WWE WrestleMania 35: 5 Possible Opponents For Roman Reigns

Dean Ambrose

Perhaps the most expected and speculated on choice to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35 is his fellow Shield brother Dean Ambrose. For more reasons than their connection to The Shield, Dean Ambrose’s recent trajectory in WWE was heavily linked to Roman’s absence and return. After a meandering return from injury by Dean Ambrose in 2018, that reunion of The Shield seemed doomed from the start.

However, no one expected the implosion to happen the way it did. The night that Roman Reigns announced the devastating news that he would be relinquishing the Universal Championship and leaving WWE to battle leukemia, we also saw Dean Ambrose team with Seth Rollins in a match for the Raw Tag Team Titles. It was an emotional moment to see Ambrose and Rollins fight together with the thought of Roman’s news in everybody’s mind, but things were shattered soon after.

While Ambrose and Rollins came out victorious and captured the titles, Dean Ambrose finally hit his breaking point after the match and viciously attacked Rollins. Sensing that emotion could’ve gotten the better of him, Rollins even excused the attack at first. He tried to calm Ambrose, saying it was alright that he’d briefly gone after him, but Ambrose wasn’t ready to listen to reason. The assault continued, and Dean Ambrose began the darkest descent of his career.

In the weeks that followed, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose had as heated a rivalry as anyon had seen in recent memory. Ambrose often refused to explain his actions, appearing to be a selfish shell of his former self. That rivalry eventually hit a soft ending, and things really changed when news broke in late January that Dean Ambrose would not be renewing his contract with WWE and would leave the company in April.

Ambrose began to have a wandering few weeks, sort of just existing in the background off occasional moments and matches as if WWE would just let him be there until his contract was up. That all changed when Roman Reigns returned. Ambrose reportedly was going to join Reigns and Rollins on the ramp after Roman announced his cancer was in remission, but was too emotional to do so.

Later that night, we saw Reigns and Rollins come to Ambrose’s aide when he needed help. The next week, Roman Reigns made it clear he wanted the band back together one last time before Ambrose left. The path to that reunion wasn’t exactly simple, but it all culminated at WWE Fastlane where The Shield rode for one last time and had a perfect victory over Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin after a brutal match.

Whether Dean Ambrose really leaves in April has become less certain, but WWE continued to emphasize at Fastlane that his contract will expire and this is the last we’ll see of Dean Ambrose. Whether it’s real or part of the story, one last hurrah against Roman Reigns would be a hell of a sendoff. While there’s a possibility Dean Ambrose could lose control once again and attack Reigns, that wouldn’t even be needed.

If Roman Reigns simply came to Ambrose, brother to brother, and wanted to face him at WrestleMania 35 before he goes, the story would write itself. Two brothers facing each other one last time on the grandest stage that WWE has to offer. Sign me up.