5 reasons why Kane should win the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble

#4 It would change the entire complexion of the build to WrestleMania

WrestleMania 34's main event won't be altered, but the lead-up will be a much bumpier ride

The future of the Universal Championship, according to the reports/rumors for many, many months, is that it will land squarely on the shoulder of Roman Reigns, who will main event his fourth straight WrestleMania and win his third ‘Mania main event in a row. Roman will either win the Rumble match on Sunday, or the Elimination Chamber match in February, and challenge Brock Lesnar in a rematch of their WWE Championship match from WrestleMania 31. Brock pins Kane and then disappears for a while until it’s clear that Roman Reigns will be his next opponent at WM 34.

That’s what everyone is expecting, and yes, it’s also the most likely path. While it’s essentially a guarantee that Brock vs Roman will main event WrestleMania 34, instead of being straightforward with it, maybe WWE will throw a curveball.

Consider the following scenario:

Brock’s title reign ends short of the 1-year mark. Brock hits Strowman with an F-5 and Kane nails Brock with a chokeslam. The momentum causes Brock to roll out of the ring and Kane immediately takes advantage and steals the match, pinning Braun Strowman. Because of this, they do a rematch at Fastlane, with the winner going on to face the victor of the Elimination Chamber match, at WrestleMania. Brock wins the match by pinning Kane after both men work together to take Strowman out by putting him through a pair of commentary tables.

This infuriates Strowman, who goes on a warpath starting the following night on RAW. He takes out everyone in his sight for the next few weeks, including at some point The Miz, who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. That eventually leads to Miz, who is overconfident after defeating Roman Reigns, to call out Braun Strowman who is his reported opponent at WrestleMania this year.

The Miz unsuccessfully interferes in a Kane/Strowman match. Braun finally gets his win over Kane in decisive fashion, as he not only beats Kane, but also contends with Miz, Dallas, and Axel who all try to cost Strowman the match.

When Miz and Strowman hook up at WrestleMania, Strowman will definitely get the win and become a dominant Intercontinental Champion. Miz will move on and, if the rumors are true, get a big push in the summer, preferably after a move back to SmackDown Live. To wrap everything up and hopefully finish Brock's WWE career, at least for a long while, Braun will challenge him to go one-on-one at Backlash in May with no titles and no rules, and defeat him.