{"id":112035,"date":"2022-03-28T13:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T17:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=112035"},"modified":"2022-03-27T16:31:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T20:31:50","slug":"roman-reigns-brock-lesnar-wrestlemania-38","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/03\/28\/roman-reigns-brock-lesnar-wrestlemania-38\/","title":{"rendered":"Match Point: Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 38"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Twice, <strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong> and <strong>Brock Lesnar<\/strong> have faced off on the \u2018Grandest Stage of Them All\u2019, <strong>World Wrestling Entertainment\u2019s<\/strong> cornerstone pay-per-view, <strong><em>WrestleMania<\/em><\/strong>. Reigns has yet to claim victory over Lesnar in a <em>WrestleMania<\/em> main event, one of the few achievements that genuinely eluded Reigns\u2019s former babyface persona.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 38<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31545 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/11\/erfolgreiche-titelverteidigung-lesnar-bereitet-bei-wrestlemania-34-einen-f5-gegen-roman-reigns-vor--e1543351603910.jpg\" alt=\"Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar WrestleMania\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Past Encounters<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>At <strong><em>WrestleMania 31<\/em><\/strong>, Reigns was the challenger for Lesnar\u2019s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The moment anointed not Reigns, but his former <strong>Shield<\/strong> comrade <strong>Seth Rollins<\/strong>. Rollins exercised his prerogative as Mr. Money in the Bank to cash in, transforming the main event into a triple threat. Rollins emerged victorious, in one of <em>WrestleMania<\/em> history\u2019s enduring, indelible moments.<\/p>\n<p>Speculation was certain that Reigns\u2019s narrative was leading towards a victorious rematch against Lesnar at <strong><em>WrestleMania 34<\/em><\/strong>, at which Reigns challenged Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/alfredkonuwa\/2018\/04\/09\/wwe-wrestlemania-34-results-fans-turn-on-main-event-as-brock-lesnar-roman-reigns-lay-an-egg\/?sh=7088fdb14c5d\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The match itself notoriously drew the ire of the New Orleans Superdome<\/a> crowd throughout, for its presumed predictability. However, at the end, Lesnar\u2019s victory drew genuine surprise: Reigns\u2019s coronation as the face and future of WWE by clinching the Universal title with defeating Lesnar had seemed assured, and Lesnar was rumored at the time to be bound to return to <strong>UFC<\/strong>. While storyline adversity faced by Reigns\u2019s babyface character often struck a hollow note, defeating Lesnar at <em>WrestleMania<\/em> remains a brass ring Reigns has yet to grasp.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Brock Lesnar shocks Roman Reigns with SummerSlam return: SmackDown, Dec. 31, 2021\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zurQNKxcm24?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Road to WrestleMania 38<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Summer 2021 saw the return of John Cena to active competition in WWE. The top babyface of the 2010s had returned to challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship. In his absence, Reigns had transformed into \u201cThe Tribal Chief\u201d: a pitiless, megalomaniacal heel obsessed with keeping possession of the Universal Championship.<\/p>\n<p>The genuine fluctuations in fortunes Reigns has endured with being received by the WWE audience power this multifaceted portrayal. Beneath Reigns\u2019s brutal attacks on his opponents, underhanded tactics, and dominance of cousins and henchmen <strong>Jey and Jimmy Uso<\/strong> is the vulnerability of fear: the fear of losing the title and the personal validation he feels it gives him. WWE\u2019s audience seem, by and large, to approve of this iteration of the character, who, tactics aside, has taken control of his destiny. His victory over <strong>John Cena<\/strong> at <strong><em>SummerSlam<\/em> <\/strong>led to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/08\/22\/brock-lesnar-returns-summerslam-2021\/\" target=\"_self\">the surprise return of Lesnar<\/a>, who was clearly hell bent on the Universal title.<\/p>\n<p>With Lesnar\u2019s former advocate, <strong>Paul Heyman<\/strong>, now serving as Reigns\u2019s special counsel, the narrative became a drama of divided loyalties and rising suspicions within Reigns\u2019s <strong>Bloodline<\/strong>\u00a0stable. The ambiguity increased at October 2021\u2019s Saudi Arabia event, <strong><em>Crown Jewel<\/em><\/strong>, but Reigns did manage to successfully defend the Universal title. Heyman eventually appeared to betray Reigns and returned to Lesnar\u2019s side in late 2021, acting as his advocate as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/01\/01\/brock-lesnar-wwe-championship-day-1\/\" target=\"_self\">Lesnar claimed the WWE Championship<\/a> at <strong><em>Day 1<\/em><\/strong>. The ruse was abandoned at 2022\u2019s <strong><em>Royal Rumble<\/em><\/strong>, when Heyman and Reigns reunited to help <strong>Bobby Lashley<\/strong> defeat Lesnar and claim the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"C6a1feD_Sf9X9m3BGsrF9A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1236034648\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'C6a1feD_Sf9X9m3BGsrF9A',sig:'SIyt-IILwQP_KQljOz07hLeo4NjCb71XVeP3kKDZBlc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1236034648',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Champion vs. Champion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>However, Lesnar reclaimed the championship in the eponymous program of 2022\u2019s <strong><em>Elimination Chamber<\/em><\/strong>. Lesnar had made his intentions known previously, that he wanted a champion vs champion match against Reigns at <em>WrestleMania<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>WWE not only made it official, but upped the ante by declaring the bout a champion vs champion unification bout, to unite the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship.<\/p>\n<p>On WWE television, Reigns and Lesnar have bided their time in the usual ways before WWE\u2019s grandest pay per view: parking lot attacks, promos, mock interviews, etc. March 2022\u2019s Madison Square Garden live show, however, perhaps gave WWE fans an idea of what to expect of <em>WrestleMania 38\u2019s<\/em> outcome. After successfully defending the WWE title against recent <strong><em>NXT<\/em><\/strong> call-up <strong>Austin Theory<\/strong>, Lesnar was brutally attacked by a triumphantly posed Reigns.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Reigns\u2019s babyface narrative was often contrived and contradictory, but Lesnar has been a very real bete noire for him throughout his WWE journey. Reigns is a much different player than his <em>WM31<\/em> or <em>WM34<\/em> selves. His \u201cTribal Chief\u201d persona has struck a chord with WWE audiences with his depiction of a secretly insecure conqueror who has cut through a swath of opponents, but fears only one: Lesnar. By claiming the WWE Championship from \u201cThe Beast Incarnate\u201d, Reigns finally seems poised to defeat an adversary who has long eluded him, uniting WWE\u2019s top titles in the process.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;18864&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twice, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar have faced off on the \u2018Grandest Stage of Them All\u2019, World Wrestling Entertainment\u2019s cornerstone pay-per-view, WrestleMania. Reigns has yet to claim victory over Lesnar in a WrestleMania main event, one of the few achievements that genuinely eluded Reigns\u2019s former babyface persona. Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 38 Past [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3715,"featured_media":112049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,2192,4,3],"tags":[57,77,220,8262,430],"class_list":["post-112035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-brock-lesnar","tag-roman-reigns","tag-universal-championship","tag-wrestlemania-38","tag-wwe-championship"],"modified_by":"Robbie Sutter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3715"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}