The WWE Universe has not been very kind to Roman Reigns as of late, and the leader of the "Roman Empire" has been thrust into a match with Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane that will have huge implications on WrestleMania 31.
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Reigns will go one-on-one with the perennial fan favorite in Bryan to determine who will face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Levi's Stadium in California on March 29.
There had been rumors for months that Reigns would win the 2015 Rumble Match and go on to face and defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 and that may still be the plan.
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Reigns' Rumble Match victory was met with boos from the Philadelphia crowd, causing the WWE to make a bout between him and Bryan at Fast Lane on Feb. 22 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis to get the WWE Universe invested in the event.
Bryan may very well lose to Reigns and the plans could go down just as the WWE initially intended months ago, but "The Beard" could also flip the script for WrestleMania like he did last year.
Here's a look at three possible scenarios for WrestleMania 31:
1) Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar: Reigns has been the hand-picked golden boy by Vince McMahon, despite the fact that he hasn't gotten over naturally and some fans have rejected him due to his lack of resume as a singles star, his struggles on the microphone and some of his inefficiencies in the ring.
Reigns has been over in the past, there is no denying that his time with The Shield was very good, but his hernia injury caused him to miss valuable time to develop as a singles star from September-December, causing him to not seem ready for the biggest match of the year.
Reigns will one day be ready and could very well turn into a top guy in the future, but the WWE has rushed his push.
Still, the WWE is likely to have Reigns go over Bryan at Fast Lane to stick with the original plans of having him take out Lesnar to become the next big star. The WWE has doled out a ton of money to Lesnar to make a new star, and they believe they have it in Reigns.
The WWE could opt to turn Reigns heel and Lesnar babyface, and could even have Paul Heyman turn on his client to become a mouthpiece for Reigns, but it's likely the company wants a babyface standing tall at the "Show of Shows."
While Lesnar could retain, his contract status likely means that he'll be dropping the belt should Reigns be his opponent.
As for Bryan, in this scenario it seems like he'd be battling Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania due to their Twitter campaign.
2) Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan: Last year, the WWE changed its mind on a potential Randy Orton vs. Batista main event due to the fans revolting against "The Animal" as a babyface being shoved down their throats. Could this happen again?
There is a slight chance that Bryan will go over Reigns at Fast Lane, but if not the WWE once again runs the risk of disappointing Bryan fans -- almost to the point of playing games with them -- and also runs the risk of Reigns once again being booed out of the building unless a heel turn is in the works.
Bryan was rumored to face Lesnar at SummerSlam last August before his neck injury sidelined him and caused him to forfeit the belt. This led to John Cena eventually winning the gold and having the feud with "The Beast."
Bryan has been adamant about wanting to work with "The Beast," but he has the deck stacked against him with McMahon being higher on Reigns, some in WWE management not seeing Bryan as a main event-level talent and his neck injury causing him to be a health risk.
Still, the WWE could end up running with the underdog story of a guy coming back from injury battling someone who ended The Streak of The Undertaker and then took out John Cena. Lesnar has also topped such names as Triple H and CM Punk over the last couple of years.
It would be a classic David vs. Goliath storyline that would pit "The Beard" against "The Beast" in a classic story that would rival last year's fantastic finish to WrestleMania XXX.
It's more likely that Reigns will win at Fast Lane, but the WWE has changed its mind before.
In this scenario, Reigns would likely be stuck in the midcard facing Big Show or another monstrous heel.
3) Seth Rollins wins the gold: The wild-card in all of this is "Mr. Money in the Bank."
The WWE has never had anyone cash the briefcase in at the biggest show of the year, but as is always said in the company, anything can happen.
Rollins' program for WrestleMania has remained a mystery as rumors haven't followed him as much as other Superstars, but he'll likely battle Randy Orton since the two have been at odds and "The Viper" is set to return soon.
The WWE could have Rollins become the first man to cash in the briefcase, by crashing Reigns or Bryan's celebrations at the end of the show.
Rollins is deserving of the honor as he is the top heel in the company when Lesnar isn't around and has really come into his own over the last few months after The Shield split last June.
Rollins cashing in on his old Shield buddy Reigns would be a very interesting conclusion to WrestleMania 31.
The WWE could have a sore loser in Lesnar destroy Reigns or Bryan after they defeat him, setting up a golden opportunity for Heyman to introduce his newest client in Rollins, who could then come out and cash in.
This would set up Heyman with something to do if the rumors of Lesnar's contract expiring the day after WrestleMania are true.
Plenty of things can happen between now and WrestleMania, but the picture for the "Show of Shows" will become even clearer once Fast Lane is said and done later this month in Memphis.
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