WWE News: Update On Sheamus’ Short Title Reign, Brock Lesnar To Be Added To Title Mix?

The reason that WWE put the World Heavyweight championship on Sheamus for a short amount of time was to further establish Roman Reigns as a top fan favorite, according to Daily Wrestling News.

Last month at WWE Survivor Series, Reigns defeated Dean Ambrose in the finals of a tournament to crown a new WWE champion but lost the title just over five minutes later to Sheamus. The “Celtic Warrior” cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Reigns for the title. Before deciding on that finish, several people were pitching a heel turn for either Reigns or Ambrose, per Daily Wrestling News’ report.

However, WWE chairman Vince McMahon was reportedly “not budging” on turning either man, something the Inquisitr had reported was a strong possibility beforehand. Instead, Sheamus left Survivor Series as champion, and that decision ultimately resulted in Reigns’ crowning moment.

With ratings in a decline and general fan interest plummeting, the WWE was able to parlay Reigns’ frustrating on-screen issues into a newfound rage. After Reigns’ chance to win the title at WWE TLC was ruined, he proceeded to dismantle Triple H as the crowd went berserk. With the fans firmly cemented on his side, Reigns walked into Monday Night RAW the next night and was granted a rematch by McMahon with the stipulation being if he lost, he was fired.

Reigns made the most of his rematch with Sheamus, fending off the League of Nations and McMahon himself, en route to winning the title. That was the intended direction all along, to have Sheamus’ short title reign help in building up sympathy for Reigns when he finally got the title back.

As for the WWE TLC pay-per-view, Daily Wrestling News’ report adds that WWE considered bringing Brock Lesnar in for the show. The reason would have been to set up a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match involving Lesnar, but the company ultimately decided to keep Lesnar off the show.

Due to the way that Lesnar’s contract is structured, he has certain dates already committed and if the WWE wants him to work additional dates, they have to pay him more money. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but the problem is that future plans for Lesnar “still aren’t settled on,” and WWE didn’t want to bring him in if they don’t have a concrete direction for him.

There are rumors of a potential Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt match for Wrestlemania 32, but those are far from confirmed. If that match were to happen, the WWE World Championship would likely not be involved as Reigns is expected to enter Wrestlemania 32 as champion.

Lesnar returned to in-ring action this past weekend at a WWE Live event in Inglewood, California. The “Beast Incarnate” challenge Alberto Del Rio for the WWE United States championship, but the match ended up a no contest. Del Rio’s fellow League of Nations member Rusev made his way to the ring and assaulted Lesnar, leading to a disqualification. Lesnar proceeded to dismantle both Del Rio and Rusev.

The next scheduled appearance for Lesnar is at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana for the January 11 edition of RAW. At this time, Lesnar is not scheduled for the Royal Rumble, but reports suggest that he will be at the event in some capacity.

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