter, who was fired after reportedly asking for fair pay, and a tag team division that wasn’t just a handful of teams.
WWE’s Bait and Switch – Is the New Heavyweight Championship Meant to Shield Roman Reigns Record Run?
But the one constant is there was one world heavyweight championship and that was held by the top draw in the company.
A world title holder for a company is their flagbearer. He’s the face of the company and what is hoped will bring in the most ticket and merchandise sales.
But that was then.
Over the last twenty years, the championships in the WWE have become nothing more than props used for storylines and to sell merchandise.
Now, it’s easier to trip over a title than ever before, and Triple H recently unveiled the new World Heavyweight Championship belt that will be for Raw and will be defended regularly.
Setting the stage
At the time, it felt like Triple H was taking shots at Vince McMahon’s golden boy Roman Reigns, who after nearly a decade of being forced down fans’ throats as a face found his best gimmick as a heel.
While the Tribal Chief character was cool and fresh early on, it’s become stale and Reigns needs help to win just about every match.
Add to that the new contract he negotiated and signed that made him a part timer, and he’s not what fans would expect form a champion.
And now that he’s going to stay on Smackdown, he’ll be able to continue his dominant run since there are only a couple of competitors that could challenge him at the moment.
Needing that record
More than anything, Reigns’ run as both Universal and WWE Champion seems to be solely to break records and update the record books.
It’s been reported that the WWE feels they have to “update” their records with some long runs, and with Reigns topping 1000 days as champion (Something we’re reminded a few times every episode), he’s inching closer.
And here’s where the fan theory of a bait and switch comes into play.
With a new title that will be defended regularly, it is believed by many that the WWE hopes to draw attention from Reigns’ inactivity and defenses.
This will allow him to fly under the radar, so to speak, and run out the next three or so years until he eclipses Bruno Sammartino’s all time record.
If this is true, and it feels like a distinct possibility, then once again the WWE is showing it’s not about entertaining their fans, but promoting records and convincing us to spend our money to watch a milestone after milestone fall.
What do you think? Is the WWE doing a bait and switch? Let us know in the comments below.
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