Roman Reigns hasn't defended WWE's unified titles on Raw, SmackDown, or premium live events since winning them at WrestleMania 38, and a recent report indicates that this might not have always been the plan. WWE was always going to go out of its way to make Reigns feel like a big deal after he beat Brock Lesnar. Not involving him in any one-on-one matches across three consecutive premium live events—assuming he is kept off of the Money In The Bank card as expected—has been a bit much in the eyes of some.
Pitting Reigns against Lesnar at the Show of Shows and involving both titles was meant to make WrestleMania 38 feel larger than life. The bout had a big-fight vibe, and even if the match itself underdelivered to some degree, The Tribal Cheif was essentially handed the keys to both Raw and SmackDown with the victory. It just sounds like he was supposed to be on television more often than he has been.
In a recent tweet, @WrestleVotes wrote the following: "According to a source, the creative decision to unity [sic] the titles was with the understanding it would allow Roman Reigns to appear on BOTH shows more regularly." The account then added, "…maybe that wasn’t the best decision."
With things like this, it's always best to take it with a grain of salt. Without knowing who the source is and what that source's track record is like, it could be anyone trying to make fans think or feel in particular ways. There are always agendas to consider, after all. This note holds a ton of merit, though. Since WrestleMania, fans have been wondering why Reigns hasn't been around more often. After Reigns signed a new, updated deal, it was made clear that he'd be doing smaller house shows and the like less frequently, but the belief was that he'd still be making appearances on Raw, SmackDown, and at least some of the premium live events. That hasn't been the case at all.
Reigns worked Backlash, albeit in a six-man tag alongside The Usos. He didn't wrestle at Hell In A Cell and doesn't appear to be in line to perform at Money In The Bank. And he hasn't defended the unified title on either the red or blue brand since 'Mania, which was on April 3. In fact, he hasn't wrestled a solo match on Raw since August 19, 2019, and he hasn't worked a one-on-one bout on SmackDown since December 3, 2021. That will change when he squares off against Riddle on June 17, but that's still a lengthy run of nondefense. While no one anticipated Reigns fighting each and every week on live TV, it sounds like at least one person backstage was under the impression that he'd be more present on both brands after unifying the titles.
Source: @WrestleVotes