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Roman Reigns is standing tall as the face of Friday Night SmackDown. When he was drafted to the Blue brand nearly two years ago, it was clear that WWE wanted Roman Reigns to be the face of SmackDown.
It took time for him to reach that spot. While he would have won the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 against Goldberg, the five-month break paid off. We got to see a newer heel version of Roman Reigns - the one that fans have been asking to see for years.
Here are five WWE superstars who can replace Roman Reigns as the face of Friday Night SmackDown:
#5. Seth Rollins - Roman Reigns' replacement in 2019
Seth Rollins was always WWE's #2 Superstar for years. When Roman Reigns was getting his biggest push between 2015-2018, Seth Rollins was a peg below him but always relevant enough to take that top slot if he needed to.
There were only two times when Seth Rollins was truly above Roman Reigns in the pecking order. That was during his six-month WWE title reign in 2015 and his big push in 2019.
2019 was a significant year for Seth Rollins as well, as he was primed to be in the top spot on RAW. After Roman Reigns announced that he would be out of action due to leukemia, nobody, including WWE, knew when he would return.
Some people estimated that the earliest that Roman Reigns could have returned was in early 2021. Roman Reigns then shocked the WWE Universe by returning in just a few months, revealing that he was in remission.
By that point in early 2019, Seth Rollins was already the Royal Rumble winner and was booked to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Roman Reigns was in an underwhelming WrestleMania 35 match against Drew McIntyre, but the only purpose of that was to get him back into singles action.
Seth Rollins, meanwhile, did what Roman Reigns couldn't - defeat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. Winning the Universal title, he would go on to lose it back to The Beast Incarnate after the latter cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Rollins then defeated Lesnar clean at SummerSlam 2019 in the main event.
Seth Rollins might be a heel now, but just like Roman Reigns, he will inevitably turn face someday. Should there be any such circumstance, Seth Rollins may be the go-to replacement for Roman Reigns as SmackDown's top star.
It doesn't mean that he would be a better fit than Roman Reigns, however.
#4. Adam Cole - An inevitable Roman Reigns rival?
Adam Cole and Roman Reigns could cross paths sometime in the future. Not even 32 years old, Adam Cole is still well before his prime in wrestling years. Adam Cole displaced current Champion Finn Balor to become the longest-reigning NXT Champion in the brand's history.
At 403 days, it's hard to think of anyone on the men's roster that can come close. However, a main roster run is still due for Adam Cole, and when it inevitably happens, he is expected to be a top star.
Being a top star means facing off with the likes of Roman Reigns, and he could be an inevitable rival for the former NXT Champion. Given that Adam Cole likely has many more years in his career left than Roman Reigns, he could replace him as the face of SmackDown.
It doesn't even have to be a "passing of the torch" kind of a moment - it could simply be Adam Cole phasing in and Roman Reigns phasing out.
#3. Dominik Mysterio - the ideal replacement for Roman Reigns' spot?
Even though we've only seen a little bit of Dominik Mysterio in the ring, he certainly has an "it" factor that was spotted in Roman Reigns years ago. Not even 24 years old yet, Dominik Mysterio has many years ahead of him before taking a top spot.
But if his career trajectory is positive, then he could even cross paths with Roman Reigns. It doesn't seem out-of-reach, especially since his WWE debut match was a marquee SummerSlam bout against Seth Rollins.
However, it's going to take a while for Dominik Mysterio to reach that level. WWE chose him for the spot, partly because he's Rey Mysterio's son. But there would have been people who took notice of his abilities before he made his in-ring debut.
Even Vince McMahon praised Dominik after his SummerSlam debut, telling him that there were people who had years of experience that couldn't get the reaction in the ring that he did.
Depending on how Roman Reigns' career trajectory goes, Dominik Mysterio could be a serious candidate to take his spot on SmackDown if he's booked well.
#2. Big E - A potential candidate to displace Roman Reigns
Big E has been on an upward trajectory as a singles star in WWE. While he had a lot of success in The New Day, Paul Heyman told him on SmackDown that his six-year run with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods will only end up as a "footnote" in his career.
Wade Keller of PWTorch once reported that Vince McMahon was seriously considering Big E to be the face of WWE before Triple H convinced him to go with Roman Reigns.
Years later, Big E has finally set off on his road to singles stardom. He seems poised to become a future World Champion, and he could end up being a serious WrestleMania opponent for Roman Reigns.
Ultimately, it depends on where their characters are. Big E could be a heel by the time they face off, and Roman Reigns could have already turned babyface. There's no guarantee that Roman Reigns will have a long run as a heel, but we hope that he does.
Either way, Big E makes a lot of sense as a potential replacement for Roman Reigns down the line.
#1. Drew McIntyre - Could a brand swap lead to him replacing Roman Reigns on SmackDown?
SmackDown has arguably become a bigger show than RAW thanks to FOX, and there's a reason why Roman Reigns is truly at the head of the table. Roman Reigns is WWE's biggest full-time Superstar.
It only makes sense that FOX Network executives would have pressured WWE to ensure that a name like Roman Reigns is on the Blue brand.
Drew McIntyre's stock has risen greatly over the last year, though the RAW ratings have dipped. However, it's hard to blame him for the declining RAW ratings, and he could likely pull off much better numbers on FOX.
It would certainly be a big test, especially if WWE feels the need to send Roman Reigns to RAW to help boost the Red brand. It's only recently that WWE has allowed SmackDown to grow bigger than RAW.
Before, it was always a matter of protecting WWE's Flagship show, which Roman Reigns spent most of his career on.
