Roman has to eventually lose the title, but to who? Cody seems like the favorite option I suppose, but is there anyone else? It's probably a safe bet that this is Roman's final run anyway, no way you can top it.

Random thoughts: Dropping it at 'Mania means a 940-day reign. Do they stretch it out to SummerSlam to reach four figures?

Is Cody the next best choice as the face of the WWE? Seems like he didn't even win many people over as the face of the Codyverse.

Gunther would be problematic. Him and Ludwig Kaiser on the Today show at 7:18 of a Tuesday morning?

Drew's not completely damaged goods, yet.

Big E's return culminating in a victory over Roman would be a heck of a tale.

Won't be Sami, KO or AJ. Unlikely to be Riddle. Could easily reheat the wily veteran Orton and I'd buy it as a Last Stand.

 

 

I'm almost positive it's Cody at Mania.

Cody was over as fuck when he came back to WWE and is made for life after that HIAC match. He’s the guy. The Codyverse stuff was bizarre, but with a few people to tell him no, he’s been doing great stuff.

3 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

Big E's return culminating in a victory over Roman would be a heck of a tale.

Every interview I've seen him do recently seem to show he's in a place where he realizes he was very lucky he didn't get paralyzed, and is in a mental place where he'd be fine with not returning to wrestling. 

It’s not even clear that Big E will be able to return to wrestling.

3 hours ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

I'm almost positive it's Cody at Mania.

Meltzer writing lately like Reigns vs Rock is a certainty for Mania, but maybe he drops the strap beforehand since that match wouldn't need the belt. Or, even better, at Summerslam after 1000 days 

How long do you think Bron Breakker will stay in NXT before they move him up to the main roster? If they want to use Reins to elevate someone new he may be the best choice.

11 minutes ago, Ricky Jackson said:

Meltzer writing lately like Reigns vs Rock is a certainty for Mania, but maybe he drops the strap beforehand since that match wouldn't need the belt. Or, even better, at Summerslam after 1000 days 

Reigns/Rock is going to be an overbooked disaster since Rock likely cant take any serious bumps (not due to his physical condition, but because of his acting career).

Honestly, I think they could do something fun with Reigns/Rock (and probably the entire rest of the family by that point), but it's going to be hilarious if they miss the peak with Cody because they're marks for getting Roman a 1,000+ day run.  The clear money here is Cody doing the Cena Return at the Rumble and winning at Mania.

Yeah Cody feels like the move and the timing at next year's Mania built around his return from injury couldn't be more perfect.  But, Rock.  Not sure how/when you get to Cody if big cousin is legit available.

I seriously doubt Rock would be available for anything more than a cameo, since the dude seems to have about 5,000 things going on at the same time. 

With how they're keeping the reign going for so long, I'd like to think they're wanting to put over a younger guy as potentially the next face, but I don't think anyone right now fits the bill. Big E looked like the best choice, but his future is still in question after that neck injury. If Drew was going to win, they would've done it at Clash. Sami was a generational babyface once upon a time, but I don't see him getting the rocket strapped onto him like it were still 2014. Riddle, Breakker, Bate are all options, I guess. I'm just not sold on any of them so far.

Cody would be the one I bet on.

I would think if WWE is going to rocket any of the younger crew, it would be Bron by a mile. Wouldn't be the worst idea in the world if they did either. 

Cody is the answer. Like, it is such a perfect storm that it would baffle me if the do not pull the trigger.

Rhodes wins the Rumble, goes to WM.

37 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I would think if WWE is going to rocket any of the younger crew, it would be Bron by a mile. Wouldn't be the worst idea in the world if they did either. 

I really hope that now that Vince is gone,  Bron can go back to being Rex Steiner. I know it seems like a stupid detail, but that name Bron Breakker really doesn’t work for me as a top guy, it’s so stupid.

I guess my thing is, everyone is so convinced that Cody will return and win the Rumble. But he tore the pec in June and was projected to be out for 9 months. There's no guarantee Cody will be ready for the Rumble at all (unless he inherits Cena Serum) and even if he is they won't know until the last possible moment. They can't rely on him being the plan for Mania.

1 minute ago, The Thread Killer said:

I really hope that now that Vince is gone,  Bron can go back to being Rex Steiner. I know it seems like a stupid detail, but that name Bron Breakker really doesn’t work for me as a top guy, it’s so stupid.

In a way it was good for him to have a different name to let him succeed or fail without the name weighing on him, but they ended up making his whole character on being a Steiner they might as well just go for it. 

4 minutes ago, sek69 said:

In a way it was good for him to have a different name to let him succeed or fail without the name weighing on him, but they ended up making his whole character on being a Steiner they might as well just go for it. 

I probably wouldn’t have a problem with them giving him a new name if the name they ended up giving him wasn’t so stupid. 

I am not one of those people that automatically hates the new names that they give people. I thought Aleister Black was a huge improvement over Tommy End. I think Damien Priest is better than Punishment Martinez.

But “Bron Breakker?” C’mon.

Most NXT names now aren't bad, but Bron Breakker is especially bad because

1: The spelling is stupid. Yes I know, "branding" but all I see is a brand with a name spelled like a middle schooler from Utah.

2. REX STEINER was right there, the perfect name on a silver platter. Come on, WWE, sort your shit. 

5 minutes ago, sek69 said:

REX STEINER was right there, the perfect name on a silver platter. Come on, WWE, sort your shit. 

That was precisely my feeling. It was perfect, why change it? Just because they want to own the guy’s name, it’s so stupid.

27 minutes ago, Jimmy Redman said:

I guess my thing is, everyone is so convinced that Cody will return and win the Rumble. But he tore the pec in June and was projected to be out for 9 months. There's no guarantee Cody will be ready for the Rumble at all (unless he inherits Cena Serum) and even if he is they won't know until the last possible moment. They can't rely on him being the plan for Mania.

If they're smart, they can get there with or without the Rumble.

48 minutes ago, WingedEagle said:

If they're smart, they can get there with or without the Rumble.

That's a big if. 

1 hour ago, Jimmy Redman said:

I guess my thing is, everyone is so convinced that Cody will return and win the Rumble. But he tore the pec in June and was projected to be out for 9 months. There's no guarantee Cody will be ready for the Rumble at all (unless he inherits Cena Serum) and even if he is they won't know until the last possible moment. They can't rely on him being the plan for Mania.

I remember the usual timeline people were floating for a pec tear plus surgery was shorter than 9 months, with 9 months being an especially long recovery time. I assumed they padded the projected recovery time so that it would seem like Cody was a superhero for coming back early.

I'm in the camp that until someone else is main event over, might as well keep the title on Roman Reigns. If they pulled the trigger on Drew at the Castle that would have been OK because the crowd was so hot but since he lost there, I feel Drew is out of the equation. Putting it on The Rock would accomplish nothing & make the entire Reigns reign feel like it was for nothing. It doesn't help The Rock or anyone on the roster & then he would just leave again. That's like the worst case scenario. Cody winning it would work only if when Cody returns he's still super over. That's the most important thing to me, it needs to go to someone that is over. We don't need another Cena scenario where he's the top babyface & half or more of the crowd are vocally booing him, you know?

I think, like others have said, Cody - if available - will turn out to be the best option but I also don't hate the Rex Steiner idea. Giving a new, young guy a big rub that could help make him & give you a big name/star for multiple years going forward is what WWE should be looking for right now. It's Triple H's show now though, so we'll probably get Karrion Kross or Johnny Gargano instead.