5 Roman Reigns Storylines WWE Hasn't Exhausted Yet

At almost two years in length, Roman Reigns' run as universal champion has reached insurmountable heights. Although he's had his fair share of monumental matches during his time on top and done some of the best character work of his career, it's time for WWE to start looking to the future and and building toward the endgame.

Reigns is set to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on Friday's SmackDown against Riddle. As entertaining of an outing that should be, there's virtually no chance the challenger emerges victorious.

Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes have all been rumored as upcoming opponents for The Tribal Chief in the coming months. Each of those feuds has a different dynamic and is worth getting excited about, but there's still plenty of other familiar foes from Reigns' past who could make for compelling challengers as well.

It's been nearly a decade since Reigns initially arrived in WWE, and he's made many enemies throughout his time. He's already rekindled many of those rivalries more than once, and in the cases of Brock Lesnar and John Cena, there's nothing more to explore.

However, there are still a number of storylines he hasn't exhausted yet that could and should be revisited in the remainder of his record-setting reign.

With Riddle getting his long-awaited shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on Friday night, all signs pointed to Randy Orton being next in line based on how it was The Bloodline who took him out of action (in storyline) last month.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Cain A. Knight of Cageside Seats), the latest is that The Viper could be sidelined with an injured back for the remainder of 2022.

If that's the case, WWE will have to start thinking of a contingency plan for the SummerSlam main event, and Bobby Lashley makes as much sense as anyone.

Reigns and The All Mighty first faced off in the summer of 2018. It was a bit of a random rivalry at the time with Lashley fresh off a return to WWE and both men being babyfaces, but they developed instant chemistry when they went one-on-one at Extreme Rules.

They split wins over each other at the time and a rubber match has yet to be booked (though they've collided in a handful of multi-man matches since). Lashley has been white-hot as a babyface since the start of the year and would be a fun foil for the now-heel Reigns.

Considering The All Mighty lost the WWE title without being pinned at Elimination Chamber, it should be more a matter of when, rather than if, these titans cross paths again.

After almost eight years, The New Day have managed to remain relevant because of their ability to thrive in both singles and tag team competition.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have already grown stale as a team 2022 due to their many battles with The Usos and The Brawling Brutes, but there's nothing stopping them from pursuing singles gold and setting their sights on Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Fans may forget that The New Day briefly feuded with Reigns and The Bloodline in late 2021 ahead of The Tribal Chief's Survivor Series main event against Big E. We got a Reigns vs. Woods match out of it, and Woods became one of the only men to beat Reigns by disqualification in the last few years.

Neither New Day member may feel like a legitimate threat to Reigns right now, but both are incredibly accomplished and can be built up with ease. They barely scratched the surface with what they can do with The Bloodline, and a renewal of that rivalry would immediately put Kingston and Woods back in the spotlight on SmackDown.

Kingston in particular would be an excellent opponent for Reigns seeing as how he plays the underdog role exceptionally well and is a former WWE champion in his own right.

Secretly, Sami Zayn has been SmackDown's most valuable player in the absence of Roman Reigns since WrestleMania 38.

To be fair, The Great Liberator has been one of the more entertaining aspects of SmackDown for the past two years. Between portraying the ultimate conspiracy theorist to his multiple reigns as intercontinental champion to his feud with Johnny Knoxville that was much better than expected, he's enhanced and elevated every angle he's been involved in.

And a rivalry with Reigns would be no exception.

Zayn received a shot at the Universal Championship on the December 3 edition of SmackDown but was defeated in under a minute due to a pre-match attack from Brock Lesnar. He never received his rightful rematch but has been attempting to forge an alliance with The Bloodline as of late.

The ultimate goal should be to turn him babyface and eventually rival Reigns. He can fight from underneath like no one else, and it would be a great way to culminate the storyline.

It's amazing to think WWE hasn't gone back to AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns since the world-class athletes originally clashed in May 2016.

Their back-to-back bouts for the then-WWE World Heavyweight Championship essentially put The Phenomenal One on the map in WWE and proved he could hang with the best the company had to offer.

However, he came up short in each of those outings and should be looking to avenge those losses.

Of course, Styles is even more experienced, established and accomplished now than he was six years ago, and the same can be said for Reigns. It's a rivalry waiting to happen, especially now that The Tribal Chief has hit his stride as a heel.

It's also egregious that Styles has been absent from the world title picture for the last three years. He's done some solid work in the upper-midcard, but WWE could use him back at the top now more than ever with so many stars going down to injury.

Reigns and Styles weren't afforded the chance to have a full-fledged feud in 2016, but revisiting this storyline this year has outstanding potential.

Of all the illustrious names Reigns has put his Universal Championship on the line against since winning it in August 2020, Seth Rollins is the only one he hasn't beaten decisively.

It can be argued this feud has been revived one too many times since The Shield's initial split in 2014, but there's still interest from fans in seeing them run it back again.

The difference in dynamic is what makes it intriguing, particularly with the roles reversed for the first time with Reigns as the heel and The Visionary as the beloved anti-hero.

Granted, Rollins' recent actions in attacking Cody Rhodes paint him as an antagonist, but he receives positive reactions and embraces them. He's due for a face turn and having it come in another feud with Reigns would endear him to the audience that much more.

Perhaps the most logical route to take would be to have Rollins win the men's Money in the Bank ladder match (for a second time) next month and tease cashing in the contract on Reigns from that point forward. It would not only create a ton of exciting storyline possibilities, but it would also make every appearance by The Tribal Chief even more must-see.

Reigns and Rollins had a riveting rivalry in the weeks preceding the Royal Rumble in January, and the non-finish from their match then should make the decision to revisit it a no-brainer.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.