This Sunday at WrestleMania 35, Roman Reigns will take on Drew McIntyre in a highly-personal showdown.
After making claims that he singlehandedly broke The Shield by defeating Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and then savagely ambushing Reigns on the March 11 edition of Monday Night Raw with a pair of brutal Claymore Kicks, McIntyre challenged “The Big Dog” to a match at WrestleMania in the hopes of completing the trifecta once and for all. At the same time, “The Scottish Psychopath” urged Reigns not to take the match for the good of his family.
In the wake of his recent return following his battle with leukemia, Reigns disregarded the warning and wasted little time accepting McIntyre’s challenge.
Behind-the-scenes, the WWE creative team had multiple ideas for Reigns at WrestleMania. Some of those ideas included Reigns teaming with Dean Ambrose, taking on a heel Ambrose in a one-on-one match, and facing Baron Corbin. WWE settled on Reigns facing McIntyre a few days before “The Scottish Psychopath” attacked him on the March 11 episode of Raw.
Had Reigns not taken time off to battle leukemia, WWE planned on having Reigns defend the WWE Championship against Ambrose at WrestleMania, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer. Ambrose’s betraying The Shield late last year was originally supposed to lead that match.
