Weighing the potential options to eventually dethrone The Fiend as Universal Champion
As TLC is now officially in the books, the countdown to the Royal Rumble is officially on. The Rumble could feasibly shake things up again regarding the winners who could possibly challenge The Fiend for his Universal Championship.
Since the Royal Rumble winner can pick which title to challenge for, we could feasibly see a star from SmackDown win and decide to challenge RAW's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar for the title at the Show of Shows. On the flip side, someone from RAW could win and decide to play with SmackDown's Universal Champion Bray Wyatt on the Road to WrestleMania.
Some recent rumors have floated around suggesting that NXT will have 10 representatives alongside 10 participants each from SmackDown and RAW. While that may or may not be true, it has to be disheartening for some stars who have already struggled to not only get chances but also just get onto TV or a PPV.
There also exists the straightforward angle of a SmackDown star winning and challenging The Fiend and vice versa for RAW and the Beast. The favorite to win the 2020 Rumble for the men, even before the odds were announced, is Roman Reigns. While I don't think he needs another huge win in order to challenge for a title, the fact still remains that he is the golden boy and will be treated as such.
Just because the powes that be might want to give Reigns another title win, it doesn't necessarily mean that it would be a good call. Many people love The Fiend and that could cause a portion of the crowd to turn on the Big Dog, who has just recently won back a significant amount of positive crowd support. The main takeaway is that WWE has to find the right person to be the one to take down The Fiend, Bray Wyatt, and the Firefly Fun House.
Daniel Bryan appears to be next for The Fiend, but the maniacal one is unlikely to lose his title before WrestleMania 36. There are some good choices to take the belt from the current champion and some bad choices for varied reasons, so here are some options for each side of the coin.
#3 Best Option: Braun Strowman
The Monster Among Men has had numerous chances at major titles in WWE but has nothing to show for it. He tried against both Reigns and Brock Lesnar but came up on on the short end of things against both stars.
Strowman seems like he's always in the hunt and just on the cusp of winning that big title. Isn't it crazy that he hasn't claimed a singles title yet? The fact that Wyatt and the Monster Among Men also have a history would work in WWE's favor. The Universal Champion could consider Strowman a black mark on his troublesome past that he's tried to put in his rear-view mirror. The two men have taken different paths since their time in the Wyatt Family.
Winning a major title would put the Monster Among Men over the top as a major star in WWE. He's currently used as either a sideshow act with his feats of strength or as a challenge for non-wrestlers and smaller Superstars to overcome. The former strongman needs something to solidify his status as one of the biggest stars of his generation and a title win. especially over Wyatt, would do that for Strowman.