Why Roman Reigns Must Stand Alone at WrestleMania 32

The WWE Universe has reacted to Roman Reigns' main event match at WrestleMania 32 with both approval and criticism. Fans have been split on this one, as many feel this will be the best night of his career, while others are dreading his final ascension to the top spot.

Despite how fans feel about it, Reigns must fight the odds—as he always has—to reach the title. But he must do so on his own.

The temptation to throw another player into this storyline may be too much for WWE to pass up.

After all, Reigns is not exactly over. Some would argue he's never been over. It's not as if the company has not tried to get him to that point. It's spent over a year trying to build him up.

It's been a long road for Reigns—one that should have led to success by now. Instead, he seems to be standing still.

The best way to get someone over is, of course, to give him the rub. That rub could be what WWE Creative is planning for WrestleMania 32. The Rock is booked for the event, and if there'll be anyone in the locker room that night willing to help Roman, it'll be him.

Putting Rocky into the match as a special guest referee is the easy move and would work in the short term.

But in the long term, nothing is gained by The Rock giving Roman the assist. This will not work because fans need to see Reigns overcome The Authority on his own. Roman wants to fight the system and show he has what it takes to win. Now he has to prove it.

Rocky can't be part of that.

The same could be said of Shawn Michaels. Many fans would love to see The Heartbreak Kid on April 3, and if it happened, he could be used in the title match.

It would appear like a slam dunk for The Game, who would likely love to have his best friend watching his back during the match. Shawn could even play it like a heel for a while before pulling the shocker and turning on Triple H.

Roman wins the belt, while Triple H is left wondering where it all went wrong.

Not only is this illogical, but it's also unnecessary. Shawn has no reason to turn on Hunter. Roman would get the rub from Shawn—as he could from Rocky—but in the end, it would not be enough.

Roman's win at WrestleMania must be his own. Getting the shine from a stronger babyface is always a good move, but in this case, it's just too late for it.

WWE as a company has put itself in this position, and now it must see the journey through until the end.

By insisting on booking Roman as the conquering hero and elevating him despite the crowd's lukewarm response, WWE has been forced to stay the course. At no time did Roman ever turn heel, and at no time did WWE do anything to change fans' perception of his work.

The company made its decision on Roman and refused to even consider that it's not a good fit.

Now WWE is faced with a title match that involves a part-time legend. That same legend put Daniel Bryan over at WrestleMania 30, and the only way to get Roman over in any capacity is to do the same for him at 32.

This is what the company believes must be done in order to hand off the torch to the next star. But what worked for Bryan is not necessarily what will work for Reigns.

WWE could have gone in virtually any other direction, but that did not happen. Now fans are left with the inevitable ending.

Roman's rise may not have clicked with a majority of fans, but they were forced to go along with it anyway. Reigns will need to give the performance of his career on April 3, and if it's really going to work this time, he must finish what he started alone.

Tom Clark can regularly be found on Bleacher Report and his podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online here.