WrestleMania 35 preview: Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

One of the last confirmed matches heading into WrestleMania this year is the matchup between the returning Roman Reigns and the dominant Drew McIntyre.

Roman Reigns versus Drew McIntyre is interesting for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the spot on the card that this match will most likely land. This could be viewed as a downgrade for Reigns, due to his matches at the last four WrestleManias being in the main event slot, but this mid-card spot seems to suits him this time around.

The WWE Universe is more behind Reigns than we have seen since before The Shield broke up, and WWE looks like they are playing it safe and cultivating this positive reaction by pairing him off against a solid mid-card heel like McIntyre.

These two are no strangers to one another. The latter half of 2018, before Reigns’ hiatus, had a lot of focus aimed towards the war between Braun Strowman, McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler and The Shield, and once Reigns returned he and The Shield found themselves in McIntyre’s crosshairs.

McIntyre called out Reigns in a promo a few weeks ago, calling him weak and trying to subliminally put himself above Reigns in the minds of the fans all while attacking Rollins and Ambrose over and over. McIntyre sees this match as his way to finally break Reigns after the all the mind games he’s been playing. The inclusion of Reigns’ leukemia diagnosis — the reason for Reigns’ hiatus — in McIntyre’s promos is another way of solidifying Reigns as the face in this story and helps develop sympathy all while increasing McIntyre’s heel presence.

There are positives to both men winning what is likely to be a particularly violent confrontation.

McIntyre could use this win over the company’s ace as a way to finally break into the main-event scene and cement himself as a bona fide threat. He could also hold this win over the fans as a way to consistently draw their ire, not unlike how Paul Heyman constantly brings up Brock Lesnar’s breaking up of The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30.

Reigns could use this win to solidify his return and reestablish himself as the top dog of the WWE’s heirarchy. He could also use this win as the payoff to his absence, giving him and the fans a feel-good WrestleMania moment on the first major show following his illness and hiatus.

This match’s stakes aren’t as concrete and pre-established as some of the other, bigger bouts on the card, but the outcome of this contest should spark quite a bit of fallout for the post-‘Mania season and will give the fans an idea of what to expect from the Monday Night Raw main event scene going forward.