WWE Reportedly Waffling Between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at Greatest Royal Rumble

In the wake of Roman Reigns‘ shocking WrestleMania 34 defeat, conventional wisdom said he’d beat Brock Lesnar and nab the Universal Championship on his next try.

But that may not be the plan.

Shortly after his blood-soaked Superdome loss, WWE announced that Reigns and Lesnar would meet again—this time in a steel cage at April 27th’s Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This appeared to be Reigns’ WrestleMania mulligan.

However, Cagesideseats reports that WWE isn’t so sure about Reigns becoming Universal Champion at that event and may keep the big red belt on Brock Lesnar.

From our vantage, this is a pretty messy situation. Brock Lesnar’s WWE status has never been this muddy. While he’s inked a new WWE contract, the terms of his deal are untraditional. Lesnar is reportedly getting paid per appearance, making him an almost literal mercenary. With WWE and Brock having such a loose agreement, it makes his wrestling future wholly unpredictable.

Throw in his UFC ambitions and we officially have a conundrum.

There’s belief that Brock will stick around for two more matches then take a UFC based hiatus. If this is indeed the case, when Brock jets for the octagon, he won’t be taking the Universal Championship with him. This leaves us with two questions:

1. When does Lesnar drop the title?

2. And who will beat him?

Right now, the safest bet is that Reigns does, in fact, beat him in Saudi Arabia. This was the first narrative that leaked in WrestleMania’s aftermath. Reports have Vince McMahon calling an audible from Reigns winning at ‘Mania to Reigns winning at the Greatest Royal Rumble. The reasons for this come down to one simple concept: perception.

Reigns win in New Orleans appeared to be inevitable. For the fourth straight year, Reigns presence in Mania’s main event was rejected by the crowd and the story has Vince McMahon pivoting from another boo-fest. While Reign was still heavily booed, his championship coronation wasn’t ruined by the salty fans, because it never happened. But in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the crowd is likely to be behind Reigns.

But per this report, WWE may still be mulling their big decision. Lesnar winning again would still be a shock. Because if WWE were to deny Regins again, that could mean that they have decided to go in another direction and Lesnar would hand over his Universal belt to another Superstar before making his UFC exit.

Needless to say, the Greatest Royal Rumble is going to be a very interesting watch.

Photo: WWE