At the Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns will once again have an opportunity to capture the WWE Universal championship from Kevin Owens. Their previous battles have been affected by outside interference and the involvement of Chris Jericho or Seth Rollins.
The story told by these matches is that it appears as if Owens can't win without assistance from Jericho. That will not be a factor this time, as Jericho will be incarcerated in a cage hanging over the ring.
As it stands, all indications are that a Reigns win is all but a foregone conclusion, as much as that may irritate some fans.
Reigns has been positioned to be the top guy on the Raw brand for some time now, and in stating that, it is thus only sensible that the top guy be the flagbearer for the brand.
He has faced his share of obstacles in his journey towards capturing the championship, and initially even took a backseat to a Rollins/Owens feud when Owens first won the belt.
Will Reigns walk away the champion now? We tend to believe so. It doesn't seem to really matter how many times Roman Reigns is beaten down, he manages to pick himself back up. And really that is how anyone should be measured.
Though Reigns has seemingly lost the support of a number of fans, with the cliché action for many being to jeer him, his winning the WWE Universal championship seems to be inevitable.
While his actions have at times put him under scrutiny, such as being suspended for a banned substance, that doesn't mean the company has shied away from the potential benefits that come with having Reigns as their champion.
If the story being told about him is that he ultimately wins in the end, that doesn't bode well for him. But behind the scenes, a number of his co-workers praise his dedication and hard work.
Those qualities, coupled with his looks, help explain why he has been built to be the one to lead the company into the next decade. They are committed to making him the face of the Raw brand, and having him hold the most valued title on that show is certainly the way to achieve that.
Fans remember that one of the best builds for a Wrestlemania matchup was the builds towards the battle between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. It truly reflected what the promotion could do, as it told the story of 'the irresistible force meeting the immovable object'.
Moments such as the near pin on Hogan early when Andre fell on him, or the body slam that Hogan hit Andre with, are still talked about today, illustrating the significance of the match.
While the match itself pales in comparison to the classic Steamboat/Savage match on the same night, it was what the event was centred around. A potential match that seems likely for this year's Wrestlemania is a Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns clash.
Here’s a video of the two men going at it in 2015:
We don't think the match will be bad, but only because Reigns will work to make it the best match possible, given the lack of experience on Strowman's part. This match seems probable to be a co-main event at Wrestlemania, and the first step towards it will be Reigns capturing the title at Royal Rumble.
One of the concerns regarding Reigns capturing the Universal title at Roadblock: End of the Line was that he would have walked away with two championships.
While Seth Rollins has held both the WWE and United States championships' simultaneously, the company probably didn't want to repeat that, as it would suggest that Reigns is so good that he holds two championships. This is no longer a factor now that Reigns has lost the US title to Chris Jericho.
It appears that a fairly consistent element of Reigns' booking is the need to have him be hungry in pursuit of the championship while facing seemingly insurmountable odds. That was essentially his booking for the last two Wrestlemanias.
It isn't new by any stretch, and it can be rather boring to watch. To have him defeat Owens would mean that he would not only be a champion but that he would be be THE champion, heading into Mania.
A champion that faced the odds, overcame them and was once again held in such high regard that he has become the promotion's newest Universal champion. His rivalry with Owens is drawing to a close, and a pay-off with a championship win will make it all the more rewarding.
Whoever came up with the old adage that every dog has its day must have been thinking about the Big Dog when they wrote it. A rather thin Raw roster doesn't give many options for people who would challenge Owens post-Royal Rumble if he was ultimately victorious over Reigns.
Consider for a minute that he and Rollins already battled each other for a couple of months over the Universal title, and Rollins came away from the feud unsuccessful in his pursuit of the championship.
Add to that, the injury suffered by Finn Balor will sideline him until the early spring, and that doesn't leave many options to choose from.
Also read: 5 reasons Roman Reigns should defeat Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble
The result is that Reigns is really the only legitimate option to capture the title at the moment, the only one on Raw who carries that main event status. Eventually, others in the mid-card could get that, such as Sami Zayn, but not in time for Wrestlemania.
Plus, at the moment, it appears that Rollins is headed in a different direction, with an impending feud against Triple H on the horizon.
It's difficult at times to convince people to like something when all indications are that they won't. When Roman Reigns was the slow brooding muscle of The Shield, he was cheered on by fans.
In the 2014 Royal Rumble, he was supported by fans who were resentful of the returning Batista, who was the victim of a tonne of jeers. The roles were reversed the following year, when Reigns was one of the last two in the ring, with Rusev.
Fans jeered the Reigns win mercilessly, knowing he was set to face Brock Lesnar for the championship at Wrestlemania. Since then, he has been subject to constant jeers from a large section of the fanbase.
Booked as the wounded hero, Reigns has often been made to take a beating only to overcome and be the ultimate victor. But fans are tired of having someone the size and build of Reigns being portrayed as a wounded hero.
Have Reigns simply come in and destroy guys two on one or three on one, be to Braun Strowman what Braun has been to everyone else in his path. If WWE want him to be the top face, they will need to learn from their mistakes and not deter fans from cheering for him.
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