Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: Preview and Prediction for WWE SummerSlam Match

The epic rivalry between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar over the Universal Championship will come to a head Sunday night inside Brooklyn's Barclay Center when The Big Dog and Beast Incarnate wage war in the main event of WWE SummerSlam 2018.

The match, in the making since Reigns failed to defeat Lesnar on two separate occasions earlier in the year, is sure to be the headline bout of a stacked card but wildcards, such as match quality and fan reaction, have some anticipating a cluster of epic proportions.

But should they?

Backstory

For all the complaints about Reigns' latest championship opportunity, his is a character arc that is easily understandable. The Big Dog, the anointed top star of WWE's flagship brand, has not been able to exorcise the demon known as Brock Lesnar and finally assume the position as king of the mountain.

He has come close but always manages not to defeat his beastly rival. There was the Seth Rollins cash in at WrestleMania 31 that cost him a shot at beating Lesnar. Three years later, he was obliterated on wrestling's grandest stage, left lying in a heap in New Orleans as Lesnar conquered another iconic star in The Big Easy.

In Saudi Arabia, a technicality cost him gold.

There will be no excuses Sunday. Even a double-cross by a scheming Paul Heyman and pepper spray to the eyes will not be able to explain away another defeat.

Every promo segment, every brawl and every high-profile defeat has built to Reigns winning the gold Sunday night. The repercussions of another loss could be crippling to the second-generation star's character.

WWE, Reigns' Dire Predicament

There is no going back for Reigns if he loses Sunday. 

A loss represents such a lack of faith in him by management, despite all signs to the contrary, that it will be impossible for fans to take him and his quest to win gold seriously.

If he does not beat Lesnar in Brooklyn, he might as well take time off and rehabilitate his character because his entire being has been concentrated on winning that title. If it does not happen, short of a full reboot that includes a heel turn, there is literally nothing Reigns can do to remain in the title picture without annoying a large portion of fans who already feel like he has overstayed his welcome.

A Reigns victory, though, will taint the card with an ending the fans are not at all enthusiastic about.

Yes, the story dictates this is the conclusion of a rivalry with the potential to be epic but, instead, has been immensely disappointing. Yes, Reigns has to win to justify the entire thing. But in doing so, WWE pays off a journey the fans were not invested in, do not care about and may sabotage come Sunday night.

That is, unless the WWE Creative team gets, well, creative.

Money in the Bank

Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens will do battle Sunday night in a match that could, and likely will, have major implications on the Universal Championship picture in the immediate aftermath of the SummerSlam pay-per-view.

If Owens wins, he scures the guaranteed championship opportunity. If Strowman wins, he has a clear path to cashing in and winning his first Universal Championship. The question becomes whether WWE Creative books the anticipated cash-in at SummerSlam or holds off until sometime later in the fall or even the spring.

With the Reigns victory almost certain to irk off the die-hard fans in Brooklyn, what better way to initiate a rivalry that will carry over into the fall than to book the Money in the Bank cash-in and rob Reigns of his moment in the sun?

We have seen this before.

Both Seth Rollins and Sheamus have stolen momentous title opportunities from Reigns through well-timed uses of their Money in the Bank contracts. What better way to put Owens over as a manipulative villain or Strowman over as an unapologetic monster than by having them steal the thunder from Reigns on one of wrestling's biggest stages?

Like SummerSlam in 2011 and 2013, the moment will give the event a feeling of significance, even if the rest of the show fails to live up to expectations.

More importantly, it would prevent SummerSlam from ending on a sour note, not unlike WrestleMania 32, which is tainted by a hostile crowd weakening the moment of Reigns' last world title triumph.

Prediction

We all expected Reigns to roll into WrestleMania this past April and conquer The Beast to win the Universal Championship and were surprised, some pleasantly, that it did not happen.

Sunday night, there is no alternative.

Reigns will defeat Lesnar Sunday night, hoist the Universal Championship overhead to the dismay and jeers of the Brooklyn crowd and somewhere backstage, McMahon will huff and puff about them hijacking what should be a magical moment for his top star.