Brock Lesnar: Power Ranking the 4 Rumored Opponents for WrestleMania 32

Deciding on which warrior clangs swords with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 is about more than that single marquee event.

WWE has to look toward the horizon as much as it looks at projected financial numbers. Lesnar wields the power to elevate a star into a megastar. He can be a catalyst as well as a top-notch attraction.

Officials may recognize that fact. In addition to greats from the past, WWE is reportedly mulling over two young guns as Lesnar's WrestleMania opponent for next year.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, (h/t Ringside News), the company is considering the following men to face Lesnar at The Showcase of the Immortals:

• Roman Reigns
• Seth Rollins
• Steve Austin
• The Rock

Each wrestler promises a very different kind of match with The Beast Incarnate. A rematch a decade in the making, a repeat of WrestleMania 31's main event and a match that WWE wanted to make years ago are all on the table.

Which of these opponents is the smartest choice?

To answer that, one has to project the quality of each match, its drawing power, how it helps build the future and the potential storylines WWE could build the bout around. Each clash promises to be great in its own way, making it hard on WWE's decision-makers to choose from two legends and two of the company's future cornerstones. 

4. Seth Rollins

Had WWE booked Rollins differently in the past few months, had it foreseen a Rollins vs. Lesnar showdown, it could have made this a much more appealing match. As it stands, it's not worthy of WrestleMania.

WWE has hurt Rollins' aura so much with losses and fluky wins that he is in no way a believable threat to Lesnar. This wouldn't be two gladiators going at it; it would be a steak being fed to a lion.

While this is likely the best option in terms of match quality, it's not a draw. WWE hasn't made Rollins feel like a top star, despite his holding the world championship. A man who has tapped out to Sting and lost to J&J Security just doesn't feel like the right fit for this coveted spot.

It would also be odd if WrestleMania featured a match that was first presented at Battleground.

Having Rollins pull off the upset here would be huge for his career and help make him one of the key stars WWE can build around going forward, but there are just too many issues with this match as it stands.

Should Rollins suddenly go on a tear and start looking like a crafty, dangerous predator, WWE can re-evaluate.

3. The Rock

Rock vs. Brock has a hell of a ring to it. 

The only way to get more star power into a matchup is to convince a Hall of Famer of Austin's caliber to come out of retirement. Tickets would sell in record fashion. The buzz would be tremendous. 

Like Lesnar, The Rock increased his star power after leaving WWE. His movie-star status would help bring in casual fans who may not be sold on WrestleMania otherwise.

WWE would have a strong story work with, as well. For one, Lesnar beat down The Rock's cousin at this year's WrestleMania. And the last time these two faced off, Lesnar defeated him for the WWE title, sending his own career into the stratosphere and ushering The Rock out of the company.

It's certainly not the narrative or the hype that has The Great One sitting third on this list.

How The Rock might do once the bell rings is one reason to be unsure if this is the right match. His last WrestleMania matchup stumbled to the finish, partly because he tore his abdomen in a clash with John Cena.

Now that The Rock is three years removed from that match and with no time in the ring in between, WWE has to be concerned (although less so than it would be with Austin) that he will suffer another injury that will derail the action.

And as great as The Rock is, Rollins and Reigns would both put on better matches against Lesnar. That's as much a nod to those wrestlers' abilities as it is recognizing that The Rock's lack of mat work in the last few years hurts his chance of composing a classic.

Also, there is no torch to pass here. There is no star-making happening, as we saw when Austin beat Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV or when Michaels outlasted Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII.

A Rock win won't lead to anything post-WrestleMania. Lesnar's defeating The Brahma Bull won't change the WWE landscape in the least. That's also part of what holds back Austin vs. Lesnar as the perfect option.

2. Steve Austin

WWE couldn't dream up a better fantasy match for Lesnar. 

Fans have long been pining to see "Stone Cold" compete again. Every year as WrestleMania approaches, there is always talk of whether he'll come back for one more go-round.

That's partly because there hasn't been a wrestler who connected with the audience the way Austin did since he left. Cena is a certified megastar, but Austin remains on another level. It would be a major incentive to tune in to WrestleMania to see him finally do battle in a WWE ring again.

The build to their showdown would be obvious.

A story could be constructed around their previous issues. Austin was in the early stages of a feud with Lesnar before he left, but that match never happened. The Texas Rattlesnake can come back to see if he has it in him to conquer The Beast, a feat he never got a chance to pull off while he was active.

On Austin's podcast this June, Paul Heyman brought up the idea of Austin facing his client. The Hall of Famer snapped into promo mode and began to promise a beating for the bigger man.

That's the kind of attention-grabbing performance WWE could expect leading up this match. Austin would flourish as he hyped the bout, especially if he and Heyman went at it on the mic a few times.

Selling the match is easy. It's the actual match itself that gives one hesitation.

This is not the 2003 version of Austin. He's older, hasn't performed on the mat in a decade-plus and would be stepping between the ropes with a vicious, hard-hitting predator who left Undertaker concussed after WrestleMania 30 and broke Jamie Noble's ribs earlier this year. 

WWE has to be concerned about Austin getting hurt mid-match, as The Rock did against Cena and Sting did against Rollins at Night of Champions. That's far less of a concern with the younger, hungrier Reigns.

1. Roman Reigns

Austin is the bigger name by miles. Austin vs. Lesnar will sell more tickets. But going with that matchup is continuing the pattern that has hurt WWE in recent years.

What would Austin's beating Lesnar do for the company moving ahead? How would this match set up WWE's future? 

Booking a Reigns vs. Lesnar rematch trades some of the buzz that Austin's comeback would have for a career-defining opportunity and a chance to set the groundwork for what's ahead. Putting Reigns in this spot again would signal to the audience that he's on Lesnar's level, that he's just as worthy of the top tier as any big-name act from the past.

Winning would catapult Reigns in a major way. WWE has protected The Beast Incarnate, making sure to keep his aura of invulnerability intact. It would be as powerful as winning the world championship to take him down now in decisive fashion. 

Even if Reigns lost, he'd be elevated by this bout. Pushing Lesnar to his limits and putting on another marquee clash, as he did this year, would elevate the rising star. Picking Reigns would be an investment; Austin would be the cash-in-now option.

The story would be easy to write. Reigns and Lesnar never got to decide who the better man was when they last collided. Rollins' cash-in that night interrupted their war. 

Credit: WWE.com

Reigns can seek to take out an unstoppable force. Lesnar can look to prove that he will demolish Reigns this time out.

The match itself would be better than what Austin and Lesnar could put together. 

At WrestleMania 31, Reigns and Lesnar clashed in an instant classic, two titans delivering thunderous blows. WWE knows that it can expect that again, or even that the two powerhouses can top that effort. It doesn't know what Austin would look like at this point in his career.

Austin has not wrestled a match since 2003. He's 50 years old and would be wrestling with a surgically repaired knees and fused neck. Chances are that the reality won't live up to the expectation there.

Reigns vs. Lesnar is a better match, both quality-wise and as a way to build a megastar for tomorrow.