Roman Reigns’ ascension to WWE’s throne has never been this threatened. And in order to rebuild The Big Dog, WWE may be employing one of their only true villains, Jinder Mahal.
According to Cagesideseats, Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal is being advertised for RAW house shows through July. This is a strong indication that the pair will be working with each other on TV as WWE customarily has feuding Superstars work on and off televised shows. It’s still a little early to jump to any conclusions, but this could signal Reigns is out of the Universal Championship picture until SummerSlam, if not longer.
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This marks another data point on a trend that has Reigns taking a break from WWE’s main event. By him losing the Money in the Bank qualifier, we know he won’t be carrying around a briefcase. But that was never likely.
What does impact Reigns’ hiatus from the WWE’s biggest stages is that RAW’s main event has also taken leave. Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, looks like he’ll be missing MITB and probably Extreme Rules, too. So with no Beast to chase, Roman will have to find another dancing partner and all signs point to that being Mahal.
Mahal was the reason behind Reigns loss on Monday and his interference will be used to justify a summer-long rivalry between Mahal and Reigns. This will be the first time Roman Reigns has worked against a true heel since his tussles with Sheamus in 2015.
For the most part, Mahal is universally hated by the WWE Universe. This is great for Roman Reigns, who has his own battles with WWE’s fan base. However, with such a simple, and distinct juxtaposition in psychology, Reigns may actually get cheered in his time against Mahal.
However, there is the chance the WWE Universe regurgitates this feud entirely as Reigns vs. Mahal runs the risk of creating some indigestible chemistry. If irony strikes and Mahal gets cheered over Reigns, it would be a clear indication that Roman Reigns simply cannot work as a babyface at this time.
Then again, Vince McMahon and WWE have had no issues blowing past dozens of negative reactions to Reigns so people aligning behind Mahal may not do the trick, either.
Regardless, this gives WWE, more specifically Braun Strowman or Seth Rollins about two months to zoom past Roman Reigns as WWE’s most imminent star. Right now, Roman is still considered the favorite to topple Lesnar at SummerSlam, but with WWE balking twice in April at Reigns’ ultimate coronation, his seat atop the company’s totem pole has never been this unstable.
