Ranking the Current Hierarchy in WWE After Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns stands as The Head of the Table in WWE. No one can touch his dominance over the company. He has fully embraced his role as the star of the show in WWE, taking the mantle from John Cena more than even past stars like CM Punk or Daniel Bryan could.

As the top star in the company, he rules with such dominance that it is hard to imagine anyone defeating him. His status sets up a clear hierarchy that affects so many stars.

There is a reason Brock Lesnar is the one challenging Reigns while carrying the WWE Championship. Few others could legitimately defeat the universal champion based on WWE's established hierarchy.

The women's division is affected by the same hierarchy. Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair rule the division, dominating anyone in their path. Few can step up to them. Even Bianca Belair has had a rocky road back to the top since she was defeated by Big Time Becks.

Looking at this hierarchy in WWE helps to understand who the company values. While the very top stars will likely never lose their perch, others are fighting to stay among the top stars. The following are the current top 10 acts after Reigns in the company.

Barely beating out Randy Orton, who is always a threat to rise up these ranks, Bobby Lashley makes the top 10 due to his one-month WWE Championship reign that sadly ended with a whimper due to a known shoulder injury.

Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), The All Mighty was injured during his match with Brock Lesnar at WWE Royal Rumble, and the company chose to pretend Lashley was healthy up to WWE Elimination Chamber.

That is a showcase of Lashley's value to the company, as it hyped up the show using his name. However, The All Mighty's reign was always going to end with Lesnar regaining the gold. He was a transitional champion to aid the story of Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns.

When Lashley is healthy again, he can steamroll through these rankings again. If he does not need shoulder surgery, he could even compete at WrestleMania against one of WWE's top stars, Seth "Freakin" Rollins.

It is just hard to trust that WWE will remain focused on Lashley now that he is out of the title picture.

While Big E and Kofi Kingston individually have been passed up after their WWE Championship reigns, The New Day has been one of the most dominant groups in WWE. Even without tag team gold, it feels like they still stand as the measuring stick of the division.

At any time, E, Kofi or Xavier Woods could rise up the ranks and challenge for singles gold. When they do, they have been put over by many top stars. 

WWE uses The New Day in a variety of roles across the WWE. Even when it feels like they are pushed back down the card, few can beat the group consistently. There is a reason the stable is one of the most decorated groups in WWE's history.

It is likely New Day will get a big angle at WrestleMania. It is just a matter of who steps up to challenge them. They cannot challenge The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, but a New Day match is big enough without any gold for the main card at the Show of Shows.

There is still an outside chance that Big E will step up to challenge Roman Reigns in 2022, and it is not that hard to imagine him defeating The Head of the Table.

Drew McIntyre once stood as the No. 1 star in WWE. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, he toppled Brock Lesnar to take his spot as the man running Monday Night Raw. He was far and away the franchise player for the red brand, which was struggling outside of his work.

The Thunderdome era brought with it the return of Roman Reigns, but even then McIntyre was a solid No. 2. However, after Bobby Lashley dethroned him (with a transitional reign from The Miz in-between), The Scottish Warrior began to fall off the map.

After a brief disappearance due to injury, McIntyre returned in force. He would carry Madcap Moss through two big matches at WWE Day 1 and WWE Elimination Chamber, sandwiching his final-two appearance in the men's Royal Rumble.

He may not have gold yet, but he has momentum he has been missing. He comes off as the rare threat to The Head of the Table, an approaching feud that could make or break McIntyre long term.

He stands slightly higher at the moment than Lashley as the two are seemingly on opposite paths toward WrestleMania and beyond.

Bianca Belair was the star of the women's division after WrestleMania 37. Her match with Sasha Banks felt like a passing of the torch, the young star taking the gold and the spotlight from another of WWE's biggest attractions.

While the return of Becky Lynch pushed The EST down the ranks, WWE has largely protected her outside of her sudden loss to Big Time Becks at SummerSlam 2021. This has set her up for a rise, completed by her victory inside the Elimination Chamber.

Belair will get a rematch with Lynch at WrestleMania, and she is the only woman outside of Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey with enough credibility to defeat the dominant Raw women's champion.

WWE knows what it has in Belair. She had the longest run in the Royal Rumble match two years in a row. She was the sole survivor in the traditional women's Survivor Series match. She has worked with many of WWE's best female stars and helped make them look great while defeating them.

While the Four Horsewomen have stood atop WWE for a long time, injuries have held Bayley and Banks back, and Belair has taken the open spot to stand near the very top of the company.

Seth "Freakin" Rollins may not have the greatest win-loss record over the past year, but he is the only star outside of Brock Lesnar who could cross brand lines to challenge Roman Reigns. Even as a heel against a heel champion, The Messiah delivered a memorable story against The Head of the Table.

