Roman Reigns Must Resume Singles Career to Close out 2015

Don't look now, but WWE is entering the fourth quarter of 2015, and Roman Reigns is practically on the bench.

This time last year, rumors of Reigns becoming the heir-apparent to John Cena were not rumors as much as they were foregone conclusions. But in an era of impatience, counterculture and too much information, live fan reactions made the transition difficult, to say the least.

Since failing to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31, Reigns' singles career has seen a steady decline. In fact, right now it's nonexistent.

Perhaps WWE is shrewdly scaling back on Reigns for the moment to combat criticisms of the former Shield member not being ready yet, whatever that means. But as WWE heads into Royal Rumble, and eventually WrestleMania season, the gang warfare needs to end. The only chance Reigns has at returning to the main event is as an individual.

WWE's recent strategy of pairing Seth Rollins with veterans is beginning to backfire.

Sting's injury during their match was a wake-up call that WWE's youth movement needs to have more of a presence at the top of the card than ever. Enough time has passed that Reigns can slowly begin making his climb back to a potential WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but he'll need a good mixture of singles feuds to do so.

Over-the-top personalities like Rusev, Kevin Owens and even Dean Ambrose would make for very interesting feuds en route to a coveted WWE Championship match against Rollins. A string of good matches with each of these wrestlers would only strengthen Reigns' currently erratic stock headed into 2016.

The 2016 Royal Rumble picture is wide open with no runaway favorites. The longer this remains true, the less time there is for fans to rebel against rumored favorites months in advance. WWE's best chance of avoiding an irrational fan reaction to yet another Royal Rumble winner is moving the show from Philadelphia.

Its second-best chance is booking the projected winner with a purpose and a logical path. Reigns' battle cry is "one vs. 100." This can only be done once Reigns goes solo.

Alfred Konuwa is a featured columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter@ThisIsNasty and subscribe to his weekly wrestling podcast.