Roman Reigns has main evented the past two WrestleManias, but it seems that he could be forced to take a back seat this year unless WWE decides to push a mid-card talent up to main event level before April.
The current rumour is that Roman Reigns could be set to go one-on-one with former Wyatt Family member, Braun Strowman, at the biggest event of the year.
Braun Strowman is currently unpinned and undefeated since he was drafted away from The Wyatt Family and onto Raw back in July, and was even saved from being pinned at this year’s Survivor Series when he was instead counted out.
This allows his undefeated streak to continue and it now looks like the plan is to have Braun open up a feud with The Big Show that will see the duo face off in various body slam challenges.
It is thought that this will then lead into a rivalry with Roman Reigns after The Royal Rumble which will then culminate at the biggest show of the year.
It will be the first time in three years that Roman hasn’t fought for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, after facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 and defeating Triple H at WrestleMania 32.
Braun has never taken part in a WrestleMania, but it seems that this could be the match where WWE finally feed Strowman to Reigns in the hope that the WWE Universe will react the way they have wanted them to for the past two years.
Since The Shield broke up back in 2014, WWE has been attempting to push Reigns to the top of the company but ultimately failing when it comes to getting the former World Champion over with the WWE Universe.
Roman is now a three-time World Champion but he is still not considered to be the most successful member of The Shield with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins gaining much more favour with the WWE Universe.
Recently Roman Reigns has begun teasing a reunion with former Shield member Seth Rollins and this seems to have helped his reaction when it comes to the WWE audience, but without Dean Ambrose it isn’t considered an official reunion.
The trio teased their fangirls at Survivor Series this past week when they performed their trademark triple powerbomb on AJ Styles for the first time since Payback 2015, when Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose faced off in a fatal four-way match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and executed their signature maneuver on Orton.
This was considered to have been one of the biggest moments of Survivor Series this year, but it still wasn’t enough for the WWE Universe, who still heavily booed Roman the following night on Raw.
If Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns do collide at WrestleMania, that means neither man will be winning next year’s Royal Rumble, which is a positive considering Reigns has already won one, and it seems too soon for Braun.
The Rumble is still wide open for the first time in more than three years and could set up an epic main event match at WrestleMania. Whilst this may seem like a step backwards for Reigns who has been at the top of the WWE ladder for a while, it will be a good way for WWE to see how Roman Reigns performs when he isn’t on top and allow him to then climb back up to the main event when the audience is ready for him.
