6 Superstars who can replace Roman Reigns against Goldberg after he allegedly pulled out of WrestleMania 36

We didn't expect Roman Reigns to compete at WrestleMania 35, but his miraculously rapid recovery into remission meant that he was able to continue his appearances at the grandest stage of them all.

Except for last year, 2015-2018 has always seen Roman Reigns compete in the most important match on the WrestleMania card, whether there was a title involved or not (which there was on all but one of his four consecutive main events). That was repeated this year, with Roman Reigns earning a Universal Championship opportunity by simply walking up to Goldberg and saying "I'm next".

As you likely know by now, Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Roman Reigns won't be competing at WrestleMania 36 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Not that he has it, but the fact that he's battled leukemia means that he belongs to the category of more vulnerable people should he be tested positive. He allegedly requested to be pulled from the match and WWE had granted it. Ryan Satin of PWS said that WWE still intends to replace him at WrestleMania:

We’re told WWE honored his request and he will now be replaced by someone else in the match against Goldberg, though it’s unclear who at this time.

Here are six superstars who can replace Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36 against Goldberg.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article belong to the writer and doesn't necessarily represent Sportskeeda's stand.

#6 Braun Strowman

Could Braun Strowman unexpectedly get his moment?

Braun Strowman is a Superstar who has lost a significant amount of momentum in the last two years. With nothing around for him creatively apart from a brief Intercontinental title reign, it appears as though Strowman has fallen into the same category as most other 'giants' in WWE history - being relatively underutilized.

He could be a big beneficiary of the situation as he would be a credible opponent for Goldberg. It could unexpectedly lead to a big World title win, or he would mostly just end up being fed to Goldberg.

#5 Daniel Bryan

We'll be the first to admit that this is a somewhat unlikely scenario since Daniel Bryan is currently on course to compete for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. The 27th March episode of SmackDown will feature his new ally Drew Gulak against former Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and if Gulak beats the Japanese Superstar, then Daniel Bryan will earn an Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania.

But desperate times call for desperate measures and WWE can easily justify canning that in favor of a No.1 contender's match at WrestleMania. This would scrap the original plan and could either give Drew Gulak an Intercontinental title match or someone else (perhaps Braun Strowman?).

Daniel Bryan is undoubtedly one of the best wrestlers in the world and will always be ready for a top World title match in a stage like WrestleMania. He'll be one of the most reliable superstars to take that spot and even if he loses to Goldberg, he can be one of the few superstars that can make the legend look great.

#4 Sheamus

Sheamus took a well-deserved 8-9 months off before returning to WWE as a singles Superstar. It's been over three and a half years since he was a singles superstar and over four years since he was last in the World title picture.

We're talking about the time when he cashed in his Money in the Bank at Survivor Series 2015 to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion for 22 days. He's openly stated to Sportskeeda's Gary Cassidy that he intends to win the Intercontinental Championship - the only achievement in WWE that has alluded him.

He's had a Hall of Fame career in his decade-long tenure with WWE and will be one of those Superstars who is more appreciated as time passes. It appears as though he may not get his Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania and he could be an unexpected last-minute replacement for Roman Reigns.

He'll always be a credible World title challenger and though nobody would expect him to win, he would be doing a great service to WWE by competing for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.

#3 John Cena

Rumors were floating around that even in February, WWE was confused about what to do with Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, John Cena, and Goldberg. The initial plan appeared to be Bray Wyatt vs Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36 for the Universal Championship, while John Cena would return to take on Goldberg in a match that we never thought we'd see.

Instead, we're getting Wyatt vs Cena, but that could change drastically. We see one of two scenarios if Cena is chosen - one where he wins a No.1 contender's match, or one where it becomes a Triple Threat match also involving 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt.

Either way, there would be no complaints about John Cena competing for the Universal Championship. To begin with, we felt that Wyatt vs Cena should have been the original Universal title match at WrestleMania and as it turns out, that's indeed the direction they should have gone.

He's called "Big match John" for a reason and there's nobody better to take that spot.

#2 Kofi Kingston

Almost a year ago, the dream became a reality

One of the positive things about this list is that when entering Kofi Kingston, we don't need to justify why he should have a World Championship opportunity anymore. It was only a year ago when Kofi Kingston was on-course to his decade-long journey culminating in a WrestleMania 36 WWE Championship victory against Daniel Bryan.

Everything about that storyline was executed to perfection, with Kofi Kingston leaving no doubts as to whether he's "WWE Championship material" or not. He would even have a six-month long reign as WWE Champion - a lot longer than most superstars have gotten. In that time, he established himself as SmackDown's top babyface and while that all came to a screeching halt against Brock Lesnar, there's no doubt that Kingston could once again step up to the plate and become a Universal Championship challenger.

Do remember that it was only a year ago when Kingston was a replacement for Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber. Miracles can happen and Kofi Kingston could unexpectedly get a top spot at WrestleMania 36.

#1 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt

While we're very excited about the John Cena-Bray Wyatt match at WrestleMania 36, we can't help but hope that Wyatt gets an immediate rematch against Goldberg. A month on, it still feels as though the decision to have The Fiend lose clean to Goldberg in Saudi Arabia and drop the Universal Championship was a bad one. With the current situation, that's been further affirmed.

However, facing John Cena at WrestleMania 36 is certainly a good 'consolation prize', though we feel like the entire booking situation could have been handled. Unforeseen circumstances mean that WrestleMania is a creative mess as a whole, most of which isn't WWE's fault.

With that said, it would be a great justice to Bray Wyatt and the fans if they were to run back the match at WrestleMania 36 and have The Fiend defeat Goldberg to reclaim the title. While we do agree that it'll only further serve as proving the previous title change pointless, Wyatt is a better option to hold the title and at some point, he needs that win back.

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