5 WWE Superstars who can replace Roman Reigns as the face of SmackDown
Roman Reigns is standing tall as the face of Friday Night SmackDown. When he was drafted to the Blue brand nearly two years ago, it was clear that WWE wanted Roman Reigns to be the face of SmackDown.
It took time for him to reach that spot. While he would have won the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 against Goldberg, the five-month break paid off. We got to see a newer heel version of Roman Reigns - the one that fans have been asking to see for years.
Here are five WWE superstars who can replace Roman Reigns as the face of Friday Night SmackDown:
#5. Seth Rollins - Roman Reigns' replacement in 2019
Seth Rollins was always WWE's #2 Superstar for years. When Roman Reigns was getting his biggest push between 2015-2018, Seth Rollins was a peg below him but always relevant enough to take that top slot if he needed to.
There were only two times when Seth Rollins was truly above Roman Reigns in the pecking order. That was during his six-month WWE title reign in 2015 and his big push in 2019.
2019 was a significant year for Seth Rollins as well, as he was primed to be in the top spot on RAW. After Roman Reigns announced that he would be out of action due to leukemia, nobody, including WWE, knew when he would return.
Some people estimated that the earliest that Roman Reigns could have returned was in early 2021. Roman Reigns then shocked the WWE Universe by returning in just a few months, revealing that he was in remission.
By that point in early 2019, Seth Rollins was already the Royal Rumble winner and was booked to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Roman Reigns was in an underwhelming WrestleMania 35 match against Drew McIntyre, but the only purpose of that was to get him back into singles action.
Seth Rollins, meanwhile, did what Roman Reigns couldn't - defeat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. Winning the Universal title, he would go on to lose it back to The Beast Incarnate after the latter cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Rollins then defeated Lesnar clean at SummerSlam 2019 in the main event.
Seth Rollins might be a heel now, but just like Roman Reigns, he will inevitably turn face someday. Should there be any such circumstance, Seth Rollins may be the go-to replacement for Roman Reigns as SmackDown's top star.
It doesn't mean that he would be a better fit than Roman Reigns, however.