Predicting When Roman Reigns Will Become WWE Champion on SmackDown Live

It seems like a matter of time before Roman Reigns holds the WWE title on SmackDown Live. 

That Reigns moved over in the Superstar Shake-up didn't come as much of a surprise. Not only is the show moving to Fox and in need of massive stars for its new audience, Reigns needed to get away from the usual suspects on Raw and do something unique. 

The blue brand is a good place for WWE to take it slow with Reigns. It gives Seth Rollins some breathing room to work on his lonesome without a Shield member in the way. More importantly, it gives Reigns some fresh feuds while he works his way up to fighting for a brand's top title again.

Well, after his presumably brief feud with Elias, anyway. 

Reigns got involved in spoiling Elias' SmackDown debut, threw a punch at Vince McMahon and now has Shane McMahon on his tail, too. He's claiming his yard, but WWE is clearly keeping him away from the top title and Kofi Kingston—for now. 

Methodical, as expected. Reigns can't simply show up on SmackDown and jump into a big feud with a beloved character like Kingston, who is coming off his big WrestleMania moment. Reigns has a lot of goodwill with fans after returning from his battle with leukemia, and feeding Kingston to him would spoil it in a hurry. 

Keeping Reigns fresh doesn't require a belt right now, anyway. A rehash of a feud with Elias is boring. Throwing both carryovers from Raw into a feud with each other is almost silly. But this might be a way to slowly bring along Reigns in the ring, if not make some slight character alterations in the process. 

Call it a holding pattern until Reigns dispatches of Elias. From there, the possibilities seem endless. He could have a heavyweight encounter with the new bully on the block, Lars Sullivan. WWE might want to protect Sullivan so soon after his big main-roster debut, but if he isn't' getting the response WWE wants, he's a fun monster for Reigns to overcome. 

There is also someone like Randy Orton floating around without much to do. A Reigns-Orton beef writes itself, and they would do some fun things in the ring together.

An eventual extended program with Shane McMahon might loop in somewhere as well, especially if they keep wanting to have him on television with the "Best in the World" schtick. 

Keep in mind events will unfold in the background while Reigns works some fresh feuds. Kingston will more than likely drop the title to a despised character like Kevin Owens at some point. It doesn't need to happen right away, but Kingston will eventually cool, and the right bad guy ripping the belt off him will leave the title scene open for another fan favorite to enter the scene. 

Which is where Reigns will presumably come into play. If a hated guy like Owens has the belt, it should make it easier for WWE to get fans behind Reigns again and continue to ride the goodwill he has there. 

Clearly, the ideal positioning for Reigns winning back the title would be SummerSlam in August. That keeps him out of the spotlight for a little while longer so fans aren't exhausted and gives Kingston a few more headlining title matches at pay-per-views before dropping it. 

SummerSlam seems like the sweet spot where getting Reigns back into title contention won't feel like it is forced. At least some fans were probably worried Reigns' unexpected return would lead to his being involved in a title match at WrestleMania 35. It was too early, and WWE waited for likely a number of different reasons. This figures to hold true for a good chunk of time. 

But a win in August feels like the waiting game is timed correctly. It then turns around and starts to build for the end-of-year push before a Royal Rumble adds intrigue to the main-event scene. And if WWE wants to do something wacky like give Reigns a 'Mania bout with The Rock, a brand's top belt around his waist would almost be necessary (think about how they threw in the SmackDown women's belt at the last second this year at 'Mania). 

No matter when Reigns hoists a title again as the top guy on a brand, it already feels refreshing to see him in new scenery and away from Shield brothers. The new feuds will come, too, which combined with good character work can further endear him to fans as he gears up for another title run. 

Because the summer of Reigns is surely on the way.