5 Takeaways from this week's WWE Raw (16 July 2018)

#3 The one positive of Brock Lesnar’s continued absence

Paul Heyman did Brock Lesnar's talking for him this week

Was it ever really in doubt that Brock Lesnar was going to return to WWE to defend his Universal Championship at SummerSlam? Not really, despite the storyline breakdown in negotiations with Raw GM Kurt Angle about his next title defence.

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding “The Beast” and his Universal title reign over the last few months, but nobody can deny that his match at SummerSlam against Roman Reigns or Bobby Lashley will be one of the most anticipated of the summer.

Unlike at WrestleMania 34, where fans hijacked the main event between Lesnar and Reigns because the outcome seemed obvious (it wasn’t!), the upcoming SummerSlam encounter really could go either way.

Will Lesnar retain and take the title with him to UFC? Or will we finally get a full-time major title holder on Raw again? Whatever happens, and regardless of the match quality, we’ll all be interested in the outcome.