WWE Hot Take: Brock Lesnar Will Retain vs. Seth Rollins to Avoid Babyface Sweep

WWE fans who don't want to see Brock Lesnar retain the universal title over Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 35 might want to discover a semblance of peace with the idea. 

Because as it stands now, Lesnar is taking home the title and sporadically appearing again over the next six months or so. 

At first glance, everything seems in place for Rollins' special moment—his coronation as top guy. He's main-eventing 'Mania after carrying the company's biggest program following Roman Reigns leaving. He completed the cash-in, returned from injury, overcame Triple H and settled past grievances with The Shield. 

Rollins' final act as the top guy in the company is slaying the Beast, bringing home the universal title and having it regularly defended on Raw. It is good storytelling, satisfies those fans tired of part-time workers like Lesnar and hints at WWE really building up their main-roster stars again. 

Except it all starts to fall apart upon closer inspection. 

Look at the Rollins-Lesnar positioning on the card. The trio of Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch with not one, but two title belts on the line, sits as the main event. Somewhere in there is the WWE Championship title match between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. 

Those are the big three matches. The big three titles. Other than likely cool-down matches between them to help the crowd loosen up between big moments, the three figure to go on near the end of the card, with the women's match last. 

And here's where it gets tricky. WWE isn't going to want every single title changing hands Sunday night. It isn't going to want every good guy coming out on top, either. 

The universal title is the one with the fewest implications of the three. Lynch absolutely has to go over Flair and Rousey. She's the new face of women's wrestling. She's captivated the audience and organically risen to the top unlike anyone since Bryan himself a few years back. 

Flair doesn't need the accolade of winning there. Speculation about Rousey leaving soon seems to have weight. Lynch is the new face of the division and will defend the belts (or belt after unification?) in the coming months. 

And over on SmackDown, it wouldn't make sense to have Bryan retain over Kingston. One-third of The New Day got thrown into the main-event scene at the last second to replace an injured Ali and has since become one of the hottest properties in the company. To not have his story end in a payoff at 'Mania would be a travesty. 

That leaves Rollins as the odd good guy out. And he has other things working against him, while we're at it. Rollins has been great in the ring as usual, but he's also had a so-so build with Lesnar as is, which is what happens when working with a part-time Superstar.

He's got a fun catchphrase again, and he's cutting OK promos and has the crowd behind him. But WWE likes reactions. Vince McMahon likes reactions, too (and the bigger guy, physically). What's going to get a bigger reaction? Rollins getting his moment? Or Lesnar shocking again and bringing heat? 

This isn't hard to figure out. The answer is Lesnar. Keep in mind the Roman Reigns factor. He's back and building himself up again. A match against Drew McIntyre at 'Mania could go either way, but rest assured WWE is about to pull the underdog story and have Reigns fighting for the universal title again by SummerSlam at the latest. 

It shouldn't be a surprise if WWE throws a stop sign in front of Rollins, has him lose and puts the rocket on Reigns' back again. Reigns wasn't ever as over as WWE would have hoped given how much they invested in him, but given his health scare and return, fans are behind him in a big way right now. His eventually taking down Lesnar and getting the title back he never lost might get the reaction WWE has been seeking all along. 

Which is unfortunate for Rollins, of course. He undoubtedly deserves the moment. He's one of the company's best workers. But his winning and then running the usual Raw programs with Reigns, McIntyre and maybe a Braun Strowman or somebody simply isn't getting the same intense reaction that would be Lesnar walking out on the Raw after Monday with the belt over his shoulder again. 

And while we're mentioning character arcs, let's not forget Rollins stole the title from Lesnar by not even pinning him a few years back. Lesnar's own bit of revenge and interesting storytelling would be him beating the tar out of Rollins and retaining. 

There is one other detail here pointing to this unfolding. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t CageSideSeats' Randall Ortman), the go-home episode of Raw was supposed to feature Lesnar whipping Rollins to hype the match. 

Traditionally, the guy going over at the go-home show doesn't do the same at the pay-per-view itself. Except, according to that idea, Lesnar was originally the one coming out on top of that segment. What really happened, of course, was Rollins hit two low blows and stood tall with the title in his hand. 

This isn't some be all, end all indicator of what will happen, obviously. But it is another piece to the puzzle that suggests Lesnar might be walking out of the biggest event of the year a champion again. Maybe the company just wanted Rollins to look strong over a guy he doesn't encounter often. But low blows don't look all that strong, either, right? 

Either way, Lesnar winning opens up some interesting doors down the road, if not more so than if Rollins wins. WWE is going to want Lesnar looking good at the next Saudi Arabia show. Reigns' redemption story would be fun. Building up, say, McIntyre as the next big bad by taking down Lesnar is another possible angle. 

WWE does things on a whim these days, sometimes making last-second decisions hours before a show goes live. Everything could change about this match multiple times still. But with the way the card looks, the Reigns factor and everything else, Lesnar looks like he's walking out of WrestleMania a winner again.