Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns have already faced each other for the WWE Universal Championship twice in 2018. And if recent reports are true, fans are in store for the match at least one more time.
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The Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote this week that Reigns is still the top contender on Raw for a world championship match, at least in the eyes of Vince McMahon. The report says the plan is to continue the storyline that led into WrestleMania 34, with Lesnar getting booed more and more by being absent from television every week.
That match will likely take place at SummerSlam in August, though the report noted plans for the Brooklyn pay-per-view are still up in the air.
Reigns was originally booked to be in a multi-man No.1 contender’s match at Extreme Rules on July 15, but the match was scrapped on Raw on Monday over what general manager Kurt Angle claimed were “contract disputes” surrounding Lesnar.
Those “disputes” also tied into a lengthy post Paul Heyman wrote on Saturday, where he berated the majority of the Raw roster for not being worthy enough to challenge “The Beast.” He started off with Reigns, referring to him as a “Sloppy Second Samoan.”
“Whomever is big enough box office to lure Brock Lesnar into a match that makes Brock Lesnar the type of money he commands for a fight,” Heyman wrote. “Who’s that going to be? Roman Reigns? The second generation superstar who was second to beat Undertaker at WrestleMania, who failed in his second WrestleMania attempt to take the top title from Brock Lesnar, and similarly failed in his second attempt this year alone in Saudi Arabia? No, Brock Lesnar has no interest in the Sloppy Second Samoan!”
The rivalry between Reigns and Lesnar stretches all the way back to WrestleMania 31, even though a vocal portion of the fanbase has been negative about it throughout.
Reigns challenged then-WWE Champion Lesnar after winning the 2015 Royal Rumble. But before a winner could be determined, Seth Rollins ran down and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to make it a triple threat match. He pinned Reigns in short order to win the title.
WWE then spent a full calendar year building up to a rematch between the two, starting at WrestleMania 33 with Lesnar becoming Universal Champion by beating Goldberg. The former UFC Champion then plowed his way through the like of Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Kane, defeating each with a single F-5 finisher.
Reigns earned a shot against him by winning the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, only to lose in bloody fashion in the main event of WrestleMania 34. The feud then took a surprising turn when a steel cage rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble was announced days later, where Lesnar retained again thanks to an error on the referee’s behalf.
While Lesnar vs. Reigns is still on the table, there are other routes the WWE could go for their second biggest show of the year. Seth Rollins is free to rejoin the main event scene after losing the Intercontinental Championship, Bobby Lashley has been positioning himself to be on Reigns’ level in recent weeks and Braun Strowman has the Money in the Bank contract he plans to cash in on Lesnar the first chance he gets.
Whichever route the company goes remains to be seen.
