Post-WrestleMania Plans for Reigns, Lesnar; Ricochet's WWE Push; Gargano-AEW Rumors

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

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Plan for WWE, Universal Titles After WrestleMania

While Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar are set to do battle in a title unification match in the main event of WrestleMania 38, there are reportedly plans in place to keep the WWE and Universal Championships separate after WrestleMania.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc's Matthew Wilkinson), WWE intends on having a world champion for each brand coming out of WrestleMania, much like there is now.

Currently, Reigns is the head of SmackDown as universal champion, while Lesnar is the top guy on Raw as WWE champion.

The fact that their match is being billed as a unification bout suggests there will be one undisputed world champion coming out of WrestleMania, but Meltzer's report suggests otherwise.

The last time two top titles were put on the line in the same match was at WrestleMania 35 when Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair faced each other in the Triple Threat main event for both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships.

Lynch was victorious, giving her both titles and the moniker of Becky 2 Belts.

Coming out of WrestleMania, Lynch defended both titles separately, losing the SmackDown women's title in short order while holding the Raw women's title for over a year.

The big difference between that situation and the one involving Reigns vs. Lesnar is that Lynch vs. Rousey vs. Flair was never billed as a title unification match.

The wording of Reigns vs. Lesnar seems to make it quite clear that there will be one world champion at WrestleMania, whether that means the brand split ends or the singular world champion appears on both Raw and SmackDown.

It is possible the winner of the WrestleMania match could vacate one of the titles coming out of WrestleMania with a tournament or match being held to determine the new holder of the vacated title.

One other possibility is that Lesnar does not enter WrestleMania as WWE champion since he is scheduled to defend the title at the Madison Square Garden live event in New York City on Saturday.

If both Reigns and Lesnar are champions heading into WrestleMania, though, The Showcase of the Immortals will end with one of them holding both championships high in the air.

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Ricochet Reportedly in Line for Big Push on SmackDown

Ricochet is reportedly being positioned for a big run on SmackDown as one of the brand's top babyfaces.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t WrestlingInc's Marc Middleton), WWE is internally listing Ricochet as the No. 2 face on SmackDown's roster behind only Drew McIntyre.

If true, that could explain why Ricochet seems to be getting put in position for a significant push in the near future.

On Friday's episode of SmackDown, Ricochet confronted intercontinental champion Sami Zayn backstage after Zayn laid out Johnny Knoxville in the ring. Ricochet challenged Zayn to an IC title match, and WWE official Adam Pearce agreed to give him a title opportunity on the next edition of SmackDown.

Ricochet has been receiving regular television time lately on SmackDown, but it hasn't been in a particularly high-profile spot, as he has been feuding with Sheamus and Ridge Holland.

Now, with Sheamus and Holland starting something up with New Day last week, Ricochet appears to be moving on to bigger and better things.

If Ricochet is getting a push, it stands to reason that he could beat Zayn on Friday and become the new intercontinental champion, perhaps with some help from Knoxville.

That would potentially set the stage for a rematch at WrestleMania with Knoxville in Ricochet's corner.

Everything is speculation for now, but the manner in which Ricochet is booked Friday should say a lot about how WWE views him and what the plans are for him on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

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Gargano Reportedly Not Joining AEW in Near Future

Speculation has run rampant regarding Johnny Gargano signing with AEW ever since his WWE contract expired, but such a move reportedly isn't imminent.

According to Meltzer (h/t Michael Perry of Ringside News), people had been expecting Gargano to debut for AEW "any week now," but he shouldn't be expected to sign with AEW for at least another month.

Meltzer noted that Jeff Hardy and Shane Strickland are expected to join AEW soon, but he gave no such assurances for Gargano.

The 34-year-old Gargano, who was a staple on NXT, saw his WWE contract run out in December. WWE wrote him off television by having Grayson Waller attack him in the midst of his farewell speech.

Gargano has not wrestled for any promotion since then, and he has instead focused on the birth of his son with NXT star Candice LeRae.

On Monday, Johnny Wrestling tweeted his booking email, noting that while he is willing to potentially take bookings, he wants to remain a free agent for now:

That means Gargano could possibly make some appearances for independent companies or even bigger wrestling promotions, although he would do so without being contractually tied to them long-term.

Since his WWE contract expired, Gargano has started Twitch and YouTube channels, and he reopened his Pro Wrestling Tees store as well. None of those things would have been possible while under a WWE contract.

That could be a sign that the former NXT champion has shut the door on signing a new deal with WWE, or they could simply be temporary revenue streams until he returns.

Both AEW and WWE would conceivably have plenty of interest in signing a wrestler the caliber of Gargano, but for now, the ball is in his court and he can pursue anything and everything he wants to try in wrestling.

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