After months of intense speculation, the mystery of who WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns will face at WrestleMania 39 has still not been answered.
One potential showdown that seemed to be on the cards for months that would see Reigns face his cousin Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) looks like it will not be taking place at the event. With that long-mooted bout no longer on the table, it appears that Reigns will instead face either Cody Rhodes or Sami Zayn at the “Grandaddy of Them All”.
Roman Reigns Could Face Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn Or “An Outsider”
Both men have been involved in long storylines that would logically peak with a title win at WrestleMania, with Cody Rhodes having declared the WWE World Title to be his destiny upon his return to the company from AEW in 2022, and Zayn having been embroiled in a storyline with Reigns and The Bloodline for months. As Dave Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio:
“I don’t know that they’re willing to have anybody beat Roman Reigns. Obviously Dwayne Johnson wasn’t beating Roman Reigns to win the title. Obviously Cody Rhodes’ name was in the mix and the way that storyline was, he almost had to win. But that doesn’t mean he would have won.
I think people have an idea (of the Royal Rumble winner) as far as, it’s either gonna be Cody, it’s gonna be Sami, or they’re gonna bring in an outsider. Everything that’s happened in the last week or so, I don’t think it’s Dwayne. I was told it wasn’t and all indications are it’s not.”
As such, the biggest wrestling event of the year may turn out to be a showdown between Roman Reigns and either Cody Rhodes or Sami Zayn. Both will go into the Royal Rumble as red-hot favourites, and the road to WrestleMania should certainly become a lot clearer following Saturday’s event.