Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor Universal Championship Match Announced for Raw

Roman Reigns promised he'd be a fighting champion after he won the Universal Championship from [...]

By Connor Casey

Roman Reigns promised he'd be a fighting champion after he won the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. And even though the crowd wasn't in his favor when he arrived at the Barclays Center on Monday night, the newly-crowned champ stuck to his word.

Reigns opened Raw on Monday by saying he was giving a championship match to a former Universal Champion who never got a fair rematch. Enter Finn Balor, who accepted the challenge.

The match was nearly canceled when Constable Baron Corbin came out and complained about Balor using his "Demon" persona to beat him in mere minutes at SummerSlam, but general manager Kurt Angle quickly came out and silenced Corbin, declaring that the title match would take place in the main event.

Angle also announced that Corbin would compete in the first match of the night against Bobby Lashley. Lashley won in dominant fashion.

For those who don't know, Balor became the first Universal Champion in WWE history when he defeated Seth Rollins for the new title at SummerSlam in 2016. However, his reign was cut tragically short when doctors discovered he had suffered a torn labrum during the match. Balor was forced to relinquish the title after just one day as champion as he prepared for surgery, and did not return to in-ring action until the night after WrestleMania 33 in April 2017.

Reigns won the Universal Champion in the main event of SummerSlam on Sunday night. Just before he was set to take on Brock Lesnar for the third time in 2018, Braun Strowman came out wielding his Money in the Bank briefcase. "The Monster Among Men" announced that instead of cashing in while his opponent was injured, he would tell both men to their faces that he intended on cashing in on whoever was victorious in the main event match.

However, that never came to pass. Midway through the match Lesnar dodged a spear attempt by Reigns, causing "The Big Dog" to hit Strowman on the outside with a suicide dive. Lesnar then turned his attention to Strowman and hit him with an F-5, followed by repeated shots with his briefcase and a steel chair. He then re-entered the ring still holding the chair and ran right into a spear by Reigns, who covered him for the victory.

The subject of Lesnar's rematch with Reigns for the championship was brought up on Raw when Paul Heyman approached Angle. Heyman pitched the match to take place at the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in September, which Angle refused.

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