WrestleMania 38’s main event was officially confirmed on this week’s Monday Night Raw as “The Beast” Brock Lesnar announced he’d be challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship following his Royal Rumble victory. The show kicked off with Bobby Lashley and MVP chastizing Adam Pearce for booking him in an Elimination Chamber match at next month’s pay-per-view, only for Lesnar (dressed in full ring gear) to come down to the ring. He made his announcement for his match with Reigns, but called out Lashley for saying he shouldn’t have any pride in how he won the title on Saturday night.
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Lesnar then said he wanted his WrestleMania match to be title vs. title (a stipulation he’s brought up before) and tried to goad Lashley into competing. Despite “The All Mighty” getting enraged by Lesnar’s taunting, he declined to put the title on the line. Pearce then announced Lesnar would be competing inside the Elimination Chamber alongside Lashley at the Feb. 19 show of the same name in Saudi Arabia.
While talking with The Ringer Wrestling Show last week, Paul Heyman praised both Reigns and Lesnar for evolving their characters in recent years.
“I’m indescribably proud of both of them,” Heyman said. “Roman Reigns is a very strategic performer. The Tribal Chief has lived inside of Roman Reigns for a long time but it wasn’t the right time to present this persona because he had to go through all of the trials and tribulations in front of the public first. He needed his face roughed up a little more. He needed to show a little bit of age. The Tribal Chief just couldn’t be the best-looking man in the industry in his late 20s. He had to be a little more seasoned, he had to be a little more grizzled. To speak as the Tribal Chief before he’s the Tribal Chief would not have made sense. He’s very comfortable in this presentation. This is authentically who he is. This is how he sees himself. I like to say that SmackDown is the best reality show on television because you’re getting to see the real Roman Reigns for the first time. He’s not being forced to go out there and smile and tell you how much he just loves to go and sign autographs at 4 in the afternoon for all the little kids that are coming to the show. No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to do media appearances that he doesn’t want to do. He does the ones that he chooses to do because they’re the right ones to host the Tribal Chief.”
“In terms of Brock, Brock just never felt like talking. Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do and Brock Lesnar doesn’t do what Brock Lesnar doesn’t want to do,” he added. “When Brock came back, he had been gone long enough and looked different enough and is really comfortable enough with himself now that he just says, ‘Screw it. This is who I am and they’ll like me for who I am or they won’t. I’m just going to give them the real Brock Lesnar,’ which is a far more smart-ass Brock Lesnar than most people were even prepared to see. But if you watched him in the UFC press conferences, this is Brock Lesnar. This is who he is. So, again, in an age where authenticity is a very big selling point with the audience, it’s just getting both of them to be authentic.”
