Backstage Details On WWE's Plans For Roman Reigns At The Royal Rumble & WrestleMania 37 [Report]

All signs point towards Roman Reigns carrying the Universal Championship into WrestleMania 37. The real question is what WWE will do with him before the big show.

Back in November, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE was planning for a Reigns-Daniel Bryan WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Those plans have apparently changed.

Meltzer recently explained in the Observer (h/t Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co) that SmackDown doesn't have enough main event babyfaces on the roster. This supposedly means that WWE will continue the current program between Reigns and Kevin Owens through the Royal Rumble, and that the Universal Champion will not face Bryan at the Jan. 31 pay-per-view.

Not only that, but it sounds as though either Bryan or Hall of Famer Goldberg will headline WrestleMania 37 against Reigns.

Reigns and Goldberg were scheduled to face off at WrestleMania 36 last year. The former, who's battled leukemia twice, removed himself from the show for safety reasons amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Goldberg called out Reigns last month and hinted at a potential match in the future. So it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if Vince McMahon went back to this match that he planned a year ago.

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Reigns and Owens clashed at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, with the former successfully retaining his title. They squared off in a rematch on the Christmas episode of SmackDown Live, where Reigns once again managed to defeat Owens.

Reigns and Jey Uso attacked Owens on this week's episode of SmackDown, and the latter was diagnosed with a storyline spinal contusion injury as well as bruised kidneys. It'll be interesting to see what happens next ahead of the Royal Rumble.

There Are Plenty Of Good Options For Reigns

Owens probably won't face Reigns at WrestleMania. But Bryan and Goldberg are far from the only logical choices. What about Big E, who's long overdue for a main event push? A major Raw superstar like Bray Wyatt, Keith Lee, Randy Orton or even Edge could always win the Royal Rumble and face Reigns at WrestleMania, too. There are several intriguing candidates for McMahon to select here.

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