Roman Reigns' Undisputed WWE Championship run stands at 745 days, and right now it’s hard to forecast when we’ll see the Tribal Chief not holding gold above his head.
At Clash at the Castle earlier this month many predicted that Drew McIntyre would be the man to finally end Roman’s all-conquering run, given the surroundings and build-up to the bout.
However, once again the Head of the Table prevailed, and now it's got fans questioning just who and when we’ll see Roman lose the title.
GiveMeSport looks into its crystal ball and predicts the new few months' plot points to see how and when Roman Reigns' historic run could end.
WWE Survivor Series - Roman Reigns v Logan Paul
As soon as Roman Reigns turned up as a guest on Logan Paul's ‘Inpaulsive’ podcast, it was only a matter of time before the dots started to connect. Paul is now set to be on SmackDown tonight and it feels like we’re on a road for a meeting between the social media star and the World Champion.
The benefits are obvious. Logan’s involvement brings a whole set of eyeballs on the product, especially if he’s fighting for a world championship. There will be some detractors asking why he deserves to be put in that spot as a part-time ‘celebrity’ Superstar, but he has already proved in his outings at WrestleMania and SummerSlam that he’s willing to put in the time to pull off a credible performance in the ring - and there would be zero chance of him actually beating the Tribal Chief.
Survivor Series is also the ideal platform because it generally bares no real significance on the current storylines due to its Raw vs SmackDown theme. And with Roman unable to fight himself in a champion vs. champion bout, bringing in a rouge opponent for a high-profile one-off match makes perfect sense.
WWE Day 1 - Roman Reigns v Braun Strowman
TLC seems to have slid off the WWE calendar, so Roman’s next port of call will be Day 1, which returns in 2023 for a second consecutive year.
WWE stacked the card for this kick-off to the year in 2022 and if it’s to become an annual event, they’d be looking to do the same come January 1st. Therefore, enter Braun Strowman.
His return to the company has seen him land on SmackDown as a babyface, which can only mean he’s set for a collision course with Roman Reigns at some point.
Triple H now has between now and January to build up the 'Monster Among Men' once again and make him a credible challenger to the champion. He’ll obviously just be another stop-gap on road for Roman, but in Strowman you have a believable challenger, who is looking in the best shape of his career.
WWE could also play into the pair’s history, even if the dynamics have now been reversed. Ultimately though, it'd be just another notch on Reigns’ impressive list of victims on his way to Hollywood.
WE WRoyal Rumble - Roman Reigns v Seth Rollins o Reigns v Rollins v Strowman
Before we can get to Los Angeles though, there’s also the Royal Rumble obstacle to overcome. Often this event presents unique opportunities for championship matches, what with the main focus on the two rumble matches themselves.
This is why this could be a clever way to finally spilt the belts and have a champion on each brand going into the Rumble. Reports from WrestleVotes suggest Triple H is keen to spilt the titles again, but it’s a tricky story to tell creatively without harming the aura around Reigns.
Perhaps the simplest way would be to have both belts on the line in matches where the champion doesn’t actually have to be pinned and therefore could lose one of the straps with a screwy finish.
The cleanest way is to have a ladder match with both belts hanging from the ring and having Roman grab one and his opponent the other in a clever visual to end the bout.
His opponent though? Well, let’s revisit Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins. Rollins can use his unsolved issues with Roman from this year’s Royal Rumble to set up a match for each belt. Leading to Seth taking the WWE Championship back to Raw and Roman hanging on to his Universal belt to keep the record run going.
Alternatively, you could continue the feud with Braun and add him to make it a triple-threat where you add in a stipulation, where there’s a pinfall for each championship. Roman could win the first, keeping hold of his Universal Championship, but a distraction (the music of The Rock) could see him miss out on keeping both belts and set us up for the biggest main event they can book right now.
WWE WrestleMania 39 - Roman Reigns v The Rock
However, we get there, this is where WWE want to be come WrestleMania. A main event for the ages, worthy of only one stage as the Head of the Table defends his Universal Championship against the only man who usurps him in the family pecking order, The Rock.
The build will be must-see, the match and entrances will give us goosebumps, and ultimately Roman will once again prevail. There is an argument that suggests this bout doesn’t need the belts, but Reigns is winning no matter what, and so it’s better to present him as this all-conquering champion who no one in WWE has been able to dethrone.
WWE Money in the Bank - Roman Reigns v Jey Uso
Post WrestleMania is the trickiest period – and this a bit of a wildcard plot point. After beating The Rock, Reigns will probably take some time off leaving the Bloodline to their own devices on SmackDown.
Without a world champ – and remember we now have one on Raw – this time could be used for The Usos to ‘run’ things, which ultimately leads to some wrinkles within the group's power dynamic.
This would allow Jey Uso to step back into the limelight and break out from the pack once again as the one who finally has enough of what he’s seen from his cousin – and possible brother, too.
Upon Reign’s return it would set up a full circle feud, returning to the emotional rivalry we saw between the pair in 2020. Roman wins again, but something has been broken within The Bloodline and it sees the slow downfall of the is empire ahead of his third anniversary as champion.
WWE SummerSlam - Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes
There is an alternative timeline that sees Roman win at the Rumble and keep both belts until this moment, but I just can’t see WWE keeping the two world titles together until next summer. So, here we are with Roman still Universal Champion three years on from the event where his run began, SummerSlam. The man standing opposite him? The American Nightmare.
Cody has been drafted to SmackDown in the post WrestleMania draft, having had his world title dream crushed in Los Angeles (we’ll save that for another day).
Still seeking a world championship moment, he becomes the next and final challenger to end the record-breaking run of Roman Reigns. Realistically it’s a win that should happen at WrestleMania, but there’s no way that WWE can keep a belt on Roman until 2024, so SummerSlam becomes the finale to Reigns run, three years after it all begun. Book it, brother.