If WWE are intent on making Reigns a babyface, they need to delay his ascent to the Wrestlemania main event for now and give the spot to Bryan, otherwise Reigns may never recover from some fans’ perception of him as Vince's golden boy.
From what I can see, the best way to do that is to have Curtis Axel challenge Reigns to a match on RAW for the Wrestlemania number one contender’s spot, stating that he was never eliminated from the Rumble. Reigns accepts, but then Daniel Bryan involves himself, highlighting the fact that he vacated the WWE championship and was not given a rematch, therefore deserves a shot at the title more than the other two.
As a result of this dispute, a triple threat match is made between Reigns, Axel and Bryan - whoever wins becomes the number one contender for the WWE championship at WM against Brock Lesnar. During the triple threat match, Rusev interferes and attacks Reigns for eliminating him from the Rumble, allowing Bryan to get the pinfall/submission victory over Axel.
This sets up nicely a Rusev v Reigns match at WM, where Reigns can break Rusev’s undefeated streak to become the new United States champion. It also sets up Bryan v Lesnar, where Daniel could beat Brock with a sneaky roll-up for the win and get annihilated post-match by an infuriated Lesnar, allowing Seth Rollins to successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
Thoughts?
From what I can see, the best way to do that is to have Curtis Axel challenge Reigns to a match on RAW for the Wrestlemania number one contender’s spot, stating that he was never eliminated from the Rumble. Reigns accepts, but then Daniel Bryan involves himself, highlighting the fact that he vacated the WWE championship and was not given a rematch, therefore deserves a shot at the title more than the other two.
As a result of this dispute, a triple threat match is made between Reigns, Axel and Bryan - whoever wins becomes the number one contender for the WWE championship at WM against Brock Lesnar. During the triple threat match, Rusev interferes and attacks Reigns for eliminating him from the Rumble, allowing Bryan to get the pinfall/submission victory over Axel.
This sets up nicely a Rusev v Reigns match at WM, where Reigns can break Rusev’s undefeated streak to become the new United States champion. It also sets up Bryan v Lesnar, where Daniel could beat Brock with a sneaky roll-up for the win and get annihilated post-match by an infuriated Lesnar, allowing Seth Rollins to successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
Thoughts?