Who Will Be WWE Universal Champion Next: Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose?

Why It Will Be Dean Ambrose

Ryan Droste: When looking at the landscape for WWE Universal Champions in the coming months, the lay of the land tells me that Dean Ambrose is likely to get his hands on the belt before Seth Rollins.

Why? Because I'm expecting Dean Ambrose to be the heel coming out of this Shield reunion.

Should we suppose Ambrose turns on Rollins, making himself a heel, it's likely that he could end up in the title picture quickest judging by who would be holding the Universal title around that time. We can expect Brock Lesnar to hold the belt through WrestleMania 34, and the long term plan that WWE is still going with involves Roman Reigns defeating him at WrestleMania for the belt.

With a full-on heel turn for Reigns still not likely in the near future, a (kind of) babyface Reigns could find himself in a feud with a recently turned Dean Ambrose over RAW's top prize. Former Shield partners fighting over the Universal title would be great.

A heel run for Dean Ambrose is just what the doctor ordered. His run as a babyface has failed to achieve the heights that Ambrose is capable of, and I see him getting a ton of momentum when he finally makes that heel turn. So much momentum that he could even capture the Universal title.

Why it Won't Be Dean Ambrose

Jack Snodgrass: Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, The Miz, Braun Strowman, and John Cena.

This is the list of WWE Superstars that Dean Ambrose will have to leapfrog en route to landing an opportunity at the Universal Championship. Even if he were to execute a monumental heel turn, this would be a tall order.

It's been rumored that after WrestleMania 34, Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar will resume their program from earlier this summer. This would knock out the 2 huge names in the Game of Thrones for the Universal Championship. However, it's still hard to imagine Ambrose getting an opportunity at Reigns and his newly earned Big Red Belt, let alone winning it.

While it's fun to picture Dean Ambrose becoming a transcendental heel, it's kind of like assuming the backup quarterback is a Hall of Famer. While Evil Dean is fun to think about, it's by no means a guarantee. And without a huge shift in character, Ambrose will have trouble shedding his Intercontinental stigma.

Why it Will Be Seth Rollins

Jack: Seth Rollins has one advantage over Dean Ambrose in all of this: he's done it before.

In 2015, RAW started and ended with Seth Rollins. While his regime wasn't spectacular, WWE was building entire shows around him - a privilege Dean Ambrose' lackluster run as WWE Champion was never extended.

The experience of WWE handing the keys to Rollins for nearly a year cannot be understated. I mean, he beat John Cena a SummerSlam to win 2 belts!

Yet, there are concessions to make. Rollins was a heel then, and now he finds himself in the natural role of babyface. For The Kinslayer to make it back to WWE's top, a series of unlikely circumstances will have to transpire.

First, Dean Ambrose cannot turn on the Shield. The Lunatic's master heel turn may not be the slam dunk it was a few weeks ago as this has been a rather dubious Sheidl Reunion. Considering that the trio's homecoming likely will not have a pay-per-view-match, can we really call this a reunion? And if this is not a reunion, then can they actually break up?

If Dean doesn't turn on both Seth and Roman, then his dramatic betrayal loses a lot of gasoline. And without the heel turn, Ambrose will be stuck in the Intercontinental Ranks for the rest of eternity.

Which mean Seth, an already proven main eventer, will just have to wait for his number to be called.

Why It Won't Be Seth Rollins

Ryan: WWE struggled with making Seth Rollins a strong fan favorite ever since he returned from his devastating knee injuries and was shockingly turned heel. Upon his initial return, the crowd wanted to cheer him, giving him one of the biggest reactions any star has gotten since Daniel Bryan. Instead, the error was made to turn him heel, stopping all of his momentum. When they finally tried to turn him back babyface, it was a long struggle in getting the crowd to come back to his side.

However, this past summer they seemed to have finally got there. Rollins was over with the crowd as a solid babyface main eventer. Then came the Shield reunion, which has been fantastic so far.

Most are expecting Ambrose to turn on Rollins in the end, breaking up the Shield. This will no doubt lead into a program between the two of them until one of them goes on to the Universal title picture.

That isn't likely to be Seth Rollins if Roman Reigns is (as expected) holding the championship belt post WrestleMania 34. With the WWE hell bent on getting Reigns over as the face of the company, they aren't going to have him feuding with a popular babyface like Rollins, so don't bet on Rollins capturing the title belt in the near future.