WrestleMania 35: 4 biggest questions after Seth Rollins' 150-second win over Brock Lesnar

One of the biggest surprises from WWE WrestleMania 35 came when Paul Heyman interrupted Alexa Bliss and Hulk Hogan’s pose-off and announced that Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins was set to be the opening match of the main PPV.

Before the much-anticipated Universal Championship encounter could even begin, Lesnar attacked his opponent all around the ringside area before both men finally made their way back to the ring.

The referee called for the match to officially start at the 22:30 mark of the broadcast, at which point Lesnar continued to punish the challenger. Then, out of nowhere, Rollins turned things around with a low-blow, which the referee did not see, before landing three Stomps to complete his mission of slaying “The Beast”.

By the 25:00 mark, the match was already over, meaning Rollins was able to defeat his beastly opponent in just 150 seconds. Just like when he won the NXT and WWE Championships for the first time, “The Beastlayer” swung his new title over his head and celebrated at the top of the stage.

Moving forward, Rollins will face plenty of challenges for his Universal title, but what does the future hold for Lesnar? Let’s take a look at four of the biggest questions that need answering after Sunday’s match.

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#4 Is Brock Lesnar leaving WWE?

Another WrestleMania, another year of uncertainty surrounding the future of Brock Lesnar.

The build-up to WrestleMania 31 in 2015 was all about Lesnar and whether or not he would re-sign with WWE. In the end, he agreed to a new deal with the company a week before the event, keeping him in sports entertainment until 2018.

Of course, three years on, the rumours returned around the time of WrestleMania 34 about a potential WWE exit and return to UFC. In the end, “The Beast” signed a new WWE contract for an undisclosed length of time on the day of his ‘Mania match with Roman Reigns.

Fast forward to this year and, once again, it remains unclear what the future holds for one of WWE’s biggest box office attractions. Recent reports have suggested that he will fight Daniel Cormier in UFC in August 2019, but how will that affect his WWE career?

At this point, it really wouldn’t be all that surprising if Lesnar never competed in WWE again. The majority of fans are tired of him and, not that the man himself seems to care all that much about WWE career accomplishments, but what else is there left to achieve?

#3 Who will face Seth Rollins next?

Seth Rollins first challenged for the Universal Championship when he met Finn Balor in one of the featured matches of SummerSlam 2016. Balor won the match to become the inaugural Universal champion but he was forced to relinquish the title one day later due to injury.

Meanwhile, Rollins was unable to win the title during his next storyline with Kevin Owens and he had to wait two-and-a-half years before returning to the title picture to face Brock Lesnar in a one-on-one match.

Now that he finally has his hands on the main male singles title on Monday Night Raw, there will be a whole host of names who are ready to step up to take on “The Beastslayer” after WrestleMania 35.

Although he lost to Roman Reigns on Sunday, Drew McIntyre is an obvious first opponent for the new champion. After all, the Scot repeatedly mentioned both Rollins and Lesnar in the build-up to ‘Mania, while he even pinned the Shield member on an episode of Raw in March.

#2 Will Seth Rollins join SmackDown Live?

Now that WrestleMania 35 has come and gone, attention turns to the Superstar Shake-Up, which will take place during the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live.

In 2018, a severe lack of major Superstars swapped between the red and blue brands. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Drew McIntyre were among the big names to switch over to Raw, while The Miz and Asuka both joined SmackDown, but established stars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles and Randy Orton stayed where they were.

Rollins would be a good addition to SmackDown Live, which is seen as more of a ‘wrestling’ show than Raw, and his presence on the blue brand would be even more welcomed if rumours about FOX Sports wanting the SmackDown product to be more sports-centric are to be believed.

Given that there is one women’s champion (Becky Lynch) and one set of women’s tag champions (The IIconics) working on both brands, perhaps it is not beyond the realms of possibility that all champions would be able to work on Raw and SmackDown Live moving forward (with the obvious exception of the Raw and SmackDown tag titles).

We have seen over a dozen Superstars compete on both shows in the last few months, so the brand split feels largely pointless right now.

#1 Will Roman Reigns receive a title match?

WWE announced in December 2018 that Superstars will no longer receive a rematch at the time of their choosing if they lose a championship.

The new rule has been enforced multiple times over the last few months, with Superstars including Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Championship) and Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Championship) immediately leaving the title picture after losing their titles.

The one exception to this rule should be Roman Reigns. The four-time WrestleMania main-eventer was forced to relinquish the Universal Championship in October 2018 after he was diagnosed with leukemia for the second time. Now that he is back, “The Big Dog” has been involved in a rivalry with Drew McIntyre and he is yet to be given a rematch for the title that he never lost.

Would it be wise for WWE to insert him into a one-on-one storyline right now with the popular Rollins? Probably not, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes before the former Universal champion is back in the title picture.