Roman Reigns is one of the biggest stars in the company, so at WWE WrestleMania 35, he needs to face a similarly big opponent. That opponent isn’t Baron Corbin.
It’s been incredible to see Roman Reigns back in a WWE ring, and The Shield’s reunion match, which main evented the Fastlane Pay Per View, couldn’t have gone any better. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Reigns put on a vintage performance, destroying Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and, especially, Baron Corbin.
Reigns’s WWE WrestleMania 35 opponent hasn’t been set, but there are no shortage of options. A battle between brothers with Ambrose, a showdown with McIntyre, or even a dream match with The Rock would be awesome. Heck, Reigns vs. Cena II would be a tremendous match.
But there’s one name that keeps floating around as a possible ‘Mania 35 opponent for Reigns – Baron Corbin.
Tonight’s RAW is all about WrestleMania. Batista is confirmed for the show, so expect the build w/ HHH to grow significantly. I’m also expecting to get a sense in which way they are leaning for Reigns’ match. Still a few options out there, including Corbin, sadly.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) March 11, 2019
Even WrestleVotes couldn’t hide their disappointment at Corbin remaining one of the options discussed by WWE as Reigns’s opponent.
Now, let’s make this clear: Corbin is a very good wrestler in his own right and played his villainous role as Acting GM perfectly. He is everything we hate about authority figures who fail to take responsibility and end up taking jobs they aren’t qualified to own. Corbin abused his power, minimized Reigns’s fight against cancer, and consistently got his ass handed to him by more competent people.
Corbin and Reigns have also faced off in the ring plenty of times and put on solid matches. But that’s exactly the issue: We’ve seen Reigns take down Corbin so many times that there’s just no point in having these two wrestle at WrestleMania. It wouldn’t feel like a big enough deal, and that cannot happen when Reigns is in a match. Because whenever Reigns faces someone, especially now after the WWE Universe has learned exactly how amazing this man is, that match feels like a HUGE deal.
Reigns has faced The Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar (twice) in the main event of WrestleMania. He’s a multiple-time world champion, a Grand Slam champion, and the leader of one of wrestling’s greatest factions of all-time. Despite being away from the ring for months fighting a battle much bigger than any in-ring opponent, Reigns didn’t miss a beat at Fastlane, performing at his usual elite level in The Shield’s reunion match.
McIntyre, The Rock, Ambrose, and Kurt Angle are among the big names who would make sense as Reigns’s opponents at WWE WrestleMania. These would be must-see matchups that would command the WWE Universe’s attention. Though Corbin has been a huge pain for Reigns in storylines, we’ve seen Reigns vs. Corbin more than enough.
There may be nothing inherently wrong with that matchup and Corbin is a former champion in his own right, but Reigns is one of the biggest stars in WWE and should have the most marquee opponent possible at the Show of Shows.