What if Roman Reigns never wins the Universal Championship again?

1. Reigns as an Andre the Giant type figure

Andre the Giant never had much need for titles in his role. Perhaps WWE is casting Reigns in a similar direction.

Andre the Giant was a legend of wrestling who notably never spent very much time as a world champion. In the traditional thinking of the business, Andre didn’t need a title, because he was over as a legitimate giant whether or not he held one. Moreover, his role was more that of side attraction who could work a spectacle of a match while more traditional and technical wrestlers headlined cards more permanently.

Many pundits have suggested that, in Braun Strowman’s failed attempts to capture a world title, WWE is casting him in this sort of Andre the Giant role—a placement that feels even more on the nose after he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. If Reigns, too, is kept out of the title picture, it could signal that he’s also being treated as both a special attraction outside the main event scene and potentially as a guy who doesn’t need the title to be over with fans.