Who on the current WWE roster can step up to replace Roman Reigns? – The top five candidates examined

WWE

Is anyone on the WWE roster capable of ‘carrying the banner’ for the company as Roman Reigns winds down his career?

WWE has generally been defined by the most pushed stars of each ‘era,’ which in the modern world has gone from Hulk Hogan to Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels to Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock to John Cena to Roman Reigns.

The closest person to replacing Reigns in that spot in recent years has been Cody Rhodes, though he hasn’t had the same level of longevity yet as Reigns, who’s been main eventing WrestleManias since 2015.

Reigns specifically mentioned Rhodes as the only person who’s stepped up to that level in a recent interview with Complex, saying:

“As it’s been shown with John (Cena) and then also with me, it takes a decade or so.

“Can you perform every single time and then deliver when you’re asked? Can you do it when you’re tired? Can you do it when you’re sick? Can you do it when you’re hungover after WrestleMania?

“Can you carry the banner for this company? This is a billion-dollar machine. It’s not easy.

“There’s only been one who’s been able to carry that banner, and that’s been Cody.”

Rhodes himself is someone who has ‘come up’ to the main event scene, but he has done so at around 40 years of age under the circumstances of leaving WWE in 2016 and returning in 2022.

So there hasn’t yet been that young star WWE has banked on and elevated since Reigns, which has become a talking point in recent years as fans have noticed how the main event scene is full of 40+ year old stars who aren’t going to be active, at least not full-time, for much longer.

That all begs the question – is there anyone in WWE, right now, who could be that guy?

The five candidates

There are five fresh male talents on the WWE roster who seem like they could be the ones to make that move up to the next level, and those are Oba Femi, Bron Breakker, Jacob Fatu, Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans.

All of those have burst onto the main roster scene in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and evidently have the backing of WWE booking – at least so far.

Carmelo Hayes should be on this list, but unfortunately it just seems WWE doesn’t see him as someone who could be at that level.

There’s an argument Penta is making his way to the top level, but he’s also around 40, so while he’s a fresh face in the picture, he’s not quite what we’re looking for here.

Of those five, Femi is the most obvious bet as he has excelled in each and every situation he’s been put in, retired Brock Lesnar, and looks set to be Reigns’ next WrestleMania opponent, likely as the man who’ll beat Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Breakker and Fatu have somewhat stalled after hot streaks over the past couple of years, and while they may have moved upwards more if WWE struck sooner, it feels like their chance may have gone with Femi coming in and overtaking them.

Williams and Evans have the popularity, but there are question marks over Williams’ in-ring capabilities at the very top level, and you have to wonder whether WWE would bank on Evans right now with him still being so young – his time might come in another 10 years, and to put it into perspective, in 10 years he’d still only be the same age Williams is now.

So overall, it looks like Femi could be the guy.

The Jey Uso Problem

2025 was the year of Jey Uso, who broke out as a singles star with a Royal Rumble win.

His popularity among show-attending fans was never in question, but the same can’t be said for the online reception to his push.

Uso never quite impressed in the ring enough to sustain as a top level singles star – WWE was aware of that possibility before they went with him for the Rumble win, and was certainly aware of it as his World Heavyweight Championship run went on.

Considering how the year went, WWE is now going to question and scrutinize potential future Rumble winners more than ever.

Any time someone on the creative team suggests a surprise winner, there’ll be someone saying, “But can we risk it not being a major success and getting another Jey Uso situation? Let’s just go with a safe option instead.”

Hopefully, especially in the case of Oba Femi, WWE doesn’t hesitate. But it might affect the chances of some others.

Hey WWE, what about the women?

The conversation always seems to be about who’ll be the ‘next guy’ when talking about the top star in WWE, but, in today’s day and age, there’s no reason a woman can’t be the company’s face.

Becky Lynch was the top star in the industry in 2019, but it just feels like WWE is more hesitant now than it was then to really put a woman in the top position. Maybe out of some kind of fear of the women overshadowing the men?

If there’s anyone who could do it, it’s Rhea Ripley, who’s unfortunately been out of action for the past few months, but even before that, it felt like there had been some cooling off with her booking from the past couple of years.

Likewise with Bianca Belair, who again has been away, but there’s no reason she and Ripley couldn’t have been multiple time WrestleMania main eventers already by that point.

Let’s see if Ripley, Belair, or any of the women can force WWE’s hand to make one of them the so-called ‘next guy.’

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