In an absolutely heated final segment on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns has made his choice, and it’s set to provide fans a WrestleMania 42 main event over a decade in the making as the OTC takes on the WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk for just their second-ever singles match.
Winning the Royal Rumble grants you immense power, and Roman Reigns knows that, after all, this year marked his second victory. It’s been over a decade since Reigns’ last Rumble win, which was one no one will forget, given the situation at the time. Reigns was pushed too far, too fast in 2015, but things are completely different now. His win in 2026 wasn’t met with a chorus of boos but rather deafening cheers as fans are ready for the OTC to reclaim his throne. It was something Reigns himself acknowledged on Raw Monday night. Returning to Philly for the first Raw after Royal Rumble, Reigns remarked on it being the perfect location for him to make his choice, given the history he has in the city, both good and bad.
And much like things were different in 2015 when Reigns first won the Rumble, so they were in 2014 on the night the Big Dog wrestled the Best in the World one-on-one for what to this point has been their only singles match. That is, until this year’s WrestleMania, as Reigns has made his choice and he’s choosing to fight a man with whom he shares over a decade of history. He’s choosing to fight to reclaim the World Heavyweight Championship, which would be his first title win in what feels like an unfathomable two years. And this time, he’s choosing to do so without the interference of Seth Rollins, which, of course, led to the shocking WrestleMania twist last year that saw Paul Heyman abandon his Tribal Chief. Perhaps most importantly, Reigns is choosing to fight a man whom he legitimately hates, and that raw emotion is only going to bring out the best in both of these guys, much like it did when Punk and Rollins had their feud.
As enticing as Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre also would have been, Reigns vs Punk is the right story to tell, given all of the history and animosity that exists between the two. Here are three reasons why WWE made the right choice for WrestleMania 42.
