WWE Wrestlemania 35: How We Could Still See Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

A little birdie told us that they’d be interested in a program between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35. Naturally we wanted to get started brainstorming all the ways this epic match could play out on the grandest stage of them all, but how could this match fair in light of the recent Shield reunion?

Raw Superstar Seth Rollins appears to already have some ideas about what matches he’d like to see at next year’s WrestleMania 35.

In an interview released with Sports Illustrated, Rollins expressed that instead of the rumored match between Roman Reigns and The Rock, Rollins would much rather see a match between himself and Reigns so that both man could get a chance to elevates themselves to the caliber of a superstar like The Rock.

Rollins’ argument is spot on; with the amount of talent throughout the WWE roster, WrestleMania 35 doesn’t necessarily need The Rock. Not to mention, Rollins and Reigns have had an endless connection throughout the entirety of their WWE careers, and a match between the two under any circumstance is destined to be magic.

Yet here we are, in the wake of another reunion of The Shield, and Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are decidedly on the same team again. While you’d think this could be the nail in the coffin of a potential Mania match between the two, maybe it’s really laying the foundation for an ever deeper story line for the two leading into Wrestlemania.

I don’t need to remind you how The Shield broke up the first time (ahem, the chair  shot heard ’round the world), and thus I don’t need to remind you that we’ve seen Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns go at it before. It seems like with a Shield reunion upon us, in order to book Rollins vs. Reigns by WrestleMania 35, WWE will have to delve into another emotional split between the two.

What might seem a bit repetitive to some fans actually allows WWE to go to depths and lengths with this feud than it never has before. We’re really rooting for The Shield this time around, aren’t we? Now that’s they’ve come back full circle from Rollins’ betrayal, we want the adage “blood is thicker than water” to resound throughout the locker room and for everyone to know The Shield is back.

Rollins and Reigns have grown, maybe one more than the other. Still, four years is a long time, and it’s an even longer time in pro-wrestling standards.

The most obvious question to ask in setting up this match is – who goes in as the face and who goes in as the heel? The more important question to ask ourselves this time around is – is that even necessary? Roman and Seth have both respectively gained significant acclaim for their face work, and it doesn’t make much sense for either to lose momentum to set up this match.

Perhaps the best way to get the strongest Rollins vs. Reigns match at WrestleMania 35 would be to have Roman carry the Universal Championship through til Mania, and allow Seth to add another WWE achievement as a notch on his belt, winning the 2019 Royal Rumble to Challenge Roman for the Universal title.

While this could still dissolve the second (maybe the third) coming of The Shield, Seth as the Royal Rumble winner would be most graceful way to book this feud. It doesn’t extinguish the significant following either performer has been working hard for, and it could allow this match to be the best it could ever be physically, no need for cheap shots or too much time outside the ring.

The last thing this feud needs is an unnecessary heel turn. This version of a potential Rollins vs. Reigns match gives WWE ample time to get the ball rolling on television, and just as much time to make creative decisions that allow audiences to have their dream match exactly the way they want it.