WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Ranking 10 Most Likely Winners

3. Roman Reigns

Brock Lesnar Poster
WWE.com

The past two WrestleMania pre-seasons may have had their differences, but in one way, they were virtually identical - they were all about putting over Roman Reigns prior to his career-making win. Both times, though, fans rejected him. In 2015, the company decided to hold off on his big win, but in 2016 they bit the bullet. It didn't do any good, as fans kept booing him.

Today, WWE is in the middle of attempt #34 to get Reigns over as a good guy - this one involves relegating him to the midcard (while still giving him more TV time and focus than just about anyone). Reigns is currently the United States Champion, but make no mistake - it's all a gambit designed to end with him on top again.

If that's the case, will WWE even let one WrestleMania go by without trying to use it to make Reigns the babyface superstar only they think he can be? As frustrating as it is - and despite the fact that the Reigns-Rusev feud hasn't actually gotten Reigns over - the Royal Rumble could easily be the company's next attempt to give "The Guy" his huge victory.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013