What’s the story?
The WWE announced that Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman will fight on next week’s episode of Monday Night Raw. This will be a rematch from their match at the Raw exclusive pay-per-view Fastlane and will be their second singles match since their feud began.
In case you didn’t know...
A feud between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman has been brewing since December 2016 when Strowman attacked Reigns and Seth Rollins during their tag team match against Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens.
The feud would begin to take shape when Strowman interfered in the Universal Championship match and attacked Reigns at the Royal Rumble.
Reigns defeated Braun Strowman at Fastlane and became the first man since the brand split to defeat the former Wyatt Family member by pinfall. Many fans were betting on The Undertaker showing up to set up his program with Reigns, but The Deadman wouldn’t show up until the next night on Raw.
The heart of the matter
The fact that the rematch is being held next week on TV as opposed to waiting for a pay-per-view down the line could be seen as an indicator of the company’s opinion of Strowman.
Many people questioned the booking ideology behind Strowman losing all of his momentum since the Brand Split in a match with Reigns on a C-level pay-per-view, but the fact that Strowman could potentially lose again could be a sign that the company was never that invested in his development past being cannon fodder for Reigns.
What’s next?
Tune into Monday Night Raw next week to see if The Big Dog can topple the former Wyatt and build up some more momentum heading into WrestleMania.
Author’s take
There are only two options the WWE can go with that make sense next week. Option 1 would be to have Strowman win the match after The Undertaker’s gong distracts Reigns. This would not only allow the company to keep Reigns looking strong but would give Strowman a victory against Reigns and lay the groundwork for a potential tie breaker.
Option 2, which is probably the more likely one knowing the WWE, would be Reigns beating Strowman clean…again.
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