A few days ago, at Sportskeeda, we published a feature titled ‘5 Things that will probably happen if Roman Reigns becomes the Universal Champion at WrestleMania 36’. After its publication, many fans agreed and said that Reigns will win the title at WrestleMania. However, then, a fan pointed out that Vince McMahon can still change his mind. And to some extent, it’s true.
Roman Reigns didn’t win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34 when the fans thought he would. A similar case is happening this year. Fans are assuming that he will beat Goldberg at WrestleMania and become the new Universal Champion. But what if this isn’t the route WWE wants to head to? Maybe Reigns will lose. If so, here are five things that could happen if The Big Dog fails to win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.
Goldberg defeated The Fiend in Saudi Arabia to become a 2-time Universal Champion. As we said, this was unexpected. Most expected Wyatt to retain so that Roman Reigns could challenge him at WrestleMania 36 in a match between two men who are young and full-time performers.
That obviously didn’t turn out to be the case. If Roman ends up losing his match to Goldberg and the latter continues his reign as Universal Champion, everyone would want to know: “Who’s Next?” for one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. The Fiend could answer that question, in an attempt to regain his gold.
It’s only logical that The Fiend would want to get his title back. He is busy with John Cena at WrestleMania, but if the idea is for the character to spend his time righting all the perceived wrongs from his career, a Universal Title loss is surely something he would like to fix.
#4 Reigns wins the Universal Championship at SummerSlam
Another possibility that would emerge if Roman Reigns doesn’t win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania is that he could win it during another pay-per-view. When he faced Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34, people were shocked that the title didn’t change hands. It was assumed to be a surefire win for The Big Dog. It didn’t happen there, but he did eventually win the Universal Championship for the first time at SummerSlam later that year.
Perhaps, WWE could have something similar in their mind this year. WrestleMania is known for surprises and like the last time, fans believe Reigns will become the new champion. This is another opportunity for WWE to throw a major curveball.
It’s a likelihood that Goldberg would have to end up holding the Universal Title all the way to SummerSlam if this were to be the goal — a title win is a title win, sure — but if Roman loses such a monumental match, it would only make sense to have him get his win back from the same guy who he fell short against on the first go around.
#3 Goldberg vs. Drew McIntyre at Survivor Series 2020
While there’s a possibility that Goldberg could beat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36, it feels like a guarantee that Drew McIntyre is going to defeat Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship. It’s time to create the next big star, and Vince McMahon’s decade-old prophecy could finally come true by crowning McIntyre on April 5th
A few days ago on RAW, McIntyre laid his hands on The Beast and dismantled him. It is very rare for Lesnar to take a beating of that magnitude. If The Scottish Psychopath wins the title in his match and Goldberg retains in his, we could end up seeing a match between the two this year at Survivor Series. It has become a tradition to host a Champion vs. Champion match, and this could be an interesting bout. McIntyre would be more likely to win that match as WWE will surely want to continue his momentum after gaining a victory on Lesnar. It may be a long shot because it also requires Goldberg to hold the title for another 7+ months after WrestleMania, but aything is possible in WWE, as the old saying goes.
#2 Goldberg becomes an attraction as a part-timer
If he wins, Goldberg would probably appear at the post-WrestleMania episode of SmackDown to talk about his ‘Mania victory over Roman Reigns. After that, it wouldn’t be shocking for him to disappear from the show for quite some time. The precedent for an “absentee champion” has been set by Brock Lesnar, and that means it could certainly happen again.
As has been proved by Lesnar’s multiple reigns as the WWE and Universal Champion, having a titleholder miss television and pay-per-views for months at a time can work just fine. It may be frustrating to fans who want their champions to be on TV every week and defending the title at least once a month, but there’s something to be said about the biggest stars only appearing at the biggest shows.
Is it best for business? That’s very difficult to say, but WWE has done it before, and it can obviously happen again.
#1 Matt Riddle vs. Goldberg
Matt Riddle has been mocking Goldberg for quite a long time. Although the NXT Superstar has repeatedly expressed that he wants to face (specifically retire) Brock Lesnar, it appears that the current WWE Champion doesn’t wish to work with Riddle. However, the King of Bros could go one-on-one with Goldberg instead. They’ve gone back-and-forth online and even had a recent “altercation” backstage that WWE made sure was seen by the world, so it doesn’t put a match between the two men outside the realm of possibility.
Riddle is one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions currently, and since WWE is completely unpredictable when it comes to moves from NXT to one of the two “main shows”, it’s an absolute possibility to see him move to the RAW or SmackDown roster this year. If Roman Reigns loses his Universal Championship match in April, Riddle could step up and challenge Goldberg, answering the iconic question, “Who’s Next?” with an emphatic statement.
