Burning WWE Questions That Will Be Answered by WrestleMania 38

WWE is officially on The Road to WrestleMania. As the top wrestling company prepares to return to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, it's time to wrap up many of the biggest storylines of the past year.

The Royal Rumble pay-per-view usually works as a way to ramp up the hottest feuds and determine the No. 1 contenders set to headline WWE's biggest event of the year. However, the annual kickoff of sign-pointing season raised even more questions.

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns is really the only consistent plotline that WWE has managed to advance. The rest of the card for "The Most Stupendous Two-Night Event In WrestleMania History" remains wide open.

Uncertainty isn't a bad thing because it adds suspense to the build for The Show of Shows. Still, there is plenty of time to create new matchups and moments.

Let's take a look at five burning questions WWE could answer by WrestleMania 38 on April 2-3.

Six years ago, AJ Styles shocked the wrestling world when he debuted as the third entrant in the 2016 men's Royal Rumble match.

Ever since, The Phenomenal One has had a tremendous run with the company as a two-time WWE champion. As the first participant in the men's Rumble this year, many fans expected him to go the distance and earn his spot on the WrestleMania card.

Instead, Madcap Moss unceremoniously eliminated Styles after 29 minutes and six eliminations. Who saw that coming? However, the bigger question is what's next for the 44-year-old Superstar?

One would have to imagine he will face Edge at the venue where he made his WrestleMania debut. The Gainesville, Georgia native talked about the potential dream match during a recent appearance on The Bump.

"I think the last time Edge and I were in the ring together, he separated my shoulder with a Spear, which is the way it should have been," Styles said. "We need to get back in the ring with a one-on-one match and get this thing over with. I want this match. He wants this match. When is it going to happen? We're getting close."

It's unclear how WWE will set up this contest, but it seems it's only a matter of time before they meet inside the ring.

It has been disappointing to watch how far Big E has fallen down the pecking order since he lost the WWE Championship at Day 1.

The 35-year-old's reign had so much potential but never really took off on weekly programming. It's a shame because The New Day's resident powerhouse proved he had mainstream appeal and a strong following.

However, Big E didn't do much of note in the men's Rumble match and has yet to receive a rematch for the WWE title. Now, he's back on SmackDown as a tag team competitor alongside Kofi Kingston in Xavier Woods' absence.

It kinda feels like deja vu. After all, Kingston similarly lost his title to Brock Lesnar and went right back to the tag division. Surely, there is more WWE can do with Big E following such a big year in 2021.

Give him his dream match Goldberg. Put him in some kind of meaningful storyline but don't just leave him to flounder in the tag division until Woods returns. That would be such a waste.

The biggest headline coming out of Royal Rumble was the return of Ronda Rousey.

The former MMA fighter hadn't appeared in a WWE ring since the historic main event of WrestleMania 35. At the Dome at America's Center, she brought her wrestling career full circle as she reemerged at the event where she famously debuted in 2018 and won the women's Rumble match.

Now, The Baddest Woman on the Planet is set to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship on The Grandest Stage of Them All. It's a marquee matchup that makes sense to revisit given the competitors' history together, but it doesn't feel special.

To be fair, Rousey has only been back for a little over a week, but something is off. The first woman to enter the UFC Hall of Fame brings star power and legitimacy to women's wrestling, but the novelty of seeing her in the squared circle just isn't there anymore for some fans.

It's up to WWE to add a new wrinkle to her character and raise interest in her upcoming feud. So far, it seems like the company thinks simply thrusting her back into the spotlight after three years is enough.

The former Raw women's champion needs to regain her mystique or establish a new hook. WWE has two months to promote her match with Flair and hopefully produce an engaging storyline.

Bobby Lashley surprisingly regained the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, but it doesn't seem like he will hold the title for much longer.

This is just a hunch. Considering the way The All Mighty won the title in his highly anticipated contest with Brock Lesnar, one would assume that the mantle will change hands again soon.

This begs the question: Who will walk into WrestleMania as WWE champion. Lesnar is a safe bet because of his feud with Roman Reigns. The Beast Incarnate has also challenged The Tribal Chief to a title vs. title match and that seems to be the likely culmination of their six-month story arc.

Seth Rollins also makes sense because he survived his encounter with Reigns at the Royal Rumble. Moreover, The Visionary earned a one-on-one bout with Big E at Day 1 only for it to become a Fatal 5-Way where he wasn't pinned. One could argue WWE has been priming him for a big title win, and Elimination Chamber could be his moment.

Nevertheless, the company will keep us guessing for at least another week ahead of its next PPV on Feb. 19.

Roman Reigns has dominated the main event scene on SmackDown since his return as The Tribal Chief.

At Payback 2020, the second-generation star defeated The Fiend for the Universal Championship. To date, Reigns has held the title for almost 530 days and successfully defended it 19 times.

It has been an impressive run, but it's growing a bit stale. That's not a knock on Reigns' performance but WWE has yet to present a believable threat to The Head of the Table.

Even worse, his matches are starting to get formulaic because there is always some sort of interference or DQ finish. The ending to his otherwise excellent match with Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble is a prime example.

That sort of anticlimactic outcome could work if we believed this was leading to something more interesting, but it didn't. Reigns will likely vanquish Goldberg with ease at Elimination Chamber but then what? It's just more of the same with Brock Lesnar waiting for his rematch at WrestleMania.

The Beast Incarnate has the best chance of ending Reigns' tenure as universal champion. That's not exactly an exciting end to such a dominant reign but if not Lesnar, then who else is there?

Can WWE create another viable contender on the Road to WrestleMania? We will just have to wait and see.