Roman Reigns retained his United States Championship in one heck of a match on Sunday night. It opened the show, and I don’t think people expected much from it, at first, but what we got was a hellacious battle, which included some pretty amazing spots and had me hyped for what seemed like the culmination of the feud.
Rusev really took it to the United Stated Champion, and when he locked in The Accolade on top of the steel stairs, with the chain right across Reigns’ mouth, I thought we’d see the former Shield member tap out. Alas, it was not to be, and the Super Samoan fought his way out and managed to get the pinfall victory.
After such an amazing match, the question is, where does Roman go from here? How does he build on the Roman Empire and get the fans behind him? I remember a time long ago, namely the 2014 Royal Rumble when the fans were wholly behind Roman and his gimmick.
In the following months, WWE shoved his character, and his unbeatable status down the fans’ throats and people swiftly changed their mind, about the man who eliminated 12 men from a single Royal Rumble match. Even The Rock couldn’t help him win the crowd.
I live in the hope that Roman Reigns can reach those heights again and rebuild his character to some degree. Can these following options help him regain his popularity and make his way back to superstardom?
Let’s find out…
#5 A continued rivalry
Why let the rivalry end at Hell in a Cell?
From a feud that began in an underwhelming fashion, with a very negative crowd reaction, I feel Rusev and Reigns have really won over the audience, in the past few weeks with their rivalry. They have been putting on stellar matches and even better brawls. I also feel that the critics amongst us have been fairly harsh on it.
The bad blood has been going on since August when Rusev ruled Raw as the top champion because there was no main title. He was dominant against every foe until Roman Reigns showed up. Because of this, Roman Reigns was able to build some degree of legitimacy within his character, giving Rusev some real competition.
A 3-month rivalry is quite hard to come by nowadays, and I think WWE creative have handled it very well. I could quite easily watch these superstars fight up to the Royal Rumble if I’m quite honest, as they have been able to keep it fresh by mixing outside brawls, with skits to embarrass Rusev’s wife Lana and actual wrestling matches.
You’d have to be very critical to say it’s not been completely entertaining.
Where could they go, after Hell in a Cell, though?
Well, for me, they both walked out, so the next logical step would be a Last Man Standing match. However, you wouldn’t see this at the Survivor Series, due to the 5-on-5 match between the top men that is to take place.
So you would likely see it next month at the WWE Raw PPV Roadblock. This gives plenty of time to build up the violent match, after the Survivor Series and also gives Rusev the perfect excuse to interfere in the 5-on-5 match.
#4 The United States Championship just made the list!
The United States Championship has eluded Chris Jericho, throughout his career, and is referenced to, as the only title he has never won. After a good main event on Raw the other night, the argument for Jericho to continue his feud with Roman Reigns is very strong. This would make for an impressive series of matches.
Chris Jericho has the experience to help Roman Reigns in the ring, and if he wanted to, I think that he could get Roman Reigns over. Jericho has that unrivalled talent, to be able to get a speck of dust over with the crowd and he is, arguably, in one of the best runs of his career at the moment.
His character is red hot, and that can only transfer to Reigns, who also has the skill to hang with Jericho, as proven on Monday night.
Another advantage to this is the Universal Championship feud, between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens. With Seth Rollins saving Reigns on Raw, it hinted at a potential mini-Shield reunion. This could lead to tag team matches between the four men and some really great chemistry.
It would need to have Jericho winning the title at one point, for it to be successful in my opinion, otherwise, we go back to the SuperReigns feel, that the crowd turned against in the first place. Once Jericho wins the title, he can put it over more than Reigns ever could, and potentially do the honours at the Rumble, handing it back while it’s red hot.
This could only help Reigns in his career, and his relationship with the crowd.
#3 Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim
I know, I know, Seth Rollins is headed for the Universal Championship and a showdown with Triple H. However, this is a booking option that if pulled off correctly, could work for all parties.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns could look to be on the patch of a reunion the likes of which WWE has never seen. They could leave a trail of destruction as The Shield, once more, for a month or even two. It would be great for nostalgia and also for the newer fans that never got to experience the pure dominance of The Shield on their first run.
