With WrestleMania 39 officially passed and Roman Reigns somehow still the Ace atop Titan Tower, fans from across the WWE Universe have one question and one question alone: who the heck is going to dethrone “The Tribal Chief?”

On paper, Cody Rhodes seemed like he was going to be it; after going out on his own and reformulating his character over a six-year hiatus from The Fed, “The American Nightmare” returned as the sort of “red, white, and blue babyface” the company has historically loved to push, from Hulk Hogan in the 1980s to John Cena a decade ago. Factor in hundreds of hours of interviews, some incredible on-screen promos, and an entrance designed to elicit maximum sympathy from the crowd – he brought out his daughter Liberty and Brodie Lee Jr., for crying out loud – and 80,000+ fans sat at the edge of their feet for the better part of 35 minutes to see if WWE would finally turn over the brands to some fresh blood and energize their product heading into the future.

Well, as it turns out, WWE did make a change, behind the scenes instead of on the screen, but like the passage of time, Roman Reigns remains undefeated… at least for now. Eventually, someone is going to have to unseat Reigns as “The Head of the Table,” and these three men will likely get particular consideration moving forward.

3 Superstars who could take the Undisputed Champion from Roman Reigns.

3. Cody Rhodes

Why would WWE have Rhodes lose to Reigns at WrestleMania 39 only to then give him the strap a few months in the future, say at SummerSlam, Extreme Rules, the Royal Rumble, or even WrestleMania 40? Wasn't Night 2 supposed to be the great “Hollywood ending” to Rhodes' story?

Well, as Paul “Triple H” Levesque pointed out during his post-match press conference, in WWE, “the story never finishes,” and will continue on RAW, SmackDown, and events well into the future.

Despite his loss, Rhodes is still one of the top babyfaces in all of WWE, and he has Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in his corner in the very same way Reigns has The Usos. While his loss certainly puts a damper on his push, and more than a few fans talked trash on WWE's “Homelander AEW Reject,” it's not too hard to imagine a world where Rhodes embraces this story and uses his Rocky I loss to set up a Rocky II victory at a future event.

2. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

For literally years, fans wanted nothing more than to see the “Tribal Chief” step in the ring across from his “cousin” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to see who is the real “Head of the Table.” Some – read: most – fans argued that Reigns couldn't lose at WrestleMania 38, SummerSlam 2022, Clash at the Castle, or even Elimination Chamber 2023 because WWE was building towards Reigns-Rock I at WrestleMania 39, what with Hollywood not only being Johnson's adoptive home but a huge part of his character during the early 2000s.

‘Drew should have won in Wales.' Doesn't matter, Hollywood. ‘Sami Zayn is so white-hot, he should win at Elimination Chamber.' Doesn't matter, Hollywood. Factor in that WWE literally kicked the SoFi Stadium-hosted show a year into the future due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and it seemed like WWE creative had a clear and conscious idea of what they wanted to do with the main event of the show and how they wanted to end one of the greatest storylines in professional wrestling history – The Sopranos of WWE, to borrow Sami Zayn's verbiage.

Obviously, that didn't happen, but until someone else takes the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from “The Tribal Chief” and probably deep into the future after that, fans will link Reigns and Rock together.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
The blacked-out silhouette of Kevin Nash with a text bubble reading, "He’s the perfect f**king champion right now" next to Cody Rhodes with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Toni Storm with a text bubble reading "Go see a f**king movie!" next to Cody Rhodes with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Cody Rhodes with a text bubble reading "Roman Reigns is elite" next to Roman Reigns with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

1. Solo Sikoa

If the goal of Reigns losing the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship is to create a new star, Levesque and company could do a whole heck of a lot worse than to run back the “Main Event” Jay Uso story but with Solo Sikoa playing the role of his older brother.

On paper, everything about Sikoa unseating Reigns makes sense; Sikoa has often acted somewhat combative towards Reigns, with this fact parodied in The Bloodline's Goodfellas tribute scene in the build-up to WrestleMania 39. Solo clearly has “future WWE Champion” written all over him, and has been built up as the true muscle of The Bloodline since his main roster debut at Clash at the Castle, as one could argue Reigns wouldn't have retained at WrestleMania 39 without “The Street Champ” coming out for a second time to nail Rhodes and set up his cousin for a match-winning Spear.

And the best part? Because Reigns and Sikoa are family, and, as a result, Reigns could formally pass the torch – and Paul Heyman's services – to Sikoa and step into a role as “Tribal Chief Emeritus,” where he can still provide counsel to the current “Head of the Table” and occasionally even wrestle, but do some in a more hands-off, part-time way.