We should have seen this coming, right? After dominating the main-event scene for over a year despite backlash from the fans, Roman Reigns was finally pushed down the card a bit.
He lost the WWE World title to Seth Rollins clean at Money in the Bank and followed that up with another loss in a triple threat match vs Rollins and Ambrose at Battleground.
The next night on Raw, he lost clean yet again to a debuting Finn Balor before ultimately feuding with Rusev over the United States Championship. But now, Reigns has lost the U.S. title to Chris Jericho, and it conveniently happened just in time for him to challenge for Kevin Owens’ Universal title.
What does that mean? It means Reigns’ title-carrying shoulder is now freed up, perhaps for a title a bit more cranberry-colored.
This may sound like a doom and gloom scenario for a lot of people. Reigns being back in the title picture just in time for WrestleMania probably isn’t what most fans were hoping to see, especially after last year’s disaster of a main event.
But this time around, Reigns may actually be the best person to put the title on as Mania season approaches. Let’s take a look at 5 reasons why Roman Reigns should defeat Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble.
#5 It could bring out the vicious side of Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens is hilarious. He’s one of the most genuinely funny superstars on the roster whether he intends to be or not. It doesn’t matter if he’s berating his opponent while he has them in a headlock or if he’s jawing at a fan during a live event. Owens is always entertaining.
But as fans of NXT are well aware, Owens hasn’t always been like this on camera.
During his time as NXT champion, Owens was a no-nonsense heel who was only concerned with brutalising his opponents. He is perhaps the most convincing heel on the entire roster when he is allowed to be.
Also read: 5 Reasons Kevin Owens should hold on to his title until Wrestlemania
Dare I say he could get to a point where he is overwhelmingly booed, rather than receiving the mixed reactions he gets now because of how entertaining he is. That sort of full-fledged heel is something WWE could definitely use right now, and a loss to Roman Reigns could be the event to set it in motion.
Owens is free to joke around right now since he’s at the top of the mountain. But if his title, the one thing he cherishes more than anything, is taken away from him? There’s no telling what he would do.
He would probably snap and go right back to the version of him that we saw in NXT where he basically dismembered Sami Zayn en route to winning the championship.
It would also probably turn him against his best friend Chris Jericho since Y2J is a big part of a lot of Owens’ shenanigans. And speaking of Jericho...
#4 It sets up Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 33
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho have been a tandem for quite a while now. In fact, their partnership extends all the way back to SummerSlam where the two teamed up to defeat Enzo and Big Cass. Back then, no one would have expected Team Kevin and Chris to go on for as long as it has.
Yet here we are in late January and they are seemingly still as cohesive as ever. That is likely to change sooner rather than later.
Owens and Jericho have teased a breakup a few times now, but nothing would guarantee a separation of the two more so than Roman Reigns defeating Owens for the Universal championship.
Owens has gotten frustrated by Jericho’s antics in the past. We saw him tell Y2J to shut up when he was about to put Reigns on the list, and we can only assume he would become increasingly frustrated with Jericho if he doesn’t have the Universal title over his shoulder.
This is especially true now that Jericho is the United States champion as he would have gold while Owens would not.
Owens losing to Reigns would allow him to move on to his inevitable feud with Jericho. The fans are itching to be able to fully root for Y2J, and Owens turning on him would allow them to do exactly that.
This has been building for a long time, and with Owens no longer occupied with the Universal title, it would finally let this feud get going and would likely culminate in a huge match at WrestleMania 33, potentially for the U.S. title.
#3 It opens up more possibilities for Royal Rumble winners
Let’s be honest, if Owens is still the Universal champion after his match on Sunday night, the only Raw superstars who could logically win the Royal Rumble would be Chris Jericho and maybe, and this is a big maybe, Sami Zayn.
Nobody else would make sense unless WWE wants to build up an entirely new feud from now until WrestleMania, which doesn’t seem likely. So if Owens is the champion, that means the Rumble winner will either be Jericho, Zayn, or a SmackDown superstar.
