After Roman Reigns successfully defended his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle last Saturday (September 3) and defeated Drew McIntyre in a rematch of Survivor Series 2020, also won by Reigns, fans were left wondering who will be next would be for the Head of The Table.
Between McIntyre and an alleged date with his cousin The Rock at WrestleMania 39 next year, the answer wasn’t clear. Sure, Karrion Kross will likely get a chance, but the way he and Scarlett were reintroduced on TV, he expects to feud with McIntyre first.
So – apologies to WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg – who’s next?
WWE may have given us some answers last night (September 5), and these are both people Reigns has faced before.
For starters, the returning Braun Strowman has already been announced for an appearance on SmackDown. Reigns & The Bloodline, including their new member Solo Sikoa, are the only other acts promoted for the Friday 9th September show.
Strowman & Reigns have a longstanding rivalry. Braun was involved in 2020’s return of Reigns as the Tribal Chief character, including as part of Triple Threat, where he kicked off his record-breaking Universal Championship run at this year’s SummerSlam. It seems a safe bet that one of the reasons for his return is to give Roman a new challenge…even if it’s a challenger he’s faced before.
And on the subject of challengers he’s faced before, Reigns feuded with Kevin Owens for several months in late 2020 and early 2021. It was a good program, even if their Last Man Standing match at last year’s Royal Rumble got a bit ridiculous. He’s recently gotten himself into a lot of people’s businesses in a return to his ‘Prizefighter’ persona, and that includes The Bloodline.
After defeating Austin Theory on Raw, KO was interviewed by Megan Morant on Raw Talk. He sent Morant back to SmackDown with a message for the champion…
Sounds like he’s trying to reset things too!
Will Strowman and Owens make return trips to the Isle of Relevance? And if so, are you looking forward to seeing more of these feuds?