WWE: Problem Universal Championship: The Infinity of Unimaginativeness

When Braun Strowman stretched his newly won Money in the Bank suitcase towards the roof of the Allstate Arena last Sunday, even his greatest critics might have felt like cheering. This result gives hope for the revival of the universal title race around Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, which has been stuck for over a year.

The WWE has two World Titles. As obvious as this fact may seem, it must be stressed after the last 16 months. While the WWE Champion title at SmackDown was regularly defended during this period, the Raw counterpart introduced in July 2016 was practically absent.

Since 50 year old Bill Goldberg dethroned Kevin Owens in less than 20 seconds at Fastlane in 2017, the title was damned. An extremely entertaining run thanks to the chemistry between Owens and Chris Jericho was sacrificed for the third edition of Goldberg vs. Lesnar. At WrestleMania 33 Lesnar won the belt from WCW legend and started the longest and most static run in recent WWE history.

During his 14-month reign, Lesnar had only one serious challenger, if any: Roman Reigns, Vince McMahon’s new poster boy, who was vociferously rejected by a significant part of the audience due to years of booking errors.

The 2.03 meter tall and 175 kilo heavy Strowman, who in the last three years has developed from a supposedly unguided, talentless Big Stiff to the most impressive Big Man in WWE history, carries the hope that the Universal Title Picture will finally come back to life. But let us first look at the reasons for this development.

For almost four years now, 99.9% certainty has made it possible to precisely predict the course of every Lesnar match: numerous suplexes, one to several F-5s (if the opponent is called Reigns) and perhaps a blading Lesnar. No more is offered, his matches only rarely break the ten-minute mark.

After his WWE comeback in 2012 Lesnar showed quite respectable fights, concentrated on his MMA arsenal including brutal knee kicks and the Kimura. Lesnars Moveset’s squash victory over John Cena at the SummerSlam 2014, where his “Suplex City, Bitch!” exclaim caused a wave of enthusiasm, was the first time he was extremely restricted. Presumably, those responsible came to the conclusion that he no longer needed any more moves to prove his dominance.

According to WWE insider Dave Meltzer (WWE Wrestling Observer Newsletter), Lesnar’s new contract signed in April of this year will earn him 500,000 US dollars (approx. 432,000 euros) per match and 100,000 dollars (over 86,000 euros) per performance, among various other benefits and special payments. sums that have meant that WWE now uses it even less frequently than before.

Since Lesnar has already played the money matches against most of the WWE top stars, this would not be a problem in itself, you could only book him for highlights like WrestleMania or the SummerSlam. Instead, he has held the Universal Championship for 14 months and defended it only six times in pay-per-views.

The World-Title-Race at Raw is practically non-existent anymore, the way to the Main Event is blocked. Main Event calibers like Seth Rollins have to make do with the Intercontinental Championship. Besides Reigns, Lesnar defended the 2017 Universal title against Samoa Joe and Strowman. However, both opponents were not particularly well represented in the matches and emerged weakened rather than strengthened.

The second reason for the division’s standstill is Lesnar’s constant challenger Roman Reigns. It must be emphasized that this is less due to its ability in the ring. The 33-year-old from Pensacola, Florida is now in an absolute position to deliver decent matches, with good opponents even top class.

Also acting and on the microphone, the Big Dog has improved noticeably since his Shield time. Although he obviously doesn’t have the charismatic talent of a rock or John Cena that Vince McMahon seems to see in him, his main problem has always been his booking. To be even clearer: Roman Reigns is the worst booked Main Eventer in the history of WWE.

His portrayal is a loveless copy of Cena, the embarrassment of some of the promos written for Roman can hardly be surpassed (keyword “Sufferin’ Succotash!”). Time and again those responsible fail with miserable attempts to pull the cart out of the dirt, most recently with a feud against the unpopular ex-WWE champ Jinder Mahal.

The fact that these attempts cannot be crowned with success comes with a loud announcement for every viewer who has been involved in wrestling for a while. Only those responsible seem to (consciously) overhear these announcements.

Of course, Cena’s design also contained elements of other legends, such as a Hulk Hogan, but cannot serve as a blueprint for the next Top Face! The negative reactions he received at the end of the last decade as the invincible Superman have clearly shown this. But they preferred to turn a blind eye instead of designing their own concept for Reigns.

Now you formally have a new WWE figurehead that may have the look and skill of a main eventer, but has been completely burned due to this loveless and unimaginative copy of a body. Reigns can only save a radical change of course, the Heel-Turn, which has been much discussed for years, would be the most obvious measure.

But the probability that WWE will actually dare this step, as long as a significant part of its target group (children) still accepts the new Superman, should be negligible.

Reigns’ failure has never been more evident than in his feud against Strowman. The Monster among Men entered this storyline as a heel, went against the Big Dog with great brutality and overthrew an ambulance in which, according to the storyline, the seriously injured novel lay. But instead of showing compassion with the maltreated baby face, the fans forced a face-turn strowman.

It seems absurd that Vince McMahon has so far steadfastly refused to push a man to the top of his company who exactly matches his prototype of a WWE Main Eventers: a muscular hulk that does credit to the name “Larger than life”. Besides the look and the sheer inhuman strength, Strowman also has the necessary acting talent, the mic skills and agility that a man of his stature should not possess.

At least on the fan side, Strowman Reigns has long since mercilessly taken the rank. Nevertheless, with all his successes, such as his recent triumph at the Greatest Royal Rumble, it seemed questionable whether his push would actually come to an end.

Strowman’s winning of the Money in the Bank case could signal a rethink among those responsible. Of course, it can’t be ruled out that Strowman will still manufacture a supergau and have it successfully cashed in against Lesnar or Reigns. Or he simply takes Lesnar’s place and dominates the title race for years.

But the chance to catapult Strowman to the top of the WWE, to gymnastic Reigns in this course Heel and to revive by far the best feud, which was granted to both men in their respective career so far, with exchanged roles, lies practically on the serving plate.

If WWE seizes this opportunity, after 16 months of stagnation, what those responsible could finally happen: the resurrection of the World Title race of their flagship show!