4 Predictions for WWE Raw: January 9, 2017

WWE.com

Roman Reigns Loses the United States Championship

The United States Championship is usually not booked very well. Aside from John Cena’s reign in which he held the open challenges, WWE can’t seem to make look like an important title. The same goes for Reigns’ current…uh…reign, with the championship. In fairness to him, he’s been defending it. It just hasn’t been in a meaningful way as he is currently involved in a feud for the Universal Championship.

But just because he’s not involved in an in-depth feud over the belt doesn’t mean he can’t lose it. Reigns is set to put the title on the line tonight against Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho in a handicap match. And although it isn’t clear how exactly the match will work as far as who becomes champion if Owens and Jericho win, we’re predicting Reigns to lose the title tonight.

This feels like the hundredth time Reigns has put the title on the line against Owens and/or Jericho. And in the matches against Jericho specifically, it always feels like maybe Y2J will figure out a way to come out on top. Why? Because Reigns doesn’t need the title during his pursuit of the Universal Championship. And Jericho having the US title would make his tandem with Owens look even more powerful.

It would also make fans wonder if Reigns could actually beat Owens at the Royal Rumble for the Universal title. If he goes into the match as the US champ, people will assume he’s not going to win simply because having someone as a dual champion is rare. Seth Rollins did it, but that was because he explicitly wanted to be the US and WWE Champion. With Reigns it would just be awkward.

For these reasons, we’re projecting Reigns to finally lose his United States Championship tonight.