From The Rumor Mill: Backstage news on who is "The Guy" in WWE 

What's the story?

Roman Reigns failed to defeat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship twice in April and there is now speculation that Braun Strowman has taken his place as "The Guy" in WWE, but Brad Shepard has confirmed that this isn't the case.

In case you didn't know...

Reigns has been pushed to the top of the company ever since the split of The Shield back in 2014.

It was thought that WrestleMania was going to be the crowning moment of Reigns career when he took on Lesnar for the second time in his career after Seth Rollins invaded their original match back at WrestleMania 31.

Reigns was unable to overcome the challenge of Lesnar at both WrestleMania and The Greatest Royal Rumble which has led many fans to believe that Braun Strowman could now be the man who defeats Lesnar for that Championship in the future, as soon as Money In The Bank.

The heart of the matter

Shepard discussed the current booking direction of Reigns and Strowman at length during the latest episode of Backstage in WWE, where he confirmed that Reigns is still "The Guy". (transcript via Ringsidenews)

“People were wondering, ‘is Roman Reigns still the guy in the eyes of WWE and Vince McMahon?’ Of course, Vince is very high on Braun and I was told Vince has taken a personal interest in Braun’s success. But as for who ‘the guy’ is there’s been no indication internally that it’s no longer Roman Reigns.”

Reigns loss to Lesnar at The Greatest Royal Rumble was controversial to say the least and could lead to a rematch between the two stars in the future, but Reigns has to get past Samoa Joe this weekend first.

What's next?

Reigns takes on Joe on Sunday night at Backlash in a match that seemingly isn't leading anywhere, since The Samoan Submission Machine has already stated that he will be stepping into the WWE Championship picture following Backlash.

Author's take

Reigns has always been the man that Mr. McMahon wants to take over the company when John Cena decides to retire.

Reigns has a great look and his in-ring ability has shown improvements over the past few years so there is no reason why the company would change their mind.

Strowman has become a popular star in the WWE in recent years and he could be the one to dethrone Lesnar in the future, but it appears that he will always be second fiddle to Reigns.