What’s the story?
According to veteran pro-wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar will not perform at this month’s RAW Pay-Per-View Payback but is most likely to defend his title at June 4th’s Extreme Rules PPV or on July 9th at Bad Blood.
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In his most recent match at Wrestlemania 33, Lesnar defeated Goldberg to win the WWE Universal championship. The following night on RAW, he was featured in a promo alongside Braun Strowman, who challenged the ‘Beast Incarnate’ for a future match.
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The heart of the matter
According to Meltzer, the WWE plans to have Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns face off against each other at Payback in order to determine the number 1 contender for Lesnar’s Universal belt.
Although Reigns is coming off the biggest victory of his career against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, WWE may book him to lose at Payback in order to set up a title shot for Strowman against Lesnar.
Several industry insiders have opined that Vince McMahon and co. are high on Strowman and will be looking to accord him a promotional push this year. Furthermore, Meltzer also noted that the WWE may insert former Universal champions Finn Balor and Kevin Owens into the number-1 contender matchup at Payback so that Reigns doesn’t have to take the fall were he to lose the match.
What’s next?
Despite the fact that WWE will most likely book Lesnar vs Reigns at Wrestlemania 34 next year, the Strowman-Reigns rivalry followed by a Lesnar-Strowman feud seems to be their plan for the next few months.
Author’s take
Now mind you, Lesnar did have a pretty entertaining run as the WWE World Heavyweight champion before losing his title to Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania 31 and considering that, rest assured, Vince and co. will book the Beast in a similar manner for his Universal title in the months to come. Whether it’s Strowman or Reigns, the possibilities to book Brock in intriguing feuds is endless for the WWE.
Although he still is very much a part-timer, the WWE and Lesnar himself have learnt how to make his sporadic appearances work to keep the fans interested. Besides, with the greatest mouthpiece in professional wrestling thy name Paul Heyman, at his side, every feud involving the reigning WWE Universal champion is guaranteed entertainment. All hail the new King of Monday Night RAW- Baarrrockkk Lesssnnaarrr!!
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