Roman Reigns to defend Universal championship against former WWE Champion before WrestleMania 38

Roman Reigns has a major obstacle on his road to WrestleMania 38, where he is set to take on arch-rival Brock Lesnar.

Roman Reigns lost to Seth Rollins via DQ at the Royal Rumble 2022 event. Later in the night, Reigns cost Brock Lesnar his WWE title. Lesnar won the 2022 Men's Royal Rumble match and will face The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 38.

During a commercial break on WWE RAW tonight, a major announcement was made about Reigns' next title defense. Reigns will have to go through former rival Drew McIntyre at a SmackDown live event in Quebec on March 6, 2022. The bout will be contested for the Universal title.

Roman Reigns has an impressive record against Drew McIntyre

Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre have faced off in singles competition on four occasions so far. Interestingly, The Tribal Chief has yet to lose to McIntyre in a singles match. Their first encounter came at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, which Reigns won.

On the May 6, 2019, episode of RAW, these two behemoths collided again. Reigns won this time as well, via DQ. At WWE Stomping Grounds 2019, Reigns met McIntyre one more time and came out victorious when all was said and done.

Their next singles match took place at Survivor Series 2020. McIntyre was a mega babyface at the time, while Reigns was a heel. This Champion vs. Champion match ended in Reigns' favor as well.

Drew McIntyre is determined to get back on top after losing the WWE title last year.

He gave an incredible performance in the 2022 Royal Rumble match and lasted almost 20 minutes.

In the end, Brock Lesnar eliminated McIntyre to win the 30-man match.

The former WWE Champion now has another shot at becoming the top champion when he meets Reigns on March 6. If McIntyre somehow manages to defeat Reigns, he will be the one to face Lesnar at WrestleMania 38.

Do you think McIntyre is capable of dethroning Reigns this close to WrestleMania 38?