The WWE seems hell-bent on making Roman Reigns the biggest star in their company, whether the fans like it or not. While the company lowered Roman down in the pecking order after he failed a WWE drug test, it looks like he is ready to take his spot at the top again. Comic Book reported that Dave Meltzer said that the WWE has plans for Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania opponent next year and it will start with him winning the Universal Championship from Kevin Owens.
These WWE rumors also bring back someone else the WWE has been wanting to push to the moon for a while. The rumored WWE plans are for Roman Reigns to defend his Universal Championship at WrestleMania in 2017 against the giant, Braun Strowman.
Interestingly, this sounds similar to plans for Braun Strowman at this year’s WrestleMania event. The WWE wanted to set up Braun Strowman to battle Brock Lesnar at the biggest show of the year, but then decided that Braun wasn’t ready for the fight at that time and had Strowman just stand at ringside as The Rock beat Erick Rowan.
The original idea for Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman was set up in the Royal Rumble when The Wyatt Family attacked and beat down Brock Lesnar. Because Braun was not yet ready, they changed things around and put Dean Ambrose in the feud with Brock Lesnar.
This year should be different. Braun Strowman was moved out of the Wyatt Family at the WWE brand split draft and was set up on Monday Night Raw fighting jobbers every week. It was Braun Strowman that helped make James Ellsworth a star.
More recently, the WWE chose to elevate Braun Strowman through strategic matches against lesser stars like Sin Cara and then against the very popular Sami Zayn. He also got a chance to represent Team Raw in the match against Team SmackDown Live at Survivor Series , proving that the WWE looks at him like a star. He teamed with Roman Reigns in that match.
Forbes reported that the next feud for Braun Strowman after Sami Zayn will be against The Big Show. The two are expected to take part in a number of big man matches and tests of strength so that Big Show can pass on the mantle of the WWE giant onto Strowman.
The idea next is for Braun Strowman to challenge Roman Reigns at WrestleMania for the Universal Championship. If the WWE is possibly planning the John Cena vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania to be for the WWE Championship, then there is a chance that this means Braun Strowman will win the Royal Rumble .
The question then is whether or not the WWE fans will accept that. The WWE Universe has rebelled against the last three Royal Rumble events, hating both Batista and Roman Reigns winning in 2014-15 and only enjoying it slightly better when Triple H came in to eliminate Reigns towards the end of the 2016 version. If the WWE has a fourth year in a row where the WWE fans don’t like the winner, some fans might lose interest in this once-prestigious event.
Forbes also reported that the original plan was for Roman Reigns to beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in order to legitimize his position at the top of the card. That looks to have changed, especially after Goldberg beat Brock, and their rematch looks to be coming at WrestleMania .
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If Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman is in the cards, and the WWE Universal Championship is the prize, then it looks like Kevin Owens will lose his title either this month or at the Royal Rumble itself. It looks like Roman Reigns is roaring back to the top of the WWE, whether fans are ready for it or not.
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