Roman Reigns Beating Brock Lesnar And 5 Smart Booking Decisions

WWE has billed WrestleMania 38 as “The Most Stupendous Two-Night WrestleMania in WWE history,” and after what was indeed a stupendous first night on Saturday, the likes of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and AJ Styles have some lofty expectations to live up to on Night Two of the show.

The build to WWE’s flagship pay-per-view—as evidenced by WWE’s lackluster TV viewership—hasn’t been great, but after Saturday’s event over-delivered with unforgettable moments for Bianca Belair, Cody Rhodes and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, that trend should continue. There are, after all, no real questions about how the biggest stars on Sunday’s WrestleMania card will perform in the ring, but how those matches will be booked? That’s not as cut and dry.

Here are five smart booking moves WWE must make on the second night of WrestleMania 38.

MORE FROM FORBESWWE WrestleMania 38 Night One: Bianca Belair Defeating Becky Lynch And 5 Smart Booking DecisionsBy Blake Oestriecher

RKBro Stays Together

Even though WWE has spent much of the past decade overlooking its tag team division, Raw’s tag team title picture has been a surprise hit in recent months. Much of that can be attributed to the great work of Randy Orton and Riddle—collectively known as RKO— a duo that seemed to be a mismatch at first but has developed into one of WWE’s most popular acts.

Upon its initial formation last year, RKBro was widely expected to be a short-term experiment that ultimately imploded with an Orton heel turn, but it got over in a major way, so much so that now is not the right time to end it. With Orton and Riddle continuing to generate roof-rattling reactions week in and week out, RKBro needs to leave WrestleMania still together no matter the outcome of their triple threat match against The Street Profits and Alpha Academy.

Bobby Lashley Topples Omos

There are up-and-coming stars, like Bron Breakker, who should get a massive push in the near future. Then, there’s Omos. While Omos looks the part as a larger-than-life superstar, that’s where his appeal stops. Thus far during his solo stint, Omos hasn’t proven to be an overly entertaining character or a solid in-ring performer, and though he’s still undefeated in singles action, his act is already beginning to wear thin.

In an ideal world, Omos would be losing to a fellow rising star at WrestleMania who could benefit from toppling the giant, but that’s not happening and his actual opponent, Bobby Lashley, has been too good to be used as fodder for the gargantuan star. Lashley received a strong reaction when he returned on the latest episode of Raw, and with a big babyface push planned, the former two-time WWE Champion should take down Omos to ignite a renewed push as a fan favorite.

Vince McMahon Anoints Austin Theory

While the feud between Pat McAfee and Austin Theory initially resulted in moans and groans from WWE’s passionate fan base, the feud itself has actually been solid, thanks in large part to the tremendous work of McAfee. There’s a reason that the NFL player-turned-wrestling-announcer, who’s making millions for his popular podcast, is in this spot: He knows what it takes to entertain.

McAfee is a likable babyface and master of the microphone who’s proven in the past to be very good in the ring, especially for a non-wrestler, and he’s playing his role perfectly here. The goal of this feud is to help establish Theory as a potential main eventer, and McAfee can do just that by taking the pin at WrestleMania 38. But WWE must still take it a step further and have Vince McMahon, who’s been working closely with Theory on-screen, anoint Theory as his “Chosen One”—much like he did with Drew McIntyre more than a decade ago—which would make sense given that McMahon reportedly sees Theory as a potential “next John Cena.”

AJ Styles and Edge Get Time To Deliver A Classic

In the long term, the outcome of Edge vs. AJ Styles won’t mean much, if anything. They are both inked to big money deals, and both of their Hall of Fame legacies are already set. So, in essence, this match is just meant to serve as the potential show-stealing instant classic at WrestleMania 38.

There is nothing wrong with that, either. Edge and Styles are true pros, and win or lose, both stars will be fine moving forward. Although one could argue Edge should win given his recent heel turn, either outcome will likely sit well with fans. This is a match designed to be an amazing wrestling match from start to finish. WWE needs to give them time to do just that—with the match ending designed to be a clean one that is the icing on the cake of an unforgettable Mania encounter.

Roman Reigns Becomes Unified World Champion

Given the booking of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that “The Beast” will be the one to dethrone “The Head of the Table,” who has held the Universal Championship for nearly 600 days. But what, exactly, does that accomplish? Nothing really. Reigns is portraying himself as a needle-moving big money draw, and he has been nothing short of spectacular in his current heel role.

Because of that reality, WWE needs to use Reigns’ historic run as a way to help create a new star. Lesnar, of course, doesn’t need the victory, just as he didn’t need to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 to still get a massive push. Lesnar has always had Reigns’ number, and so, this match should be all about Reigns finally toppling his biggest rival ever for good, all with the end goal of potentially setting the stage for Reigns vs. The Rock in a blockbuster main event at WrestleMania 39.