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The Brock Lesnar – Roman Reigns match is all set to headline WrestleMania 31 after the Samoan Superman managed to win the Royal Rumble in front of a hostile Philadelphia crowd. Reigns winning the rumble was met with a chorus of jeers by the WWE Universe but that is not going to stop his journey to Mania.One of the main reasons for the fans turning on Reigns is Daniel Bryan. Everyone wanted to see Bryan vs. Lesnar for the championship at WrestleMania but in reality, the Reigns vs. Lesnar match was always the better option.There are certain reasons why WWE’s decision to book Reigns as the winner or rumble was the right one and here is a look at those reasons.
#5 The mainstream appeal
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Pure wrestling fans will argue that Daniel Bryan is a good choice to headline WrestleMania but from another perspective, Bryan might not sell tickets. The mainstream fans that are known to tune into only WrestleMania will look into the poster and they will not be impressed with a bearded short guy on it.
Reigns on the other hand has the looks to produce an impression on someone who does not watch wrestling on a regular basis. He has the size to stand toe to toe with Lesnar as well as make things more interesting.
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Of course, Bryan is a respected name all across the wrestling community but when was the last time you saw a short shabby guy become the face of WWE?
#4 Rise of a new star
Reigns winning the rumble was the first step towards making him the biggest star in the company. John Cena has been carrying the burden alone in his shoulders for nearly a decade now and it would only be fitting to find a replacement for the Cenation leader.
Though names like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk has been close to that honor, there was always something lacking in them. Vince McMahon was somewhat hesitant in pushing these two completely as both of them did not belong to the WWE prototype.
However, Reigns is a different story. He has everything to be the replacement for Cena and with some polishing, he could even go on to surpass Cena with the first step being the Lesnar match at Mania.
#3 The prospect of Shield ghost
Reigns will be heading into the WrestleMania match as the favorite to win. Lesnar contract will be up on the day after WrestleMania which points towards him dropping the title to Reigns. That would only be the start.
WWE will have to build a new feud for the champion and since it is Reigns, the company has a readymade storyline already. The friction between Reigns and the current Money in the bank holder Seth Rollins dates back to their Shield days and the bookers will show no hesitance in using it.
Rollins sparking a feud with Daniel Bryan would not have a backstory to it but Reigns on the other hand can be blown out as a multidimensional feud which keeps the future together.
#2 The Evil Genius who knows to sell
It is not going to be Lesnar or Reigns, it is going to be Paul Heyman who will sell the match. And unlike all the previous outings, Heyman has time on his side. The evil genius has nearly ten weeks to turn the tides around him and knowing him, he would have done it in four.
The Interview that we recently saw on Monday Night Raw was a big proof in Heyman’s brilliance as he made both Reigns and Lesnar look strong with his microphone work.
If Heyman is going to do similar work all the way to WrestleMania, then the fans will have no trouble spending their hard earned money to see Reigns face Lesnar.
#1 Daniel Bryan
While Daniel Bryan is the biggest reason for fans turning on Reigns, he is also the reason why Reigns needed to win. Bryan was injured during his fairytale WWE Championship run and needed surgery to fix his neck. There were rumors of Bryan undergoing a second surgery but it was dropped for some reason.
The doctors were not sure about what Bryan’s problem was and they could not come to a conclusion whether he would need a surgery or not. Now, this makes Bryan a fragile prospect in between the ropes.
He is highly susceptible to injury and WWE did not want to take a risk with him. If Bryan won the Rumble and got injured in the time gap between Rumble and Mania, it would have been a big blow for the company, making the Reigns decision a good one.
