It was great to have the live crowd back for Mania. You just can't fully replicate that feel and energy with tv monitors as the audience.
With that being said, given the return of a live audience, it was very surprising that both heel champs retained. Kind of lacks that "feel-good" crowd moment of a face winning, if you ask me.
I like both Drew and Bobby, so I wasn't entirely displeased with that outcome. But I still thought Drew would win so that he'd have his live Mania moment. But it's good for Bobby and hopefully he can continue as a dominant heel champ and his feud with Drew can continue until Summer Slam when Drew wins it back there.
As for Roman retaining, I am starting to get tired of Roman as champ. As others have said, the Uso interference is starting to get repetitive. I guess Bryan winning next year's Rumble and then beating Roman one-on-one at next Mania could work. Though I'm not sure I want to see Roman as champ for another year.
Another alternative I could see is either Roman or Drew switching brands (or Drew winning next year Rumble) and that leads to Drew winning the belt off of Roman. They do have a rivalry and history with each other and last time, Drew lost to Roman. So they could go for the payback/unfinished business there.
Another swerve possibility could be the (face) return of Lesnar. Maybe the longer Roman stays as champ, the more arrogant he gets and he eventually "fires" Heyman thinking he no longer needs Heyman's counsel. That leads to Heyman aligning himself with a returning Lesnar. And that would be a convenient way to turn Lesnar face given how much heat Roman has on him now.
Or, to turn Roman face again, it could be that Heyman eventually betrays Roman in favor of the returning heel Lesnar. When you align yourself with the "devil," at some point it will come back to bite you.
However, I'm not too keen on seeing Lesnar hold the championship hostage again. Though a face Lesnar (and Heyman) could be a welcome change of pace.
Roman winning felt good to me. ;b
Here's my pitch.
WrestleMania is in Dallas next year, right? Well, how about Texas boy Keith Lee? You have Keith Lee stay clear of Roman on RAW, build him into a strong upper mid-card act who gets a WWE Championship shot at TLC or whatever the show might be if the Royal Rumble does move to February, then Lee wins the Rumble and jumps to SmackDown.
You build towards a Lumberjack match featuring the hometown Cowboys, backing Lee, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, backing Reigns. You have appearances by all the current big names on both sides, including Tom Brady and maybe a cameo appearance by Giselle hopefully.
You could spike ratings on SmackDown for Fox, who obviously carries NFL games, with an appearance by Tom being promoted in advance. Cameras in the parking lot and Giselle is seen going into the building with Brady. He comes out with Reigns and cuts a heel promo on Dallas, Texas, in general and Keith Lee, he talks up Roman.
Deion Sanders would be the special guest referee, Michael Irvin, the guest ring announcer, Emitt Smith as guest time-keeper, and Troy Aikman as special guest commentator. Have Jimmy Johnson on the pre-show panel.
Play up the football background of Lee and Reigns.
Have FS1 show appearances for Roman w/ Heyman as well as Lee.
Now, your choices for Roman's WrestleMania opponent are cool too.
Alternatives:
Bobby Lashley
The Fiend
AJ Styles
Big E
Angel Garza (Based on the LatinX population in the area and being from neighboring Mexico.)
Santos Escobar (Same as above.)
The Rock
Damien Priest
Matt Riddle
WWE shouldn't try to give the fans a new main event champion every year though. As fun a brand new champion typically is. Keep that in mind.
