WWE Raw: Strowman Or McIntyre? Who Will Take Over From Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns was the face of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” franchise and he was also the reigning Universal champion. But the Florida-born wrestler had to take a leave of absence after revealing that he had suffered a relapse of Leukemia.

Reigns, whose real name is Joe Anoa'I, revealed he has been fighting the disease for 11 years after being first diagnosed with it in 2008. On Oct. 22, during the airing of Raw, he revealed that he would not be able to fulfill his duties as the reigning champion and hence gave up his title with immediate effect.

The 33-year-old, who referred to him as “The Guy”, was one of the most popular faces in World Wrestling Entertainment, who was equally cheered and jeered by the fans. He was the face of the franchise and was always part of the main storyline.

It is unclear when Reigns will return to action as he continues his battle with Leukemia, and therefore the question arises as to who will replace him as the face of “Monday Night Raw”. There are a few candidates, who have been part of the main storyline that involved the members of The Shield – Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Reigns – and the trio of Brawn Stroman, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler.

Stroman has always been one of the main characters in Raw, while he did recently lose his match against Brock Lesner for the vacant Universal title. McIntyre is relatively new in the storyline after he made his return to WWE as Ziggler’s tag team partner.

Dave Melzer of Wrestling Observer Radio recently discussed the possibility of three candidates that could be lined up to take over from Reigns. The most plausible is Strowman, but he pro-wrestling expert feels that the "Monster Among Men" as he is known is too “one dimensional”.

The other two candidates mentioned were former WWE champion Rollins, who is currently the Intercontinental champion and McIntyre, who has grabbed a lot of time in the ring recently. While Strowman is the first choice, Melzer believes the main storyline could start to revolve around the latter in the coming weeks.

“I get the feeling from watching that Braun Strowman’s going to be a top guy but they’re not going all the way with him because it felt like he’s getting a championship match before WrestleMania based on the way that deal went down,” Melzer said, as quoted on Ringside News. “Well, he could win the championship I suppose easily but that, I guess he could win the championship and be the guy but it didn’t feel like he was the guy to me for long-term. I just felt too much one dimensional.”

“They really don’t have a whole lot of choices. It really comes down to Strowman, Rollins, and McIntyre are your 3 choices. Rollins is already pretty complete but I still think they want a bigger guy in that spot. McIntyre comes closest, you know Strowman could be but he has so many limitations. I really sensed a more and more direct focus on McIntyre so we’ll have to see the way it shakes out,” he added.