Roman Reigns beats Brock Lesnar for Universal title at WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns pinned Brock Lesnar in the main event of WWE SummerSlam Sunday night to win the Universal title.
Before the match, Braun Strowman came out and said that he wasn’t going to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase when the champion was hurt and couldn’t defend himself. He wished both men luck and said he would be waiting to challenge the winner. The intent appeared to be that the cash in was happening at the end of the night, but that wasn’t to be.
Reigns started the match at a fast pace, hitting Lesnar with several Superman punches and spears that sent him reeling. As Reigns went for a final spear, Lesnar clamped in a guillotine choke to temporarily stop the attack. Reigns eventually worked his way out and fought off a second choke successfully as well.
Strowman got involved in the match as Reigns missed a suicide tope to Lesnar on the outside, hitting Strowman. Strowman then got F5’d by Lesnar on the outside of the ring. As Reigns climbed inside the ring, Strowman grabbed Lesnar’s foot and Lesnar unleashed several briefcase and chair shots to Strowman’s back before flinging the briefcase all the way up the ramp.
As Lesnar got back in the ring, Reigns hit a big spear on the distracted champion to get the pin and regain the title. Since Strowman was hurt and the contract was physically several hundred feet away, that appears to be the explanation for the non cash in.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.