We’re not expecting Roman Reigns to go on another 1,316-day run as world champion, but we’re also not expecting him to have one with a length of three weeks. That means it will lie somewhere in the middle — not too long, and not too short.

With this in mind, the overwhelming majority of Wrestling Inc. staff (93%) are confident that Reigns will retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship over his cousin, Jacob Fatu, at WWE Backlash on May 9. Given that Reigns just captured the title on April 19 in the main event of WrestleMania 42, most of us find the idea of him losing it so quickly to be outright absurd. It’s also not often that you hear the words “Roman Reigns” and “transitional champion” in the same sentence, and considering his status as a needle-mover for the company, we don’t believe WWE would even entertain that thought.

We’re not knocking Jacob Fatu’s potential. Most of us believe he will be a world champion in WWE someday. That “someday” is just not right now. After all, WWE loves a good chase, especially when Reigns is the obstacle in one’s path (example: Cody Rhodes from January 2023 until April 2024).

It’s also hard to overlook the fact that Fatu has gotten the better of Reigns in not one, but two straight episodes of “WWE Raw.” The first time, Fatu took down “The OTC” with the Tongan Death Grip. This week, Fatu then sent him crashing through a table.

In terms of physicality, Fatu has dominated his program with Reigns, which further leads us to believe that Reigns will even the score by pinning Fatu at Backlash. Or in the event that Fatu’s domination continues, there’s a chance that he refuses to release his Tongan Death Grip, and thus disqualifies himself. Either way, Reigns walks out of the premium live event with the World Heavyweight Championship still in his grasp.

Written by Ella Jay