Brock Lesnar Officially Moving to RAW, Completing Swap Of WWE's Heavyweight Titles

Paul Heyman announced on last night's edition of SmackDown that WWE Champion Brock Lesnar was "quitting" the brand in order to go to RAW and chase after Rey Mysterio.

In our coverage of the segment, I speculated that this was being done to officially move the WWE title to RAW. With Bray Wyatt, a SmackDown star, now holding the Universal title, the company needed to handle the logistical problem of having both titles on the same show. Lesnar's move to RAW gives both brands a heavyweight championship once again.

From our coverage:

This move makes a lot of sense with the WWE Universal Champion, Bray Wyatt, a member of the SmackDown roster. It looks like this may be how WWE handles the conundrum of having both of their world champions on the same roster. Lesnar quitting SmackDown likely means the WWE title will now be RAW's world championship.

According to Tony Maglio of The Wrap, this is indeed the case. In an exclusive report, Maglio confirms that Lesnar's move to RAW is permanent. It's a bit surprising given that Lesnar on SmackDown made a lot of sense from FOX's perspective. Lesnar is the most famous name among the general public on the active WWE roster.

In the report, Maglio notes that the plan was not always for Lesnar to be a "short term rental" for FOX, so the move to RAW was recently decided. One has to speculate if the situation with Wyatt and Seth Rollins had anything to do with that, forcing WWE's hand here. Wyatt was drafted to SmackDown but was in a position where he pretty much had to win the Universal Championship following the disastrous finish to Hell In A Cell. This left WWE in the awkward situation of having both of their heavyweight champions on the same brand.

They could have always moved Wyatt back to RAW as well, but with the match against Velasquez planned and Rey Mysterio's involvement as a RAW superstar feuding with Lesnar in recent weeks, they had a built in storyline for moving Lesnar to RAW. Mysterio attacked Lesnar following his quick victory over Velasquez at Crown Jewel so now Lesnar is out for revenge.

What do you think of Brock Lesnar's move to RAW? Let us know in the comments section below or give me a follow on Twitter for all things WWE @ryandroste.