Opinion: Braun Strowman cannot afford to lose against Roman Reigns at Hell in a Cell

Braun Strowman will be challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Hell in a Cell on September 16. This will be the first singles meeting between the two behemoths after their Ambulance Match at Great Balls of Fire over a year ago.

This is a match that fans have been waiting for a long time, given how their feud last year was one of the best of 2017. Their feud last year was the catalyst of the massive fan following and support that Strowman garnered over the last one year. This ultimately led to Strowman turning face in the fall of 2017.

Now, almost one year later, nothing seems to have changed. Strowman is still one the most over superstars on RAW and Reigns is still getting booed, despite the herculean efforts of Vince McMahon & Co. Many might think that this is the perfect time to cash-in on Strowman's popularity by giving him the Universal Championship.

Apparently, the WWE doesn't seem to think so as a recent report suggests a lengthy title run for The Big Dog. The rumor mills have predicted a loss for the Monster Among Men at Hell in a Cell. This will be the biggest bundle on the company, if true.

WWE's damage-controlling tactic with Reigns has been successful thus far but if the company is indeed planning on having Roman go over Strowman clean, the fan backlash will be immense and the WWE could have a hard time with slumping TV ratings a possibility. With the NFL season about to begin in a few days, it is in the company's best interest to have Strowman as the Universal Championship as he has proven to be a huge draw and is wildly popular among the fans.

Strowman has been made to look like a complete tool over the past few months starting with his win at Money in the Bank, which I still believe was pointless considering his cash-in at Hell in a Cell. He has been part of an equally, if not more, pointless feud with Kevin Owens which did nothing for either him or Owens. Then came the SummerSlam main event where Brock Lesnar put down the Monster with a few chair shots and a single F5. I mean, seriously?

Strowman was back on RAW after Roman Reigns literally crashed the van he was inside. The man has won a tag team title with a kid against The Bar. But considering that logic and continuity aren't WWE'S strong suit, let's just leave that aside.

A clean loss to Roman at this point will severely hamper Strowman's chances of challenging for RAW's top title anytime soon, which will be quite sad considering how over Strowman is with the fans. In other words, The Monster Among Men simply cannot afford to lose against the Big Dog. This will also render the mega push that Strowman has been receiving for the past one and a half year meaningless.

The only way the company can salvage anything out of this match whilst still keeping the title on Roman is by having Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose attack Strowman in his match against Reigns. There isn't any other way that the company can come out unscathed after the match is done and dusted with. I am hopeful that WWE is still listening or least trying to listen to their audience who have been clamoring for Strowman to win the Big Red Belt. Anything less than that will be a travesty.