This week Roman Reigns became the longest reigning Universal Champion in history. GiveMeSport looks at the five possibilities who could finally dethrone the Tribal Chief.
Brock Lesnar
Drew McIntyre
Currently on the side-lines nursing a reported neck injury, Drew isn’t a contender anytime soon but he’s a name that would most likely have been talked about as a possibility. While his stock isn’t as high as it was a year ago, when as WWE Champion McIntyre pretty much carried Monday Night Raw through the pandemic laden era of WWE, they are telling a nice long-term story with The Scottish Warrior. Slowly building Drew back up by having him defeat a selection of credible heels on his way back to the championship picture - almost like a computer game hero on route to battling the final boss. What better way to have McIntyre finish the story, too, then by headlining the much-rumoured UK Premium Live show when a career defining win over The Tribal Chief. Tell us you couldn’t see that happening.
The Rock
It’s a match that sooner or later is going to happen. You don’t go on Late Night Chat shows talking about mixing it up with The Rock unless there’s already some talk of the bout taking place. The two questions that needs answering is; when can WWE get the match done and does it really need the belt in play. It would be a hard sell to most WWE fans to believe that Rock comes back and defeats Reigns for The Universal Championship, because there’s no way Dwayne Johnson is sticking around after the dust settles. Therefore, removing the element of a championship and just playing on the enormity of the match and its family ties, would be a more believe showcase for the two mega-stars.
Bron Breakker
If WWE are to use the end of Reigns’ long title reign as a way of making a new headline act, then look no further than the current NXT Champion. Bron has quickly ascended to the top of the NXT 2.0 tree and there’s already suggestions his stay won’t be long term and he’ll soon be fast-tracked to the main roster. It’s easy to see why, no debuting star has had the same impact and so looked the part since names like Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle, and is why his name has quickly made its way into the conversation. Being the man to finally down The Head of the Table would be the jumping point for Breakker to be the new face of WWE.
Jimmy or Jey Uso
The Bloodline are running riot over SmackDown right now but could a crack in the empire trigger a real curveball in Roman’s ultimate demise. Rewind to Reigns’ rivalry with Jey Uso at the start of this run, it could have been totally believable that Jey’s final redemption over the abuse he’d taken from his cousin could come by defeating him for The Universal Championship. And while that story is no longer being told, it’s one they could quickly get back to or retell if WWE could see Jey or indeed Jimmy as main event material.