WWE is booking themselves into a corner with WrestleMania 38's main event
WWE Elimination Chamber set the stage for an epic showdown between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38.
With Lesnar winning the WWE Championship inside the chamber and Reigns retaining the Universal Championship against Goldberg, both men are now on a collision course with the titles on the line in six weeks.
Although WWE has had winner-take-all main events before (Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior, the Women's Triple Threat at WrestleMania 35), this year's match is likely to back them into a creative corner.
CHAMPION vs. CHAMPION at #WrestleMania
#WWEChampion @BrockLesnar vs. #UniversalChampion @WWERomanReigns
@HeymanHustle
wwe.com/shows/wrestlem… https://t.co/fRytDqbdMD
For starters, booking Lesnar and Reigns in general is a bit of a challenge. Lesnar works best as a dominant force, which makes it hard to keep him as an entertaining champion for a long period of time.
On the flipside, Reigns' current historic run has seen him beat some of the biggest names in the business, thus creating the question of who is going to be the one to take him down. Traditionally, dominant heels are built to fall, and whoever beats him will have all the momentum. That's the point. It's also the problem here.
Who really stands to benefit from a title vs title match at WrestleMania?
If Lesnar wins at WrestleMania, WWE will hang both its world titles on a superstar who isn't a constant presence on TV. Sure, Lesnar has been around more as of late, but does he need the rub? Does he benefit from the momentum of beating Reigns?
Can Lesnar's character survive leading both shows without fans becoming bored with him? Can WWE build two credible challengers for him on RAW and SmackDown? Or will the titles be unified? Most importantly, who gets the momentum for then beating Lesnar? Roman Reigns? Again?
It's a BROCK PARTY at #WWEChamber!
@BrockLesnar https://t.co/NUwddIcRCz
It won't get much better if Reigns emerges victorious. Winning both belts would solidify The Tribal Chief's dominant run, adding Lesnar to his growing list of victims. And watching Roman rule over RAW on Monday nights, demanding that he is acknowledged, would be entertaining for a few weeks.
However, as time wears on, Reigns will run the risk of falling back into the trap that made him hated before his current run: the trap of overexposure.
Despite his recent success on Smackdown, there are fans who are getting tired of him. With that in mind, is it really best for his character to turn up the volume and essentially double his presence on television each week? Like Lesnar, you also have to wonder how WWE is going to create credible challenges for Reigns and his two titles.
The idea of a title vs. title match is a good one in theory. I would even go one step further and say that the match itself has the potential to be amazing.
Unfortunately, when it's all said and done, if one of them walks out with two belts, WWE could find themselves booked into a corner that they may not feasibly be able to escape until Summerslam.