Either Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns could then betray the other, and it could lead to a heated rivalry that would feel much more intense, because of the brief reconciliation that had occurred. Rollins would have to beat Kevin Owens for the title, and, to be honest, it’d be cool if Roman could keep his title so that either could become a double champion.
It worked well when Seth Rollins accomplished it, why not let Roman Reigns do it too?
If Roman did do this, then it leaves him open to new challengers and leaves Seth Rollins free to take his frustrations at not having a title, out on Triple H.
Roman Reigns would have to be built properly in the lead up to this, however, as you don’t want the crowd booing both titles because they would lose credibility. However, if they finally get on his side due to the work that Roman is putting in, then this could work brilliantly and also set up plenty of rivalries to take us into 2017!
#2 Title vs. Title
Dolph Ziggler is putting his title on the line at Survivor Series, but he has only opened it up to Raw Superstars. Roman Reigns is a Raw Superstar. If you want an unpredictable Intercontinental title match, then he’s the perfect person to challenge for it.
If Dolph Ziggler faced anyone from Raw, I’d put money on it that he would walk away with the victory, for the simple fact that giving a SmackDown title to a random Raw superstar, would not be good for either brand. Furthermore, they would need a strong rivalry to carry a cross-brand feud.
However, if he was to face Roman Reigns, and either of them were to rip the title from the other, it would create a great cross-brand rivalry and the first of the second brand split. This also gives WWE several options as to what to do with each superstar.
They could switch brands which would mix things up and stop the shows from becoming stale, or the titles could switch shows too.
This creates many potential directions and could ultimately lead to some very interesting storylines. Personally, I would love to see Reigns face Ambrose for the WWE World Championship, should he win it back, but he can only do that if he’s on SmackDown. He would need to win the Intercontinental title first.
#1 WWE Universal Champion
Who says the direction of Roman Reigns needs to involve the United States Championship? The option is there to propel him to the main event scene, once again. He is starting to gain more and more fans now that he is proving week in week out, that he is a fantastic talent in the ring and not that bad on the microphone.
With half the crowd behind you, it can still make for a great atmosphere. John Cena has had mixed reactions, for as long as I can remember, and he’s a 15-time World Champion. Going against Kevin Owens would be a great test for both men, and should the matches extend to involve Seth Rollins, then even better, as the two have so much history.
They’ve also had great matches in the past, so we know we’d be getting pay-per-view quality when the two meet in the ring.
I know I alluded to a possible Universal Championship run in the end in the earlier slide featuring Seth Rollins, but this would not involve the United States Championship. This is where Roman would have to take a loss, and he could do it to anyone really.
If he puts over a new superstar from NXT then all well and good, but if he loses it to someone established, who just needs a little push, then that would be just as beneficial to the current programming.
Either way, I think we’ll see Roman Reigns on top of the company sooner rather than later.
Roman wasn’t built in a day
There we have it, I’ve gone through 5 potential booking options that could see Roman Reigns very busy for the next few months. There is potential for all of these to happen, but of course, only WWE knows what they have in store for the Samoan Powerhouse.
They could have him lose the title and go on a Sheamus-esque losing streak, for all we know. He could even win the Royal Rumble.
However, out of the options I’ve analysed, I believe a feud with Rusev or Jericho, would be most beneficial for Reigns, and best for business when it comes to WWE programming. The Ziggler option, if not handled carefully, could become very convoluted and blur the lines between the brand split, which is the last thing we’d want.
And Seth Rollins, as already mentioned, has bigger fish to fry with his management rivalry and his ongoing face persona.
I believe, with the brand split and the way WWE is making each title special, that with whatever they choose, we are in for a treat, as we watch the story unfold over the coming months.
What do you think WWE should do with Reigns? Be sure to leave a comment and let’s discuss Roman’s potential future!
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