5 Opponents for Roman Reigns once he returns

Universal Champion Roman Reigns has unfortunately tested positive for COVID-19. Due to this, he was forced to miss his scheduled title defense against Brock Lesnar at WWE Day 1.

The Tribal Chief's absence from WWE Day 1 forced the company to make multiple last-minute changes. This included adding Brock Lesnar to the WWE title match on the pay-per-view, which he won to become the new champion. While there is no timeline as to when Roman Reigns will return, fans have started speculating about what's next for him?

Let's take a look at five potential opponents for the Universal Champion once he returns to WWE after recovering from COVID-19. Here's to wishing The Tribal Chief a speedy recovery.

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#5 Roman Reigns finally has his much-awaited match against Drew McIntyre

Roman Reigns has been the Universal Champion for nearly 450 days now. He has had such a dominating run that it's tough to decide who could be the one to finally dethrone him. One star who certainly has enough credibility to achieve this huge task is Drew McIntyre.

The Scottish Warrior has been one of the top babyfaces in WWE for the last couple of years. He had a great run with the WWE title and proved his worth. At the WWE Draft 2021, McIntyre was moved over to Friday Night SmackDown and has since made his intentions very clear on multiple occasions that he wants to go after the Universal Championship.

Recent reports suggested that there were plans for Roman Reigns to feud with Drew McIntyre after WWE Day 1. However, McIntyre was written off television at the pay-per-view due to some legitimate injury concerns.

Adding to this Reigns' absence due to COVID-19, it is to be seen what changes WWE will have to make to these plans. Could McIntyre possibly be the one to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38?

#4 Goldberg returns to set up his unfinished match against Roman Reigns

WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg going one-on-one against Roman Reigns is a dream match that we almost got. The two were on a collision course ahead of WrestleMania 36 but the match never happened as Reigns pulled out of the show at the last minute and Goldberg instead faced Braun Strowman.

Goldberg recently revealed that he has just one more match left on his WWE contract. There is a possibility that it could end up being his last match ever. If that is the case, he needs to settle his unfinished business with Roman Reigns. Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship would be a great match for Royal Rumble 2022, or maybe even WrestleMania 38.

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#3 AJ Styles moves over to SmackDown to feud with Roman Reigns

Truth be told, there are very few stars left on the blue brand who could believably pose any threat to Roman Reigns' title run. Could this force WWE to move a top star from Monday Night RAW over to the blue brand? If that is the only option left, a great choice would be AJ Styles.

The Phenomenal One has been away from the world title picture for quite some time now. WWE recently split him up from Omos and as per recent reports, AJ Styles will be a babyface going forward.

Styles has faced Roman Reigns previously on multiple occasions and the two have great in-ring chemistry. A babyface AJ Styles going up against a heel Roman Reigns could make for an amazing feud going into the WrestleMania season.

#2 Big E could set his eyes on the Universal Championship now

A few months ago, Big E was a fan-favorite to dethrone Roman Reigns as the Universal Champion. Instead, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Bobby Lashley and won the WWE Championship. At WWE Day 1, his title reign came to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar. The question now is, what is next for Big E?

Well, we are less than a month away from WWE Royal Rumble 2022. With him no longer holding the WWE title, Big E will be a favorite to win the match. If that happens, we might see him set his eyes on the Universal Championship this time. If Roman Reigns is the biggest heel in WWE right now, Big E is the biggest babyface. A feud between the two is surely going to be of epic proportions.

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#1 Could we see Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in a champion vs. champion match?

Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were looking set to have a long feud, possibly leading to a WrestleMania 38 match. However, things have suddenly changed with Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Championship at Day 1.

The most likely answer at this point is that WWE will hold this feud off for a later date. However, the build-up to Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar was so good that fans would be slightly disappointed if WWE just abruptly shuts it off.

What happens to Paul Heyman now? What if WWE still goes ahead with this feud but further raises the stakes and makes it a "champion vs. champion" match at WrestleMania 38? While this could rob some other stars of a main event spotlight, it's still a possibility that can't be ignored.