Roman Reigns continued his World Heavyweight Championship reign on the September 14th episode of Monday Night Raw when he defeated hometown hero Penta in Mexico City. The number one contender had battled through a gauntlet of luchador opponents to secure his spot opposite the Tribal Chief, and on fight night, he would make sure he did everything in his power to make the most of the opportunity.
Reigns Defeats Penta in Mexico City
The Mexican sensation hit Reigns with everything but the kitchen sink as he looked to claim his first world title, with repeated Mexican Destroyers leaving the thousands of spectators inside the Arena CDMX dreaming of him leaving the capital city with the gold. In the end, though, the Tribal Chief refused to stay down for the count of three. He would drill the challenger with a Superman Punch out of nowhere, before hitting one final Spear to secure the pinfall victory.
A Predictable Title Reign
The result was the expected one, and no one truly thought, in their heart of hearts, that Penta would leave the Mexican capital as the newly minted champ. In fact, even at WrestleMania when Reigns first won the title, the OTC has constantly been considered the betting favourite to leave whichever building he is in with the title in tow. At the Showcase of the Immortals back in April, online sports betting sites made Reigns a -350 favourite to dethrone CM Punk and claim the world title for the first time in two years, and he was up to the task.
Since then, the champion has regularly been favoured to continue his reign, and ultimately the betting odds have repeatedly been proven right. Jacob Fatu (twice), Seth Rollins, and now Penta have all stepped up, and all of them have been sent down, and Roman’s reign of terror shows no sign of slowing down. The current plan, both reportedly and quite obviously, is for Reigns to cling to the gold until WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia next April, where the likely Royal Rumble winner Oba Femi will challenge and potentially defeat him to become the new champion.
ROMAN REIGNS WINS THE 2026 ROYAL RUMBLE!
Who do you want to see him face in the Main Event of WrestleMania? 🤔
#RoyalRumble
https://t.co/zfinu9hQ4D
— Ozoon (@Ozoon_CA) January 31, 2026
SmackDown’s Slew of Shocking Title Changes
But as we have seen over on SmackDown, a shock title change can provide the perfect jolt of electricity to breathe new life into a show. The WWE Championship has had four separate reigns since the OTC won the World Heavyweight strap five months ago, with Sami Zayn twice shocking the world, firstly when he dethroned Cody Rhodes back in June, and then on the September 11th episode of SmackDown, also in Mexico City, when he shockingly knocked off CM Punk to reclaim the title.
Reigns surprisingly dropping the title before WrestleMania could be just the burst of energy Monday Night Raw needs, with the show becoming increasingly stale in recent months. So, if WWE were to pull the trigger on such a swerve, when could it happen? Here are three potential options.
Money in the Bank — October 10th
Reigns’ next title defence is already set in stone. In the aftermath of his victory against Penta, he confirmed to the world that he would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against LA Knight at Money in the Bank in New Orleans on October 10th. And while it may seem unlikely, that could well be the perfect place for a shock title change to happen.
LA Knight has been here before. Back in November 2023, the ‘Megastar’ was white hot and constantly receiving raucous reactions from WWE fans every time he appeared in any arena on the planet. But Reigns’ course was already set in stone, much like it is three years on. The OTC was going to reign as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion up until WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia the following April, and everyone knew it. Knight duly lost in his title challenge and dropped down to the midcard, and he has scratched and clawed his way for the three years since then to return to championship contention.
Now, he gets another crack at the whip, and chances are, history will repeat itself. Reigns will likely retain the title in New Orleans and send Knight all the way back down to the midcard once more. But we’re here to tell you that he shouldn’t.
Knight has carried a lacklustre Monday Night Raw for the vast majority of 2026, and he, much like Zayn over on SmackDown, deserves a championship reign. There’s no reason why Reigns can’t reclaim the title later down the line and embark upon his planned feud with Oba, but a stopgap in the middle of that road to WrestleMania would certainly be one that fans would welcome.
Survivor Series — November 28th
Should Reigns retain against Knight in The Big Easy, as unfortunately is expected, then his next appearance, barring a few episodes of Monday Night Raw, would be the November 28th Survivor Series PLE in Houston. And this would provide another opportunity for WWE to pull the trigger on a shocking swerve.
As of right now, this too seems somewhat unlikely. The seeds are currently being sown for a WarGames clash between Reigns’ Bloodline stable of Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and Jacob Fatu opposite Royce Keys’ newly crafted ‘946’ alongside NXT call-ups Bronco Nima and Lucien Price. However, the World Heavyweight Champion has repeatedly told his cousins to handle the business themselves, which could leave him open to defending the gold in the Lone Star State. Â clash between Reigns’ Bloodline stable of Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and Jacob Fatu opposite Royce Keys’ newly crafted ‘946’ alongside NXT call-ups Bronco Nima and Lucien Price. However, the World Heavyweight Champion has repeatedly told his cousins to handle the business themselves, which could leave him open to defending the gold in the Lone Star State.
Right now, opponents are looking thin. Reigns’ former Bloodline enforcer Solo Sikoa also seems to be primed and ready for a title shot should his on-screen ally Knight lose to the OTC at Money in the Bank. Could he then challenge Reigns for the title at Survivor Series, or would he join up with his real-life Bloodline family to try to solve their 946 problem? Either way, Reigns will be in Houston, and WWE will have the opportunity to pull the trigger on a shock title change should they have the cojones.
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