If Roman Reigns is the champion, it’s a much different story.
Because of Reigns’ tweener status and history with multiple superstars, there would be a lot more possibilities for Royal Rumble winners. Braun Strowman has been a heavily rumoured name to possibly win the Rumble.
And while that match could be confusing as far as who fans are expected to root for, there are a lot of people who would like to see Strowman toss Reigns around the ring for a while.
Then there’s Finn Balor. He may not be healthy enough to enter the Rumble, but if he is, there’s a great story there. Balor beat Reigns the night of his debut, and Reigns said after the match that he wanted to face him again.
At the time, who would’ve thought Reigns would be the champion the next time they faced off?
And there are even a couple of dark horse possibilities like Rusev and Jericho. Rusev has unfinished business with Reigns after their U.S. title feud and WWE has discussed a face turn for the Bulgarian in the past.
And for Jericho, although it would put a damper on the nearly guaranteed match of him vs Owens, it would still make sense. A Jericho Rumble victory could cause a rift between the two men that could extend all the way into WrestleMania, leaving fans to wonder if Owens would interfere.
Ultimately, Reigns being champion would make the Royal Rumble even more unpredictable than it already is, and that is certainly best for business.
#2 It could lead to a potential Reigns heel turn
Ah yes, the Loch Ness Monster of WWE. No, I’m not talking about the John Cena heel turn which will probably never happen.
I’m talking about the infamous Roman Reigns heel turn. A turn that feels like it should’ve happened a long time ago, but for whatever reason WWE refuses to change course and instead wants Reigns to be their top babyface despite the fans refusing to buy in.
But if Reigns wins the Universal title at the Royal Rumble, it could mark the beginning of the heel turn that desperately needs to happen.
Think about it. If Reigns wins the title, that means he’ll be defending it in one of the main events at WrestleMania.
WWE isn’t stupid. They know what happened last year and they know fans aren’t going to root for Reigns in the main event after last year’s disaster no matter who he ends up facing. Balor, Strowman, Jericho, whoever.
So if he wins the title, that might just mean WWE is getting ready to turn him heel in order to have the best WrestleMania main event possible. Plus, winning the title would bring back cocky Reigns, which was the closest thing to a heel we’ve seen him be.
When he faced Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank, it was very clear he was leaning toward being a heel in that match as the fans were unabashedly rooting for Rollins despite the Architect saying that he didn’t need their support.
Reigns is at his best when he’s allowed to be a cocky heel. If he wins the title at the Royal Rumble, he might finally get to be that version of himself on a full-time basis.
#1 WWE could make up for last year
Did I mention last year’s WrestleMania main event was a disaster? Because it was.
For whatever reason, WWE stubbornly pushed the idea that Roman Reigns was the babyface trying to conquer the dastardly Triple H, when in reality nobody wanted to see Reigns standing tall at the end of the night.
Alas, that’s exactly what he did. Fireworks went off as boos filled the arena, marking what may have been the least interesting main event and most disappointing result in WWE history. This year, they have to get it right.
Does Reigns have to be in this year’s main event in order to compensate for last year? Nope, he does not. There are a lot of ways to make sure this year’s WrestleMania main event is a good one, and they don’t all involve Reigns.
But there would be something symbolic about Reigns being involved in a main event that fans were actually interested in just one year after the dumpster fire that was WrestleMania 32.
Seeing Reigns face off against someone like Balor, Strowman, Jericho, or someone else and ultimately lose would be so satisfying for the fans. It would be WWE saying “We know we messed up, here’s how we’re making up for it.”
And make no mistake, I’m no Reigns hater. He’s a spectacular performer. He was just extremely overexposed and was playing the wrong role this time last year.
He’s more than capable of putting on an entertaining WrestleMania main event if it’s booked correctly, and WWE should prove this by giving him the Universal title and allowing him to close out this year’s WrestleMania on a high note for the fans.
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