From the WWE Rumor Mill: Reason why Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns were booked so strong at No Mercy

What's the story?

At No Mercy this past week, Roman Reigns defeated John Cena with one spear despite taking 5 Attitude Adjustment's and Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman with just one F-5 despite getting destroyed the whole match. Both of these decisions left fans bewildered and many even disappointed, but the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has revealed why this specific booking took place.

In case you didn't know...

Roman Reigns faced John Cena in a "passing of the torch" match at No Mercy while the main event saw Brock Lesnar face The Monster Among Men Braun Strowman in a Universal Championship match.

The program with Brock Lesnar was perhaps one of his most interesting ones as The Beast Incarnate was manhandled by Strowman throughout the feud and made to look much inferior.

With Cena and Reigns, however, it was a different story as the build-up was all about a verbal war between the two. Unsurprisingly, Reigns came out on top.

The heart of the matter

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason behind the strong yet bizarre booking for Lesnar and Reigns was that they want both of them to be the two biggest stars of the company heading into WrestleMania 34.

The plan was and still is for Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to face off at The Showcase Of The Immortals next year in the main event, with Reigns toppling Lesnar to become the new Universal Champion, thus having his 3rd straight coronation and 4th straight WrestleMania main event.

Roman Reigns is the long-term plan and Lesnar seems destined to drop the title to him. From what it seems, Brock Lesnar won't be making any further on-screen appearances for the remainder of the year. This would mean that his next Universal title defence will be at the Royal Rumble.

What's next?

Roman Reigns is currently feuding with The Miz and seems to be headed towards a brief Shield reunion for TLC on October 22nd. However, that won't last too long as the plan is still for him to be the top singles star of the company, regardless of how much fans reject him.

Author's take

I've accepted even before WrestleMania 33 when the rumours of a Lesnar-Roman 'Mania 34 main event came out that it is inevitable. At this point, WWE doesn't seem to be losing any money from the Roman Reigns experiment, so fan reaction likely isn't going to make any difference heading into WrestleMania next year.

It is what it is and WWE is just going to keep trying to make Reigns beloved by the fans. The positive is that Reigns and Lesnar will likely have an absolutely brilliant match, so that should leave some satisfied. However, at this point, Lesnar might as well lay down for Reigns since we all know that Reigns is winning next year.

---

Send us news tips at [email protected]