Roman Reigns will wrestle Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 31. Reigns overcame Daniel Bryan in a terrific main event at the Fastlane show. The storyline is that Reigns has earned his title shot twice, and has been endorsed by Bryan as the man to defeat Lesnar. In a post-match handshake, Bryan told Reigns to kick Lesnar's a**. The crowd cheered and WWE would've been happy with that. It had been a risky booking strategy to pit Reigns against Bryan, but it appears to have paid off. Bryan is an elite worker and he helped Reigns to a fantastic performance. Credit to Roman as well, he did his share of the work. The end result is that Reigns is move over going into his WrestleMania show closer with Brock Lesnar. Whoever produced the match should also take a pat on the back. The pacing and the layout of the action was captivating. Both men worked stiff shots and transitioned through submission attempts and near falls. As the reversals and counters built toward a thrilling conclusion, Reigns nailed his spear on Bryan as he was attempting his running knee. This was the best singles match of Reigns' career. He earned a share of cheers and elicited "Roman Reigns" chants during parts of the action. He's definitely got good momentum going into Mania, as this was a decisive and clean win over a top guy in Bryan. It helps supplement his Rumble win and makes him strong. Whether the WWE were right to go with this angle is another argument. Daniel Bryan is clearly the better and more popular wrestler. A win over Reigns at Fastlane would have made Bryan a contender to Lesnar's title. That's now not going to happen. It looks like Bryan will make do with a Sheamus or Dolph Ziggler match next month. The only plausible explanation for this is that Vince McMahon feels Bryan is a physical liability. There could also be the perception that last year was Bryan's time and a return to the well wouldn't be a step forward. But Reigns is a gamble. There's still a very good chance he'll be booed heavily against Lesnar. The kind of fans who attend Mania are usually very smart to the product. They pay a lot of money and aren't going to just play along with WWE's narrative. You also have the fact that Lesnar is likeable. An unstoppable beast who kicks a** in devastating fashion, it is something that we all love to watch. It will be interesting to see how WWE book the match. Also, bear in mind the upcoming renewal or non-renewal of Lesnar's expiring contract. That could sway the creative in a big way, with Lesnar expected to have a face run if he's staying with the company.
