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Since Roman Reigns had to give up the WWE Universal Championship in October, the main title of the WWE has been stream. Brock Lesnar won the championship in November 1945 at Crown Jewel and has not defended it since. The picture of the title was incoherent, Braun Strowman was supposed to challenge Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble, but was replaced by Finn Balor last week. There is no favorite in the match Royal Rumble to win and face Lesnar at WrestleMania, and it's really the biggest openings, the main title picture was also close to WrestleMania in recent memory.
Obviously, there are several favorites to pair with Lesnar, but who would be Lesnar's best opponent. In examining certain names, I ask three questions:
1. Who could have the most interesting construction for a match of WrestleMania against Lesnar?
2.Who could have the best match with Lesnar?
3. Who would make the best universal champion if they won?
Of course, Brock Lesnar might not even be a champion at WrestleMania, since he has a defense of his title against Finn Balor at the Royal Rumble. Although giving a surprise win to Balor would be a welcome change of pace for WWE, I think it's fair to predict that Lesnar will have the World Championship at WrestleMania. For the purposes of this exercise, I guess Lesnar is the universal championship at WrestleMania.
Seth Rollins
It was reported that Rollins was vying for a title for WrestleMania, but nothing is still etched in the marble. As far as merit is concerned, Rollins probably deserves more championship opportunity than anyone on the list. Working more on the secret card, Rollins has earned the reputation of an extremely hard worker, who fought hard and had a lot of very good matches, carrying weak cards (especially on RAW) that desperately needed.
Rollins could certainly have a very good game with Lesnar, and he had one of the best games in the recent history of the WWE as part of a triple threat between him, Lesnar and John Cena at Royal Rumble in 2015. If the goal is to give people what they want, Rollins is a very safe choice, as few fans will say that "it's a good thing." he deserves the shot, and since there is no clear and obvious choice, fans should be satisfied opportunity.
Even though I love Rollins, I do not think it's the perfect choice. WWE has really struggled with his character in recent months and has trouble delivering some of the unpleasant dialogues of the WWE. His Monday promo about his "ordinary guy" status was clumsy and felt forced, and his rivalry with Dean Ambrose was disappointing. I think he's missing the character he owned in 2015 when he was the Crown Prince of WWE. None of this is really his fault, but I'm not sure this current incarnation of Seth Rollins would be a great champion.
Braun Strowman
Strowman was originally to face Lesnar at Royal Rumble before being replaced by Balor, the reason being that the WWE did not want that Strowman do another job in Lesnar. This seems to be a good sign for Strowman, since the WWE clearly has bigger plans for him to protect him in this way.
Strowman is still popular with fans, but I do not see him as a great opponent of Lesnar. For starters, we have already seen it before; Strowman lost his title match against Lesnar at Crown Jewel and also beat Strowman last year Royal Rumble as part of a triple threat also including Kane and also lost a singles match against Lesnar at No Mercy in 2017. So Strowman vs. Lesnar is not innovative and does not sound like a special match worthy of WrestleMania.
Strowman as a universal champion would be interesting; If the WWE so wished, he could just make him an unbeatable champion who crushes his opponents, just like the way Lesnar is booked. It has a chance to really go beyond and turn Strowman into a larger-than-life character, because he has the natural size needed to make that happen credibly. However, WWE has always seemed reluctant to go to the end of Strowman, as evidenced by its lack of world title reign. Strowman has always been positioned as a menacing figure who ultimately fails to achieve his goals. The WWE could make Strowman an unbeatable monster, but they have not shown the willingness to really commit to that picture.
Drew McIntyre
Since returning to the main WWE training, McIntyre has been protected and prepared for a major race. He spent time as Dolph Ziggler's application manager before getting rid of this label, but for the moment, he's missing an important direction. WWE has protected McIntyre through their booking, but unless they find a meaningful scenario for him, fans will start to lose interest. Putting him on the path to a WrestleMania match with Brock Lesnar would certainly give him that kind of needed direction.
McIntyre does not have the experience of Rollins or Strowman in the WWE, but in some ways it benefits him. He has never faced Lesnar in a match before and has no real intrigue that Rollins or Strowman can take away in a game against Lesnar. Many fans probably do not have a strong and concrete opinion on McIntyre, so WWE can still really shape that perception by making it big. He could also make a very good match with Lesnar, as he can sell more than a guy like Strowman, but he's big enough to argue convincingly with one as big as Lesnar.
Historically, WWE likes to complete the great WrestleMania with iconic names. Drew McIntyre, as promising as he is, does not really fit in with this bill. I'm sure for the biggest WWE title (which will and always will be in any RAW world championship), Vince McMahon would consider having The Undertaker, Triple H or John Cena in the match at WrestleMania. That being said, WrestleMania also offers WWE the opportunity to make someone a big star, which she has not managed to do in recent years. If McIntyre were to defeat Lesnar, he could quickly become an iconic name.
Someone else
While Rollins, Strowman and McIntyre are the favorites, the pack still has the opportunity to surprise everyone and get the title. The most interesting person would probably be Johnny Gargano; bringing him to NXT, winning the Rumble and immediately being thrown into a title match with Lesnar at WrestleMania could be the kind of dazzling shot the WWE has to make to find the next big drawing card.
This is obviously a long shot; and other names are still in the conversation. Bobby Lashley and Dean Ambrose are candidates but seem a bit too far to end up in a title match at WrestleMania. Part-time names could also become a factor, which would be boring, but historically, that's how WWE liked to do things. Lars Sullivan's situation is in the air, but he was programmed for a monstrous push to be able to hide as a candidate for the dark horse. Maybe Roman Reigns makes a surprise comeback or The Rock arrives
In the end, I think McIntyre is the best choice. His quarrel with Lesnar and Paul Heyman will be a new pitch for WWE, he can have a good game and if he wins the World Championship, it would be a new face to build for the WWE. Ultimately, WWE will have to create new drawing cards to get people to the product. With his size, charisma and fighting ability, McIntyre selects the largest number of spaces.
Every Thursday, Jesse Collings appears on the WINCLY podcast to discuss his latest column. This week, Jesse and WrestlingInc editor Nick Hausman discuss NXT and WWE's global location plan. The discussion begins at 48:30 in the podcast.
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