The main event of Wrestlemania 31 is now in jeopardy after Roman Reigns was coerced by WWE COO Triple H to defend his shot at Brock Lesnar and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the recent episode of Raw. Daniel Bryan was victorious against Seth Rollins to earn the opportunity to challenge Reigns at Fastlane and acquire the coveted title shot. This is clearly a rejoinder to the negative reaction Roman received after winning the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia weeks ago.
One year ago, the WWE caved in to pressure from it’s audience to insert Daniel Bryan into the main event of “The Show of Shows” and history could very well repeat itself once again. In an interview with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on the WWE Network after Raw, Triple H with trepidation referred to Reigns’ negative reaction at the Rumble as the product of a “vocal minority”. This may very well be true as Roman has been getting better reactions on live events and television since the epic fail at “Rumblegate”.
Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan is a match many would love to experience and Bryan himself has described this as the ultimate “David and Goliath” encounter. Time will tell if this drastic change to longtime plans for this year’s Mania will become a reality, but it is certainly not a definite. Judging by the demeanor of Triple H lately, which can best be described as “restrained fury masquerading as candor”, the original plans may still be in place. In addition lashing out in a vain attempt to defer the backlash of the Rumble to the NFL on multiple occasions, he had also prior to the event through backstage insiders expressed anger over fans not ordering the WWE Network. By giving members of the “yes movement” a glimmer of hope, which also generates interest in the product, he could possibly be using the match as a vessel for revenge towards his unruly subjects of the WWE Universe. This is all simple speculation and Bryan heading into Levi Stadium with the top billing is a real possibility and if this is the case Roman Reigns will need another match.
A match with the Big Show is a possibility as the rumored main event for Fastlane was to be a “Last Man Standing” match between he and Reigns. This is simply not a seducing enough match for the John Cena heir apparent at the biggest spectacle of the year and besides that it has happened many times recently on television. The possibility of a returning Sheamus as a heel would be a better choice but still doesn’t have the big match feel to properly elevate Roman to the stratosphere. The Undertaker was once mentioned as a Mania dream match by Roman but The Deadman is likely to be tied up with Bray Wyatt if he even decides to compete at all. Triple H would seem like the perfect opponent but it’s no secret it will be the COO against Sting. John Cena is likely to be facing Rusev in a rematch from Fastlane. This leaves only one logical choice worth denying Reigns of the match he earned with Lesnar yet still establishing him as a top talent…Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The Rock, who celebrated with Roman after his Rumble win, in a failed attempt to quell the booing, is one of the most recognizable celebrities alive and just so happens to be Reigns’ cousin. The Samoan Family is perhaps the most prolific wrestling family in existence, and in addition to producing Reigns and The Rock also consists of such performers as Afa and Sika(Roman’s father), Rikishi, Yokozuna, the late Umaga, Samu, Fatu, The Tonga Kid, reigning WWE tag team champs the Usos and many more. Only recently has Roman’s Samoan Heritage been highlighted in the WWE. Paul Heyman and Triple H have both brought this up in recent promos and wwe.com had done a feature on the subject as well.
The build for this potential match could take a number of paths from The Rock testing his young relative in the ring or perhaps The People’s Champion is upset about being cast in a negative light by celebrating with Reigns at the Rumble and being jeered. Regardless of the build, the match itself would be a huge draw and launch Roman to the next level and would possibly be more beneficial for him than winning the title in the main event.
