It's seemingly down to two in regard to who will finally be the first person to defeat Roman Reigns since 2020. Drew McIntyre, who is appointed to face the undisputed WWE Universal Champion at Clash at the Castle later this year, and Cody Rhodes. While he's out right now, The American Nightmare has cemented his place as one of the best babyfaces on the roster.
However, there can only be one star who will receive the rub from Roman Reigns and be the one to end his historic reign. Let's take a look at why that superstar should be Drew McIntyre, and why it should be Cody Rhodes.
10 Drew McIntyre: Earned It
Drew McIntyre has been WWE's number one workhorse since the pandemic began back in 2020. While many superstars were out and on the shelf, even Roman Reigns himself, the Scottish star instead decided to go to work and carry the company on his back.
While Rhodes's story is great, he doesn't deserve a title shot in kayfabe, or out of it. He just came back, while McIntyre has been carrying the company on his back for years.
9 Cody Rhodes: More Momentum
Cody Rhodes is the hottest he's ever been in his entire career, and it's not very close. His trilogy series with Seth Rollins was one of the best in WWE's entire history, and their Hell in a Cell match is a match of the year contender.
McIntyre deserves better than what he's gotten over the last year, which has been mostly a feud with Happy Corbin. Even when he did feud with Reigns and The Bloodline recently, he lost in their match at Backlash.
8 Drew McIntyre: Availability
Cody Rhodes is out right now and could be gone for as long as nine months. With that in mind, and Roman Reigns' title reign already being extremely stale, it's going to be tough to have to sit around and wait for the former AEW star to be healthy.
On the other hand, Drew McIntyre is here and ready now. He's already had a recent feud with the Bloodline and a match between the two should happen sooner rather than later. With Rhodes's health being a massive question mark, it would be safe to give the Scottish star the nod.
7 Cody Rhodes: Fan Support
Cody Rhodes might be on the shelf, but he's still got more fans than almost anyone on the active roster combined. It's impossible to not root for him after putting on one of the best matches of the year with a completely torn pec earlier this month.
While Rhodes will be out for a while, that fan support will not fade. When he returns from injury, fans can expect one of the loudest ovations of the modern era.
6 Drew McIntyre: Deserves The Moment
Drew McIntyre held the company on its back during the pandemic and had an incredible reign. That incredible title reign was done completely behind closed doors, and while many assumed he'd get a big moment when fans returned, it hasn't happened.
Instead, he's toiled in the midcard and lost the big title matches he's had. WWE has a chance to give McIntyre the moment he deserved two years ago by letting him be the one to pin Roman Reigns.
5 Cody Rhodes: Make Him An Even Bigger Star
Cody Rhodes is on the verge of becoming a massive star. While he's already one of the faces of the WWE, his defection from AEW back to WWE earned a lot of mainstream attention that the company had been lacking for a while.
It earned even more headlines for his gutsy performance against Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell earlier this month. With a win over Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes will be completely shot into super stardom and become the face of the WWE.
4 Drew McIntyre: Redemption From Previous Feud
Believe it or not, Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns already had a feud relatively recently. Three years ago the two even had a match at WrestleMania 35, that was exactly the same way the feud was, forgettable. While they had a good match at Survivor Series 2020, they didn't really interact outside of the one-off match.
Reigns and McIntyre can do so much better than the last time they had a series of matches against one another. So much has changed in that timeframe as well, and they deserve a shot at redemption. Not only from a match quality perspective, as Reigns went over continuously in their feud. This time, McIntyre gets to score the win.
3 Cody Rhodes: Fresh Match
The biggest appeal of Cody Rhodes returning to the WWE is that so much has changed in the company since he left six years ago. Now that he's back, we get to see him in so many fresh matchups, but none are bigger than his future match with Roman Reigns.
McIntyre and Reigns have already been in the ring before, and recently. Rhodes hasn't shared the ring with the champion in years, and it would be great to see the two lock horns in what would absolutely be a match-of-the-year contender.
2 Drew McIntyre: Unfinished Business
Drew McIntyre's story tells itself. He was dominant in the Thunderdome to no applause, he put the company on his back for a long time and got no reward for it. Now, it's his time. He's worked his way back from the midcard to the main event scene, and he gets the chance to right the wrong from two years ago.
Simply put, Drew McIntyre has unfinished business in the main event scene. There's no better way for him to settle that business by pinning Roman Reigns clean in the U.K. later this year.
1 Cody Rhodes: Logical Conclusion
From the moment that Cody Rhodes returned to the WWE, everyone knew the way his initial story would end would be with him as champion after defeating Roman Reigns. The company knew that which is why he cut a promo the night after he returned about becoming champion.
Yes, it's true that Rhodes is out with injury right now. However, that shouldn't change the end goal. When The American Nightmare returns, he should be the first man to defeat Roman Reigns and become champion.