Roman Reigns has spent over 1,000 days as the top champion in the WWE. Who should dethrone him?
On the most recent edition of Friday Night Smackdown, the WWE hosted a celebratory in-ring event to congratulate Roman Reigns on over 1,000 days spent as Universal Champion. As part of this event, the promotion chose to unify his Universal and WWE championship belts into one belt — the new Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt.
WWE creative has begun to expose cracks in "The Bloodline" faction, which features Jimmy and Jey Uso, Roman Reigns, Solo, and Paul Heyman. After Jey Uso kicked Reigns in the face at WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, costing he and Solo Sikoa the opportunity to win the WWE tag team championships, on the June 2 edition of Friday Night Smackdown, Roman Reigns declined Jey Uso's offer to rekindle their familial faction.
It feels like this split indicates Roman's championship reign and the Bloodline story has moved passed a natural apex in the story arc.
While the status of "The Bloodline" is in doubt, it remains unclear who will end a title reign that has lasted more than three years. In this article, we consider some potential winners.
WWE: 3 superstars who should end Roman Reigns' 1,000+ day title reign
3. Jimmy Uso
WWE's "The Bloodline" faction has carried WWE programming over the last few years. At WWE Night of Champions, Jimmy Uso connected on a superkick that could lead to the full fracturing of it.
What's interesting is there are so many more plausible avenues for WWE to take this story and if Reigns loses his title to someone other than a member of The Bloodline, it likely will cease or fade into a lower platform of relevancy in WWE programming.
However, if one of the Uso twins takes the strap off Roman, the WWE could play out The Bloodline story for years to come — as they attempt to pit different parts of the famous pro wrestling Anoa'i family against each other. In this case, not only would this storyline play out, it would do so with the most prominent championship in pro wrestling at stake.
2. Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes is being built up by WWE creative to be the company's top babyface. His character development since returning to WWE from AEW conjures comparisons to John Cena — who anchored WWE as its top face for over a decade and who the WWE has had trouble replacing since his role in WWE programming has been limited due to age and other commitments.
Rhodes is currently locked in a heated feud with Brock Lesnar. This feud is likely to culminate in a third match at some point, which Cody Rhodes should win. In all, the Lesnar feud seems more like a perfectly placed bump in the road amidst a larger story for "The American Nightmare" than anything else.
At this point, it seems inevitable Rhodes will "finish the story" and win a major WWE championship, it's just a question of when that story will conclude, and if it'll be the Undisputed Universal WWE Championship he'll vie for.
1. Bray Wyatt
Whoever takes the belt off Roman Reigns is going to have big boots to fill. As WWE creative strategically shifts to longer title reigns and long-term storytelling, it seems likely the next champion will have to not only be a weekly draw at the forefront of storylines but bring eyes to premium live events as a regular headliner.
Outside of Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins (who I didn't include in this list, because he currently holds the World Heavyweight Championship, Bray Wyatt is the likeliest candidate to fit this role.
Wyatt has been absent from WWE television for months, but rumors are swirling about his potential return to the ring. One of the most prominent rumors is that Wyatt may return in his former Fiend gimmick, which was incredibly over with fans.
Whatever gimmick Wyatt returns with, his promo and storytelling capabilities are fantastic, he's a compelling wrestler in the ring, and WWE would have a plethora of potential angles they could opt for if he rose to the top of the show. Wyatt has all the tools as a wrestler to lead WWE programming.