Ideal Booking for Roman Reigns Heading into WWE Royal Rumble 2018

Whether you like Roman Reigns or not, he is one of the top stars in the eyes of WWE and will play an integral role at the 2018 edition of the annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Accordingly, WWE Creative will be heavily focused on his booking heading into the 30-man Battle Royal.

Before Reigns gets to the Royal Rumble, he is scheduled to face off against The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship on the 25th-anniversary episode of Raw on January 22.

Next week, though, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and The Miz should attack Reigns again and leave him injured in the storyline.

With the built-in excuse that Reigns was attacked two weeks in a row by the Miztourage and is nursing an injury caused by his challenger, The Miz should control much of the match before The Big Dog makes his inevitable comeback.

Instead of letting Reigns pull off the comeback victory, he should lose the title when Jason Jordan inadvertently costs him the victory.

Jordan and Reigns have had several run-ins since Raw general manager Kurt Angle's son won the tag team championships with Seth Rollins and anointed himself the third member of The Shield.

With the WWE Universe focusing on a possible feud between Reigns and Jordan, it would be the perfect time for a classic Vince McMahon swerve.

As the hand-chosen successor to John Cena as the face of the company, Reigns will likely be in the Royal Rumble match without making a formal announcement. When he finally arrives in the Battle Royal, wrestling fans will be stunned.

The WWE Universe will be even more stunned when Reigns is the Superstar standing tall at the end of the night. With the Philadelphia crowd enraged, The Big Dog will head into the Road to WrestleMania as the No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship.

While Reigns can square off against Jordan heading into and following the January PPV, the storyline between the men will be used to veil his surprise appearance and victory.

Rumors have swirled for months that the WWE's plan was for Reigns to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at WrestleMania 34, and booking The Big Dog to surprise the fans by entering the Rumble and pulling off a win would make for a controversial moment.

Heading into the Royal Rumble, the WWE Universe should be looking for hints that Reigns will enter the Battle Royal before stunning his fans and critics by walking out of Philadelphia for the second time as the WrestleMania main event.

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