WWE 5 Biggest Storylines This Week: Paige’s return, call-ups and Ember Moon’s moment

Credit: WWE.com

4. Roman Reigns is the new Intercontinental Champion

The Big Dog’s journey to the Universal Championship has reached another stop. Roman Reigns defeated The Miz on Raw to win the Intercontinental Title for the first time in his career, while also becoming the 17th Grand Slam champion in WWE history.

It might seem counterintuitive to give Reigns the mid-card title just months before he’s expected to dethrone Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. After all he’ll likely need to drop the championship before then. But it could be a smart move. The WWE’s attention is focused on getting Reigns cheered, and so far it’s working while he works alongside his Shield brothers with The Miz as his antagonist.

As Intercontinental Champion, Reigns can avoid Lesnar at the Royal Rumble and stay away from him until WrestleMania. That then opens the door for The Big Dog to either win the Rumble match itself, or become the No. 1 contender to Lesnar’s championship soon after on Raw.

Becoming a Grand Slam champion also places another feather in his cap. Reigns’ to-do list in 2017 included retiring The Undertaker, defeating John Cena, reuniting The Shield and now completing the set of championships. It’s doubtful this was the plan all along, but everything is working towards the end game of setting up Reigns as the guy at WrestleMania. This is another step along the way.