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Everything You Need to Know about the Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns Feud at WrestleMania

Published 12/16/2020, 9:30 AM EST

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Roman Reigns main evented four consecutive WrestleManias, from 2015 to 2018. Two of those main events were against The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar. Both matches were title matches, with Brock as the champion and Roman as the challenger. However, one match was brilliant, while one was atrocious.

Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar: WrestleMania 34

Let’s begin with the atrocious first. In 2018, Roman Reigns was set to reclaim his spot atop the WWE. After a decent title run in 2016, Reigns stayed away from the title picture for two years. At the Elimination Chamber, Reigns defeated Braun Strowman (who eliminated the entire field) inside the hellacious structure, to book his ticket to WrestleMania.

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At WrestleMania 34, Lesnar vs Reigns was given the main event spot over Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles. The latter was a certified dream match, while the former was a match that the fans had already seen. Despite being given the main event spot, Reigns and Lesnar failed to reach the heights of Styles and Nakamura.

The brutes lit into each other and threw only heavy bombs. Reigns only threw in some Superman Punches and Spears, while Lesnar destroyed him with suplexes. The most bizarre part of the match was that Reigns kicked out of multiple F5s. It seemed like a very desperate attempt to garner sympathy for Reigns. Instead, it took the drama out of the match completely.

At least fans expected Reigns to stop the Beast’s reign of terror on Raw and take the title from him. However, WWE pulled the rug from under the fans’ feet and had Brock Lesnar retain the title. Fans were shocked, confused, and absolutely unhappy with the decision, and the match that preceded it.

Lesnar vs Reigns I: WrestleMania 31

What distinguishes the first match from the sequel is not just the brilliant ending, but the slugfest that led to the moment. Reigns headed into WrestleMania 31 off of two incredible wins. He won the 2015 Royal Rumble, and beat Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, to secure his path to WrestleMania.

 

Lesnar was coming off a huge win at the Royal Rumble. He defended the title in an amazing triple threat match, also involving John Cena and Seth Rollins. Reigns was the unpopular choice to face Lesnar. Fans clamored for Daniel Bryan to be in his spot, but the fans were to make do with Bryan winning the Intercontinental Title at the start of the show.

via Imago

The main event began with Lesnar hitting Roman with an F5 within 30 seconds. However, Lesnar did not cover him. Instead, he made a statement by tossing Reigns around the ring. German suplexes, knees to the gut, and devastating blows were dealt out to Roman. Instead of staying down, Reigns only smiled and laughed in Lesnar’s face.

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The enraged Lesnar was caught off guard by Roman, who tried to fight back, but was stopped in his track by an F5. This time Lesnar pinned him, but Reigns kicked out at two. Lesnar hit him with another F5, but Reigns kicked out again and slapped the back of Lesnar’s head in the process.

The Heist of the Century

Reigns fought back with three quick-fire Superman Punches, before leveling the Beast with two massive spears. Unfortunately, it would take a lot more than two spears to keep Lesnar down. As Lesnar got back to his feet, Reigns ran in for another spear, only to get caught by a third F5. Lesnar was too exhausted to cover, which led to the most shocking of endings.

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With both superstars down, Mr. Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins sprinted down to the ring and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. The match became a triple threat; Rollins got rid of Lesnar and targeted the wounded Reigns. Two Curb Stomps later, Rollins was sprinting up the ramp with his newly won WWE Championship.

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Written by:

Nathan Fulgado

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Nathan Fulgado is a WWE and AEW author at EssentiallySports. Having published close to 1000 professional wrestling articles, Nathan is currently pursuing his Journalism degree from Xavier's College. He has previously worked at Free Press Journal as a local journalist.
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