Roman Reigns is back and WWE is better for it. Steve Cook has an idea of what he should do, come April, at WrestleMania

The return of Roman Reigns solves a lot of problems that have been facing WWE during the months he’s been absent. Namely, the lack of starpower on the roster when he isn’t around. We can sit here all day and argue about why that’s the case, but the bottom line is that a certain portion of WWE’s audience tuned out when the Big Dog left.

Will they return? We shall see.

Now the question on everybody’s mind, or at least my mind, is this: What does WWE do with Roman Reigns now that he’s back? Another short-term Shield reunion is a safe answer, but that’s going to end at some point. Either when Dean Ambrose leaves the company or one of the members gets hurt. The latter seems to be the fate for the Shield ever since they split up the first time. If we’re lucky, they’ll make it to Fastlane in one piece. Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre look like the potential victims.

After Fastlane, all bets are off, and Roman’s traditional path to WrestleMania has already been taken by his buddy Seth Rollins. The Architect won the Royal Rumble and earned the right to get beat up by Brock Lesnar at MetLife Stadium. Roman’s home at WrestleMania has been in the main event, typically in the Universal Championship match. He’s definitely not getting a Universal Championship match, and the main event is in play as well since everybody thinks this is the year of the women going on last.

So what will the Roman Reigns do?

My guess is some sort of multi-man match. Perhaps adding Braun Strowman to the Reigns/Ambrose team against the assortment of Raw bad guys. If Reigns is ready for a singles match, I could see WWE thinking that McIntyre would be a good opponent for him. They want Drew to be a star, and if the Scottish Psychopath can’t get over feuding with Reigns, they can go ahead and cut bait on that.

None of these options will light the world on fire, except for the fact that Roman Reigns will be involved. That might be all you need.

What would I do?

One idea popped into my head the second I started gathering my thoughts for this column. I realize this will sound insane to most of you considering how WWE has booked things over the years. I know that Raw is the A show and the only thing Vince McMahon cares about. That’s why Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch are all about going after Ronda Rousey & the Raw Women’s Championship, even though they’re both on SmackDown and have both recently been defeated by their champion….

um….

ASUKA! Yeah, that’s who their women’s champ is, Asuka. Becky & Charlotte were so not ready for Asuka that they ran over to Raw to avoid her. Mandy Rose seems more ready for Asuka than Flair or Lynch were. Anyway, it’s not like Asuka’s the only forgettable SD champion these days. Who’s the United States Champion?

…………

Yup, it’s R-Truth! Won it a few weeks back, hasn’t been on the show since. The Tag Team Champions have been around, but that’s only because Shane McMahon has been in the title picture. Folks, it really doesn’t pay to be a champion on the SmackDown brand. Unless you’re Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan’s been all over TV, of course. He’s been getting the WWE Universe & other wrestlers all upset by being pro-environment. How dare he! The scoundrel has been on fire recently with his promos & has established himself as a top heel.

The only problem?

Bryan’s somewhat lacking in opponents. Who in the world will he face at WrestleMania? As much as I love Bryan vs. AJ Styles, that’s been done over & over again lately. WWE’s big idea recently was to give young Mustafa Ali a big push and build him into an underdog opponent, but an injury to Ali curttailed those plans. Kofi Kingston got Ali’s slot in the Elimination Chamber and all of the love from the fans during the match, which translated to a Fastlane title opportunity. But let’s be honest: Kofi vs. Bryan at WrestleMania would be lucky to open the show. It would die anywhere else on the card.

John Cena keeps getting mentioned by the IWC experts, but there’s been no evidence he’ll be available to be on the WrestleMania card. The hot news lately is that Kevin Owens is being built up as a regular guy to go into a feud with Bryan at WrestleMania. I like the idea for pretty much any other time of year, but Owens hasn’t been around for months and hasn’t earned a WWE Championship opportunity at the Show of Shows. Last time we saw him, he was getting manhandled by Bobby Lashley.

Hey, I don’t make the Kayfabe rules.

I would be willing to cast them aside for one man. The man who had to vacate the Universal Championship and never got beaten for it. A man that would automatically raise the WWE Championship & its holder to main event status. Somebody that has been on record saying he would love to feud with Daniel Bryan. Bryan was the great comeback story of WrestleMania 34. Reigns will be the great comeback story of WrestleMania 35. Why not put them together?

Before you dismiss this as complete nonsense, ask yourself the following question: Do you think FOX would love having Roman Reigns as WWE Champion when SmackDown Live pops up on their airwaves? That might be enough to make up for Rousey no longer being with the company at that point.

WWE needs to make SmackDown matter at some point. Daniel Bryan needs an opponent. The people need Roman Reigns. Let’s make everybody happy!