By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)

July 24, 2018

I’ll be honest…I actually thought there was a chance Bobby Lashley was going to win last night. After taking considerable damage from Roman Reigns, Lashley was still able to last for a couple of kick-outs. I was even cheating…trying to figure out which finisher would pin the other man by keeping an eye on the clock. They wouldn’t possibly go five minutes past 11:00 EST? Would they?

The match was fine and it kept me guessing. Something that I either should feel silly for, since my brain should be thinking all Reigns all the time. Or I should actually be congratulating the bookers for throwing in a good story and some real surprises (after all, I did make my final pick on the most recent episode of the Brothers of Discussion for Roman).

Enough bragging on my part for making my official pick the guy Raw and the WWE hasn’t shied away from for years.

That being said, we all knew this was coming. Roman getting his chance to take the title away from Brock Lesnar and rid us of his evil and almost tyrant-like rule over the Universal Championship. Our ‘savior’ would be crowned and we could all move on with the wrestling storylines we are accustomed to. Of course…that was what we were saying back in March and April, leading up to WrestleMania. At that time, we were sure that Roman’s reign was to begin and the WWE Universe could begin the prophecy foretold since the Shield had first disbanded and Lesnar had beaten the Deadman.

It all made sense. It was even going to take place at the venue the Undertaker couldn’t be beaten. Having been bested twice, by Lesnar and then Roman, we all knew it was their destiny. Putting on a clunky match and having Roman walk away as ‘The Guy’. Not because his lines with a microphone echoed that sentiment, but because he had taken down the only other beast, strong enough to take down Taker and (even at that time) hold the title for such an extended period of time, he himself looked unbeatable.

Beating the ‘unbeatable’ would truly define the WWE’s greatest champion (by storyline). He’s got the look, he’s got the tenure, he’s got the wins, and man…does he have the losses. Those were all thoughts we had leading into WrestleMania. All thoughts that would lead any long time wrestling fan to believe that this was the end for Lesnar and the beginning for Roman Reigns.

But it didn’t happen.

Lesnar won and I was shocked. Albeit, it was shock mixed with disappointment. Even though I’ve spent most of the existence of this blog and podcast touting the end of Roman Reigns (and have hoped for the ascension of some like Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and even Finn Balor), I still felt it would have been better to move on from Brock Lesnar and put an ‘everyday’ guy in the main event.

It didn’t happen at WrestleMania and then it didn’t happen again at the Greatest Royal Rumble. We know now that this was a throw away Pay-Per-View, where nothing really happens, but it was still another opportunity for Roman to win that title and it ended it failure. Not as grand an attempt at the title (despite the name of the show), but it still felt like you draw reasoning by the choice of having Roman win. I mean…it’s not like they’d push this out to SummerSlam…right?

Following that match, Roman started spiraling and even found himself feuding with a fan favorite, Samoa Joe. Joe needed a push, Roman had been losing on Raw, and I began to question if WWE had decided to go in another direction. How silly of me. The match was another opportunity for Roman to build himself back-up against a very formidable (but apparently very beatable) Samoa Joe. Joe’s movement up and down the ladder is a whole different story.

Roman kept building and building and building. Scaring some of us into thinking that the Money in the Bank was destined to be in the ‘Big Dog’s’ hand after June. Thankfully, an underappreciated Jinder Mahal stepped to keep Roman distracted for the next month. A boring feud, but living in the ‘future’, very necessary.

Roman used this victory to keep climbing as he could claim he defeated a man who held the WWE Championship for a half of a year, last year. His claim to the throne was uncontested…except for one man. And that man…had beat Sami Zayn and…that’s about it.

Fast forwarding to Extreme Rules, Bobby Lashley knocked off ‘the Big Dog’ with nothing on the line, but pride (which I guess Roman has none of, since he always loses those matches). Alright…we did it. Roman is officially at the back of the line!

The next night, both men could earn a shot at Brock Lesnar, by winning Triple Threat match-ups with the Raw brand’s top superstars. Roman, pitted against Finn Balor and Drew McIntyre (two guys coming off of wins and what looked like significant pushes). The perfect opportunity to give a fan favorite a chance at the Universal Title or a guy with the look and just a little more experience than Reigns. Welp…my instincts were off again…

Roman wins his triple threat…and so does Bobby. So we get the same exact match from Extreme Rules, but with an extra Reigns spear at the end. And now we have a Main Event scheduled for SummerSlam.

So what was this all for?

To delay the inevitable? To watch more superstars, get buried? To make us hate creative and their stubborn ways even more?

I think it was for this: I want Lesnar to lose so god damned bad…it hurts.

I am rooting for this to end harder than I’ve been rooting for ‘The Show’. Harder than Daniel Bryan over John Cena. Harder than anyone who has been the opponent of Reigns, during the past 4 years. Harder than my disdain of Jonathan Coachman and his butchering of the art that is announcing. Harder than my need for Ciampa and Gargano to finish their feud with a title match…a year from now. Harder than…a diamond in an ice storm (you know what I’m talking about).

For the first time in a long time, I’m not just predicting a win for Roman, but I need it! I finally want this turd of a character (that’s right…I said it!) to win his Universal Title! I want him to grab that title and turn into Jafar from the end of Aladdin (when he transformed into a genie and spinning galaxies in his hand). I want him to be standing over that stupid farmer, covered in blood, holding that title high and spitting teeth into the crowd.

Its frustration, boredom, and giving up all mixed together.

This show has been hard to write about because the most exciting things are when new wrestlers get a shot. I just don’t see that in the cards while Brock has the title. As much fun as it is to watch these guys put on a great show, it means more to see the best guys walk away victorious. And while I don’t mean Roman is my answer to that need. I do think that Roman is the next best step to seeing guys like Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, and…oh yeah…Kevin Owens...hold the belt!

Regardless, this came on a night of tremendous celebration. Hopefully its a sign of things to come as we head into the dangerous fall season.

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