WWE Predictions 2017: Ranking Potential Opponents For Brock Lesnar's Return Match

Braun Strowman appeared to be on his way towards a WWE Universal Championship Match with Brock Lesnar, but an injury will keep the best thing going on “Monday Night Raw” out of the title picture for the time being. WWE reported that elbow surgery will force Strowman to miss up to six months, leaving Lesnar without an opponent for his first championship defense.

Lesnar hasn’t had a match since he beat Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 33, but he’s expected to return for a match at the Great Balls of Fire PPV on July 9. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe will compete in a fatal-5-way match at Extreme Rules on June 4 to determine the No.1 contender to Lesnar’s belt.

Strowman should have a match with Lesnar at some point, and it’s unknown if WWE’s announced six-month timeframe is a work. Even if he’s back for SummerSlam to take on the Beast Incarnate, it appears that someone else will get a shot at the champion first.

Let’s rank the potential opponents for Lesnar in order from least likely to most likely.

5) Roman Reigns

It seems to be a near certainty that Reigns will get his shot at Lesnar’s title within the next year, but it’s not going to happen upon the champ’s return. Lesnar vs. Reigns is only big enough for SummerSlam or WrestleMania 34, and it won’t be wasted at a random July PPV. That’s not to say Lesnar’s first title defense won’t be a big match, but it doesn’t have the same cache as a match with the WWE superstar that’s main-evented WrestleMania in each of the last three years.

4) Bray Wyatt

Before Strowman got hurt, WWE probably didn’t have a Lesnar-Wyatt match in their future plans. Bray lost the WWE Championship to Randy Orton just a few weeks ago, and his inclusion in the fatal-5-way is largely because of his current feud with Balor. WWE had the chance to make Lesnar vs. Wyatt happen at WrestleMania 32, and they changed course. But Wyatt can’t be ruled out as the winner at Extreme Rules, considering he’s made a career of taking on the biggest names in WWE and losing to them at PPVs.

3) Samoa Joe

WWE is missing a major opportunity if they don’t have Joe face Lesnar at some point in the next year or two. He’s one of the few wrestlers on the roster that could believably challenge the former UFC heavyweight champion, and he’s been a dominant force since debuting on the main roster. It might make sense to have Joe win a few more big matches before getting his shot at Lesnar, but it’s a feud that can’t be ruled out for the summer.

2) Finn Balor

More so than anyone else on the roster, Balor deserves a WWE Universal Championship opportunity. He was the first-ever wrestler to hold the belt, and he only dropped it because he suffered an injury. WWE clearly has big plans for Balor, having made him the top champion on “Monday Night Raw” after last year’s brand split. If he doesn’t face Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, there’s a good chance his time will come at SummerSlam or Survivor Series.

1) Seth Rollins

With WWE having to change their plans because of Strowman’s injury, inserting Rollins into the big man’s place might make the most sense. Lesnar isn’t going to lose the belt at Great Balls of Fire, and Rollins is probably the wrestler that will be hurt the least by a loss. He defeated Triple H at WrestleMania 33 and followed it up with a win over Joe at Payback. Defeating Reigns, Wyatt, Joe and Balor will give him plenty of steam going into a match for the WWE Universal Championship, and WWE can still put him near the top of the SummerSlam card a few weeks later.