Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Championship Reign Was Once Again Saved By Dominik Mysterio

Roman Reigns defended his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship for the sixth time this year on Saturday night, taking on Rey Mysterio at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. But just like their last title bout at a live event in Cincinnati in June, the match was spoiled by none other than Dominik Mysterio. The match’s ending played out in similar fashion to last time with Rey nailing Reigns with his finisher only for his son to run out and pull the referee out of the ring before they could count the pin. The distraction gave Reigns enough time to recover and “The Tribal Chief” took out the luchador legend with a Spear just as Rey was making his way back inside the ring. 

Reigns’ next title defense will take place at SummerSlam on Aug. 5 at Detroit’s Ford Field against Jey. The match will be competed under “Tribal Combat” rule (aka No Disqualification or Count Out) and Reigns’ position as “Tribal Chief” will also be up for grabs. 

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WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card & Rumored Matches

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair 
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar 
• United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. Rey Mysterio/Santos Escobar
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler (Yet To Be Confirmed)
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre (Yet to Be Confirmed)
• Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus (Yet to Be Confirmed)
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul (Yet to Be Confirmed)
• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. TBA (Rumored)

Did WWE Wait Too Long to Turn Roman Reigns Heel?

SummerSlam will mark three years since Roman Reigns returned to WWE TV and debuted his villainous “Tribal Chief” persona. While his run has been unquestionably successful, some have questioned if the run should have come sooner given how polarizing Reigns’ babyface run was. “Road Dogg” Jesse James recently discussed that idea on his podcast. 

“No, I don’t think so,” James said. “You gotta let stuff sit, you gotta let stuff simmer. I know that’s unpopular in today’s day and age, where I can get whatever I want, and I can get it right now. Sometimes you gotta sit on this, and see which way the wind blows. Boy, it blew in the right direction, because look [at] where we stand now, and where he stands now — as an individual and superstar.”