At any time, Rollins could defeat Reigns without anyone batting an eye. He did gain a victory over The Head of the Table at Royal Rumble by disqualification, protecting both men for a future match.

Rollins is a talent unlike any other. He has the charisma and talent in the ring to sell any encounter. He can put a star over and still come out looking like a franchise player.

This is all down to his ability and WWE's consistent trust in him. Rollins is a rare talent who could choose his opponent at WrestleMania and steal the show. Anyone he wants to fight, he will fight.

The options are plentiful for WrestleMania, from Bobby Lashley to Kevin Owens to AJ Styles, and every single one could eclipse even WWE's destined main event clash of Reigns vs. Lesnar.

Charlotte Flair is so important to WWE that she seemingly turned most of the roster against her and still remains SmackDown women's champion. The Queen has done it all in WWE as a record-setting, 13-time women's champion.

Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch may be bigger stars than The Queen, but she has been the most reliable female talent in the company over the last five-plus years.

No one can hold a win over Charlotte for long. She always comes back to reclaim her throne. Her latest reign is her longest yet and will lead to her likely main-eventing Night 1 of WrestleMania 38.

While some, including her former best friend Lynch, are not happy with The Queen, Charlotte is constantly booked at the very top. She was important enough to Fox that executives were willing to let Big Time Becks go to Raw for the next year.

This may feel like a cop-out, but very few wrestlers can go over the top returning stars that pop up occasionally. WWE will feature a number of surprise celebrity cameos and returning appearances that will trump almost everyone on this list.

Goldberg jumped the line for WWE Elimination Chamber because he is still held in that high a regard. When Edge is around, very few can beat him. He even won his rivalry with Seth "Freakin" Rollins. He just has not been champion because Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar are more important.

Stone Cold Steve Austin should have some role at WrestleMania 38 in Texas, and if he has any interaction with the current roster, he will stand tall in the end.

Even Lita's return showed this as she hopped the line and was more competitive with Becky Lynch than anyone has been since Big Time Becks returned.

Overall, WWE will always value the name over the talent. Even if many of these stars are on their last leg, they will stand tall over the current-day Superstars. Only the elite talent will overcome the part-time attractions.

It could be argued that as long as Ronda Rousey is wrestling, she is the No. 1 priority in the women's division. In a time where Charlotte Flair has looked largely unstoppable, Rousey is the massive favorite to dethrone The Queen.

The UFC Hall of Famer is the biggest name in the division. Many are familiar with her impact on mixed martial arts, while she also won an Olympic bronze medal and has had multiple roles in B-level Hollywood films.

Her work in the ring is consistently memorable. Rousey's original run with WWE produced some of the best women's matches WWE has seen. She may lose rarely, but she knows and respects her opponents enough to let them shine.

She will be around for at least the next year and may main-event back-to-back WrestleManias between 38 and 39 based on expectations for her two big matches on those shows.

While Ronda Rousey may be more of a household name, WWE has protected Becky Lynch consistently when interacting with The Baddest Woman on the Planet. A money match between the two is still on hold for the right stage.

It is telling that Big Time Becks is such a massive star that only Rousey can challenge her spot as the top woman in the company. Lynch has done some great work with young stars but always stood tall.

Even if Bianca Belair dethrones her at WrestleMania, it will be after The EST put over Lynch multiple times. Big Time Becks is such an attraction that her feuds with other women could end up eclipsing the championship picture at times.

Lynch earned her spot at the top by taking advantage of the right moments. She is on the precipice of breaking out as a big star outside of WWE after putting any potential roles on hiatus for her pregnancy.

She has looked better than ever since returning, and she will continue to be a star in WWE for years to come. When she does finally face Rousey, it will be the only match that could actually main-event a big show over Roman Reigns.

Brock Lesnar is a 10-time world champion in WWE and one of the biggest box office attractions in UFC history. He has won King of the Ring, Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber and two Royal Rumbles.

The Beast Incarnate has had one of the most dominant two-month runs in WWE history to start 2022, and he will main-event WrestleMania with Roman Reigns for the third time in their careers together.

Even before this impressive run, Lesnar has consistently gone over top talent. Even when he loses, as he did to Reigns, Goldberg, Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Drew McIntyre, he turns his momentum back around with a big victory.

WWE values him higher than almost anyone else. Even though he often takes long breaks from the company, he is dominant when he is around. Lesnar defined the legacy of the WWE Universal Championship early on, and no one besides Reigns has come close to matching i.

There is a reason that Reigns vs. Lesnar was the only match WWE cared to book for WrestleMania 38 and why Lesnar can squash even the biggest names in wrestling without hesitation. The Beast Incarnate is as close to a franchise star as WWE has outside of Reigns.