Roman Reigns takes on Rusev tomorrow night in what should hopefully be the conclusion to a feud that has had a stranglehold over WWE’s mid-card ever since both men were drafted onto the Raw roster.
The rivalry was never fully concluded at SummerSlam with both men brawling outside of the ring and the match never being able to be officially started. The night before Rusev attempted to fight Roman for the honor of his new wife Lana and essentially failed miserably, which couldn’t have helped The Bulgarian Brute’s mood heading into their match.
On paper, this has been a fantastic feud for both men involved, it has transformed Rusev into a future main event player on Monday night Raw whilst also allowing Reigns to be put in a position on the card where the fans are not booing him and he’s not under as much pressure with his promos.
Even though many fans are not ready to admit it, Roman has been showing signs of improvement both in and out of the ring recently, and it seems WWE’s plan to keep him away from the World title picture and allow him to legitimize himself in the mid-card is working.
Rusev has done an excellent job of ensuring Reigns gains the babyface reaction WWE wanted as well as remaining the essential heel that he has become so well known for. Even though Lana also adds a lot to the feud as well, it seems that WWE are also looking to build Rusev into a much bigger superstar with a shot at the main Raw title on the cards in the near future.
Rusev has held on to the United States Championship for a while now so it does make sense that he should drop the title to the former Shield member in an attempt to cement Roman’s revival in the mid-card and allow Rusev to move on to other things.
Both men are expected to move onto new feud’s and chapters following their showdown tomorrow night but it is thought that Roman Reigns will be the one who comes out on top in this battle. Since his suspension for his first violation of WWE’s Wellness Policy, Roman has had to build his career back up and prove that he deserves to be in the position he is in.
It seems he is finally ready to prove that and he is about to lift his first title since then and is fully expected to go on to have a long reign with the Championship. One that would almost definitely last until WrestleMania season next year.
Since John Cena won the United States Championship at WrestleMania in 2015 WWE have been adament that they want to build the prestigue of the mid-card title and Cena managed that for a good few months before he was forced out of action and had to drop the Championship to the recently departed Alberto Del Rio. It seems that keeping Reigns out of the world title picture and giving him a lengthy run with the US title would be a perfect way to continue what John Cena had already started.
There is a lot that Roman could offer the title going forward, with Rusev obviously needing a rematch, Roman could then turn his attention to the winner of the Best of Seven Series between Sheamus and Cesaro, to see who his next challenger is.
Raw has done a good job of creating competition on the mid-card and with someone like Roman at the helm, it could be an exciting few months for the flag ship show. Especially if Cesaro is the one to win the match because a Cesaro vs Reigns feud would definitely be a highlight.
Even though rumors are never set in stone, Roman Reigns is expected to pick up the United States Championship before his fued with Rusev is over, whether that’s tomorrow night, or in a months time at Hell in a Cell still remains to be seen.
WWE has now shown their cards and revealed that they finally have the perfect postion on the roster for Reigns, a position where he can fully enjoy his wrestling, he can hold a Championship and he isn’t under as much pressure as the World Champion.
