Roman Reigns set to hit major WWE milestone ahead of SmackDown return

Roman Reigns took a whole 180-degree turn in the summer of 2020, when WWE, and the entire world, was navigating the global pandemic. The Tribal Chief was born not long after he became the Universal Champion at Payback by dethroning the late Bray Wyatt.

Three years later, he has arguably earned his position as the top star of the company and the wrestling business, warranting his part-time status.

Reigns has been absent on television since the Crown Jewel premium live event last month, where defeated LA Knight. He is booked for the December 15th edition of SmackDown. Two days ahead of the show, The Tribal Chief will hit 1,200 days as Universal Champion.

WWE seems to have hinted at his Royal Rumble challenger. The company hit the jackpot with Randy Orton's comeback at Survivor Series: WarGames. The veteran resurfacing has allowed the creative team to finally explore a match that was originally planned for SummerSlam a year prior.

---

Randy Orton and CM Punk need to "get in line" to face Roman Reigns, says top WWE star

Aside from The Viper, CM Punk also brought up Roman's name this past Friday night. However, the latter's exclusive brand will only be decided on Monday night, as of this writing.

At a recent WWE live event, LA Knight name-dropped the returning superstars and made an emphatic statement regarding who deserves a shot at the Undipsuted WWE Universal Champion:

"You talk about common enemies and all of a sudden up shows CM Punk. And then up shows Randy Orton. All I hear is everybody gunning for Roman Reigns. Here's how it goes down, if Roman Reigns finds enough tingle in his loins to actually show up.. he's got a lot of people looking for him. But guess what boys, CM Punk, Randy Orton, everybody else, you've got to get in line because I ain't asking ya, I'm telling ya who's game this is!" [H/T: Fightful]

At Crown Jewel, Reigns only narrowly escaped defeat at the hands of The Megastar after The Bloodline's involvement. It's also worth noting that AJ Styles was last seen being taken out by The Bloodline. The Tribal Chief has a few major challengers ahead indeed.

Who do you think deserves a shot at Roman Reigns next, with the inclusion of Randy Orton, CM Punk, LA Knight and even AJ Styles? Sound off in the comments section below!