WWE WrestleMania 36: A case for Matt Riddle/Aleister Black replacing Roman Reigns
By Erik Boyer
Apr. 4 and 5, 2020 – two nights which the professional wrestling world has been waiting for with bated breath since Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and Rhonda Rousey took last year’s 19 hour show home. You guessed it: WWE WrestleMania 36!
However, this WrestleMania is different, because there is a built-in, guaranteed surprise during the main event of one of these nights.
Recently, it surfaced that out of concern for himself being immunocompromised, the mighty Roman Reigns refused to compete in his heavily promoted, highly anticipated “upcoming” (most of the show was taped last Wednesday and Thursday) WrestleMania XXXVI main event against the super annoyingly immortal Bill Golberg with one of the two grandest prizes in all of WWE on the line: the Universal Championship.
Since Reigns’ decision was made public, the WWE Universe has been clamoring to find out who his replacement would be! The WWE was gifted an enormous opportunity to shock the world and return a sense of unpredictability that their overall brand so desperately needs.
After several knocks on a door marked, “Goldberg,” the door opens and Goldberg appears, the Universal title wrapped firmly around his waist. He does his normal routine, as he marches through the backstage area to gorilla, and then out onto the stage amidst a blaze of pyro. He looks incredibly intense as he kicks and punches an invisible opponent at the top of the stage in a totally empty arena.
Transparent enemies defeated, he begins his journey to the ring and it will be merely seconds until the WWE Universe finds out just WHO replaced Roman Reigns in this championship bout that has the potential to make a brand new, legitimate top star in the company. Silence pervades the fanless battleground as Goldberg warms up. The time has come. The answers will be delivered. Hang on to your hats, folks.
Now, I could go in a multitude of directions at this point – and I might – because, being a product of a history major in college, I have the uncanny ability to write for hours on end. However, I’ll spare you every single possible scenario and just go with the two I desperately want to see.
The opportunity, should one of the two be presented with it, would restore a great deal of credibility to the WWE product and their reputation as an outstanding source of sports entertainment. Without further adieu, let’s find out who gets Reigns’ spot and catapults themselves into WWE infamy.