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With WWE WrestleMania 34 on the horizon, we are building up to the event by taking a look at five key facts about every match at this year’s “Showcase of the Immortals”.
In this article, we focus on the match that is likely to headline the show – Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.
Will “The Big Dog” finally defeat “The Beast” for the first time in his career? Or will Lesnar retain and extend his year-long reign with the title?
#5 Roman Reigns is closing in on Hulk Hogan’s record
If Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns is the final match of the night at WrestleMania 34, then Reigns will have main-evented WrestleMania four years in a row.
“The Big Dog” is currently tied in second place on the all-time list of consecutive ‘Mania main events, with The Rock (WM15, WM16, WM17), Triple H (WM20, WM21, WM22) and John Cena (WM27, WM28, WM29) having also headlined three years in succession.
Reigns will go outright second if he main-events again this year, while he will equal Hulk Hogan’s record of going on last at five consecutive ‘Mania shows if he headlines again in 2019.
#4 It could be Brock Lesnar’s final WWE match
Just like before WrestleMania 31 three years ago, WWE finds themselves in a position now where they still don’t know if Brock Lesnar will re-sign with the company beyond WrestleMania 34.
Rumours persist that “The Beast” will return to UFC later this year, just like in 2015 before he signed a three-year extension to his WWE deal, only this time it seems more likely than ever that he really will bid farewell to the squared circle.
If Lesnar is looking for a swift return to the octagon after ‘Mania, then his match with Roman Reigns could well be his last in WWE. That said, UFC president Dana White claimed last year that his WWE deal actually expires in August 2018, so we’ll just have to wait and see!
#3 Nobody has ever had a Universal title rematch
If somebody loses a championship in WWE, there’s an unwritten rule that they can invoke a rematch clause to challenge the new champion for the title on any given date.
However, a strange quirk about the Universal Championship is that every previous holder (Finn Balor, Kevin Owens and Goldberg) never received a rematch for the title – and that trend could continue if Brock Lesnar loses to Roman Reigns and then departs WWE.
Balor never received an immediate rematch in August 2016 due to injury, while Owens moved into a United States title programme after his defeat to Goldberg, who hasn’t competed since his reign was ended by Lesnar at WrestleMania 33.
#2 Brock Lesnar hasn’t lost in over a year
The longest undefeated streak in WWE right now belongs to Asuka, who is yet to be beaten in an official match since she debuted in NXT in October 2015.
As for the male Superstars, Brock Lesnar has won his last 18 matches, including live events, and currently has the longest winning streak of any man on Raw or SmackDown Live.
The Universal champion was last defeated in January 2017 when he was eliminated from the Royal Rumble by Goldberg. Since then, he has picked up victories against The Big Show, Kevin Owens, Goldberg, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Sheamus, AJ Styles, Kane and The Miz.
#1 Brock Lesnar is two months away from breaking CM Punk’s record
If Brock Lesnar retains the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34, he will almost certainly go on to break CM Punk’s modern-era WWE Championship record.
Punk held the WWE title for 434 days between November 2011 and January 2013, becoming the longest-reigning holder of a major WWE men’s title since Hulk Hogan’s 1,474-day reign was ended in 1988 by Andre The Giant.
Lesnar will have held the Universal Championship (the main men's title on Raw) for 371 days by the time WrestleMania 34 comes around, which means he will only need to keep hold of it beyond the Backlash PPV in May to break Punk’s record on 11 June.
