The Best Choices To Challenge Roman Reigns at WWE Raw in Mexico City

At SummerSlam, Roman Reigns retained his World Heavyweight Championship in an instant classic match against Seth Rollins. So what’s next for the Tribal Chief? Many think he’ll hold on to his belt until WrestleMania 43, at which time he’ll put over Oba Femi. On Raw, LA Knight showed a lot of fire. Could WWE finally give him a run with the gold that fans have been begging for? Then came a shocker, with a backstage clip showing AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio telling the OTC he wanted to talk to him about something.

What that something was became clear on August 5 when Mysterio announced that there would be a tournament between the luchadors of AAA, Raw, and SmackDown to determine who would challenge Reigns for the World Heavyweight Title when WWE Raw is held in Mexico City on September 14. There are several phenomenal wrestlers in AAA, but these four have the best chance of going face-to-face with WWE’s biggest name.

4

Rey Fenix

Whoever wins the tournament isn’t beating Roman Reigns. This much is clear. No one expects a shocker like that. What the match does do, however, is help put the Undertaker run AAA on the map even more than they already are. It will also let a star shine in the ring with the OTC in what surely won’t be a squash match. You can bet that Reigns will make his opponent look like a million bucks and tease that he can be beaten by them.

No one needs the moment more than Rey Fenix. Although he became a champion in AEW with his real life brother, Penta, Fenix never reached his full potential. It’s been even worse in WWE. While Penta has found stardom, Fenix went from being a top SmackDown star in the beginning to completely disappearing. These days you’ll mostly find him in AAA. Fenix needs a big match to put him back in the WWE main roster spotlight. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase his phenomenal talent.

3

Dominik Mysterio

Today, names like Oba Femi, Trick Williams, and Bron Breakker are mentioned as the next generation of main event WWE superstars. Go back to last year and Dominik Mysterio would have been on that list too. No heel in recent memory, not even MJF, has been so easy to hate as Dirty Dom. The boos he would get during promos were deafening. Not only was he pure evil for what he did to Rhea Ripley, but he was also hilarious. WWE saw something in him and actually had him beat John Cena for the Intercontinental Championship!

Since then, it has been a nonsensical dive down. Mysterio felt like he was on the cusp of being a major babyface if WWE pulled the trigger. Now he doesn’t feel like much of anything. He’s there to lose and get beaten down, the background for Liv Morgan and not much more. At SummerSlam, he lost a comedy match to Danhausen. Dom has been used much better in AAA, where he’s the Mega Champion. With one match against Roman Reigns, Mysterio can be taken seriously again and leave his disappointing past several months behind.

2

El Grande Americano

The top choice for many to face Roman Reigns is El Grande Americano. He’s the hero of AAA, and his match with Chad Gable’s version of the character is arguably the match of the year in all of wrestling. Everyone knows it’s Ludwig Kaiser under the mask. Against all odds, he took what was supposed to be a comedy character and turned him into an instant legend with the respect of the Mexican audience.

There are rumors, reported by Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, that El Grande Americano is WWE’s top choice to face Reigns. This would make sense. It also shouldn’t happen. WWE almost certainly wants to put the AAA title on Americano, as they should. To do so, only to have him lose to Reigns right before it, weakens the character and makes him not look good enough for the WWE roster.

1

Penta

For so many years, WWE has wanted to create the next Rey Mysterio. The closest they’ve come is Penta. The former TNA Champion couldn’t break out of the tag team and trios scene in AEW. In WWE, fans immediately took to him. With his great look, badass entrance, and jaw-dropping moves, he’s become a fan favorite and a multi-time Intercontinental Champion. His popularity with casual fans makes him the ideal choice to take on Reigns.

Penta won’t beat the Tribal Chief, but unlike El Grande Americano, the loss won’t hurt him. Fans know he’s an upper midcarder right now. If anything, a great showing will only get fans more behind him, leading to a demand on social media for Penta to become a main event level talent. He’s the face of luchadors today and the perfect representative to show what they can do. He won’t defeat Roman. What Penta will do is look like his equal.