10 Next Booking Steps For Heel Roman Reigns In WWE
8. He Doesn't Win The Universal Championship (But He Doesn't Lose Either)
No amount of intriguing heel turns will save Reigns from the backlash he would face if he took the Universal Championship from 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt a week after the beloved monster won it. It would send Bray all the way down the pecking order after he spent months climbing back up it and it would also prove that WWE had literally learned nothing from their failed Roman Reigns experiments in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Now, your writer isn't unreasonable; we know Roman needs to be protected at such a crucial turning point in his career. Thus, all that needs to happen at Payback in the Triple Threat match is Bray picking up the win by pinning Braun Strowman.
At this stage, Braun can afford another loss after a dominant reign and that finish would protect the two men who are in real need of protection right now.
However, there's another purpose to this finish, as it would allow 'The Fiend' to embark on a long title reign and ensure that Roman has a reason to pursue a different program for the time being...