5 Opponents for Roman Reigns after WWE Hell in a Cell

The WWE Hell in a Cell 2020 pay-per-view began with Roman Reigns picking up an emotional victory over Jey Uso.

Towards the end of the 30-minute “I Quit” match, Jimmy Uso entered the Hell in a Cell structure and tried to stop Roman Reigns from punishing the WWE Universal Championship challenger any further.

Roman Reigns sobbed in the middle of the ring and admitted to Jimmy Uso that he no longer knows who he is.

The Universal Champion then locked Jimmy in a guillotine choke, forcing Jey to finally quit the match.

Now, with Survivor Series approaching on November 23, will WWE’s higher-ups book another match between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso? Or is it time for The Tribal Chief to face another Superstar instead?

In this article, let’s take a look at five possible WWE opponents for Roman Reigns after WWE Hell in a Cell.

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#5 Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Finn Balor

Finn Balor is the WWE NXT Champion

As of the time of writing, WWE has not revealed many details about the WWE Survivor Series 2020 pay-per-view.

An advertisement for the show during WWE Hell in a Cell featured the colors of RAW (red), NXT (yellow) and SmackDown (blue), so it is safe to assume that NXT will battle it out with RAW and SmackDown again this year.

However, it is not clear whether Survivor Series will feature the same Champion vs. Champion vs. Champion matches as last year, or whether this year’s event could include World Champions facing each other between the three brands.

In 2019, Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio (WWE Championship), The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan (Universal Championship) and Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne (NXT Championship) took place at Survivor Series. Meanwhile, other title holders competed in Triple Threat matches against Superstars from opposing shows.

If WWE decides to include World Champions in this year’s battle for brand supremacy, then Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Finn Balor could be a possible contender to main-event the show.

Excluding Royal Rumbles and tag team matches, Roman Reigns has not been involved in a meaningful storyline with Orton since 2015.

As for Balor, Roman Reigns won his last match against the Irishman on WWE RAW in August 2018.

#4 Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton (if Finn Balor is not cleared)

If Finn Balor cannot compete at WWE Survivor Series, there is a good chance that we could see Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton at the event.

Balor suffered a broken jaw in his match against Kyle O’Reilly at WWE NXT TakeOver: 31 on October 4 and it is unclear when he will return to action.

It is worth noting that the Irishman was not forced to relinquish his title, which suggests that he should be able to return within the next few weeks.

That being said, with so many NXT Championship changes in recent months, perhaps Triple H & Co. decided to leave the title on Balor to avoid yet another shake-up in the brand’s World Championship picture.

Either way, if Balor is not ready by November 23, Orton is a strong contender to be Roman Reigns’ next PPV opponent.

The Viper defeated Drew McIntyre in the main event of Hell in a Cell to win the WWE Championship, making him a 14-time WWE World Champion.

Roman Reigns won his only previous one-on-one PPV match against Orton at SummerSlam 2014.

#3 Roman Reigns vs. The Miz (WWE Money in the Bank cash-in)

The Miz made it clear after his Money in the Bank victory over Otis at Hell in a Cell that he is allowed to cash in his contract on either the Universal Champion (Roman Reigns) or WWE Champion (Randy Orton) at a time of his choosing.

In previous years, the Money in the Bank holder only had the opportunity to cash in their contract on a World Champion from the same brand.

Carmella, for example, cashed in on Charlotte Flair in April 2018 to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship. During her 10-month reign as Ms. Money in the Bank, she never threatened to cash in on the RAW Women’s Champion.

That unwritten rule changed last year when Brock Lesnar was able to challenge for either the Universal Championship or WWE Championship whenever he wanted.

Now, with The Miz letting everyone know that he can target Roman Reigns or Randy Orton, there is an outside chance that he could show up on SmackDown and try to cash in on The Tribal Chief.

Would he be successful? Almost certainly not, but the possibility is there.

#2 Roman Reigns vs. Big E

Big E is now a singles Superstar on SmackDown

While Roman Reigns is undoubtedly the top heel Superstar on WWE SmackDown right now, there is not one particular babyface Superstar who stands out above the rest.

Daniel Bryan is the biggest name amongst the fan favorites on the blue brand, but he seems to be involved in the Intercontinental Championship picture instead of the Universal Championship picture right now.

Other than Bryan, the following names from Friday nights could potentially be viewed as challengers for Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship in the near future: Big E, Kevin Owens, Murphy, Otis, and Rey Mysterio.

With respect to all five of those Superstars, it is difficult to see any of them taking the Universal Championship away from the Tribal Chief version of Roman Reigns’ character.

Now that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are on RAW, Big E’s singles push looks certain to lead him towards a Universal Championship storyline.

If WWE books title matches at Survivor Series, as opposed to Champion vs. Champion vs. Champion matches, then Big E is Roman Reigns’ most likely next challenger after Jey Uso.

#1 Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso

It looked as though the Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso story might have come to an end after The Tribal Chief defeated his cousin at WWE Clash of Champions last month.

However, Roman Reigns stressed in the closing stages of that match that he specifically wants Jey Uso to acknowledge him as The Tribal Chief of their family – something that Jimmy Uso, not Jey, did.

Roman Reigns’ desire to be crowned The Tribal Chief led to the “I Quit” Universal Championship rematch between the two men at Hell in a Cell.

Once again, Jimmy Uso played a part in the finish to the match. Roman Reigns locked in a guillotine choke on Jimmy, forcing Jey to say “I Quit”.

While Roman Reigns picked up the win and received acknowledgement from Afa (his uncle) and Sika (his father) after the match, Jey Uso has still not accepted the former Shield member as The Tribal Chief of their family.

Only time will tell if WWE’s decision-makers felt that Hell in a Cell was the perfect ending to the Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso story.

If a third match does happen, perhaps that could finally be the moment where Jey Uso acknowledges Roman Reigns as The Tribal Chief.