The Most Outlandish Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar WrestleMania 38 Outcomes

The first time Roman Reigns fought Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31, it ended with a surprise Money in the Bank cash-in and Seth Rollins leaving with the WWE Championship.

Three years later, at WrestleMania 34, everything seemed set up to finally tell the story of Reigns pinning Lesnar to put that demon behind him and be declared the absolute top dog in the company, only for WWE to pull the rug out, book Lesnar to go over, and drag that out even more.

The third time is the charm for there to be a definitive, proper ending to this story at WrestleMania 38. Both belts are on the line, and there is a sense of finality to this feud.

So how can WWE potentially mess that up and do something zany just for the sake of keeping the audience on its toes?

Let's look at some of the most ludicrous ways the biggest match of all time could potentially end.

Paul Heyman Turns on Roman Reigns for the Sake of Another Swerve

Quality vs. quantity is often brought up, but another way to mask the low value of your product is to distract.

Sports entertainment isn't immune to how other forms of entertainment (such as movies and television) sometimes compensate for a bad show with the element of surprise.

It happens often in horror films. The acting is awful, the dialogue is cheesy and the story is garbage, but if the kills are gory enough, that's what people are there for. The more scandalous the reality show, the less the viewers are to complain that it isn't riveting television.

In WWE, this would translate to "a swerve for the sake of a swerve," for a lack of better definition.

We've already seen this happen in this feud. Paul Heyman's allegiance to The Tribal Chief was called into question and he was fired, only to come back around a few weeks later, hand Reigns the belt and repledge himself fully.

How disappointing would it be, then, if a few more weeks pass by and all of this just amounts to Heyman again turning on his ally?

It wouldn't be for the sake of a good story, as that is just going in circles. It doesn't provide any narrative closure to complete anyone's arc. All it does is shock the audience to make sure that's the major talking point.

If you can't entertain, surprise. But your surprise has to be good, or the shelf life is extremely short.

WWE already had a swerve with Seth Rollins cashing in Money in the Bank on their first WrestleMania match and with Lesnar beating Reigns the second time. If this has another "gotcha" moment for the third time, it proves WWE never should have wasted three WrestleManias on these two if nobody could commit to a proper finish.

A Disqualification or Count-Out Leads to a Weak Victory

Outside of rare instances, WrestleMania should be where feuds end and there is a definitive victory. Ideally, WWE should send the fans home happy with the result the majority wants, but even if there is disappointment in a heel winning or an underdog coming up short, it should at least feel like months of setup was worth it.

One of the most flattening things that can ever happen at any special event—magnified immensely for WrestleMania—is for a disqualification or a count-out to finish a match.

Those are overdone and bland as it is on Raw and SmackDown. All Elite Wrestling can get away with not doing it anywhere near as much, so WWE has no excuses. That goes more for the pay-per-views, as it can't even be argued that those don't matter.

Lesnar and Reigns have fought so many times that a weak victory like this would cause the stadium to erupt in boos.

While someone could technically say they won, it's a hollow sentiment that means nothing in the eyes of the fans who paid good money to see some sort of resolution.

It Ends in a Draw of Some Sort

Similar to the disqualification or count-out would be if there is no winner at all. This could happen with a double disqualification, both of them being counted out, or the referee stopping the match and calling it a no-contest.

Those outcomes only work if the feud has legs to go on longer and it is done in a way that is captivating so fans want to see more.

After eight years of these two against each other, the well is bone dry. There's nothing left to do. If it doesn't end at WrestleMania, the third time, is it ever going to have a proper ending?

This isn't something that can carry over into WrestleMania Backlash with WWE advertising that now, after all those months, you'll finally see the real conclusion to this rivalry, if you just wait a few more weeks and pay for one more pay-per-view.

WWE can't expect fans to accept milking them for a few more bucks and dragging this out even longer, even if the creative team can't think of anything else to do with the titles for that event.

A Messy Pinfall Casts Doubt on the Conclusion

As stated, the key here is that there needs to be a definitive winner. Someone should either tap out, pass out, or take a three-count. No ifs, ands or buts.

But what if WWE can't help itself? What if WWE is still so paranoid that this might be something to revisit in the future that a scenario is laid out where doubt needs to be cast on the finish just in case.

Then, we might see something where Lesnar gets his shoulder up but the referee counts to three anyway, or his foot is on the ropes and the referee doesn't see it.

Undoubtedly, the referee will be taken out during this match. This is a trope WWE can't help itself from doing. After several finishers, Reigns will be down for the count and Lesnar will have a clear pinfall on him, with no one in the ring to count it.

It happened before, and it'll take place here, with The Usos and/or Heyman likely stepping in during the distraction.

But that's fine if it leads somewhere. If all that spectacle still ends with Lesnar being able to say not only did he have the match won, but also that the official ending wasn't even legitimate, it reeks of desperation that WWE didn't want either man to look weak.

The biggest match of all time, or so it's called, cannot end ambiguously. It does nothing for the winner.

It needs something definitive, like what already happened at SummerSlam 2018.

The Rock Interferes

Credit: WWE.com

Outlandish doesn't always necessarily mean bad; just peculiar or bizarre. Those previous examples would be disappointing and frustrating ways to avoid a traditional pinfall or submission, but here's one way to get people talking on a positive note.

Reigns has Heyman and The Usos as allies who could interfere on his behalf. Lesnar has nobody.

But what if all this talk about being the greatest world champion and WWE Superstar of all time and the Head of the Table who provides for the Anoa'i Family has caused The Great One to return?

Reigns vs. The Rock is the endgame. That's the match that is the most important and overshadows even this Lesnar feud by a country mile. It's been a dream match for WrestleMania for nearly a decade and arguably needs to happen next year in Hollywood.

If Dwayne Johnson interfered on Lesnar's behalf to screw over Reigns and cost him the victory to set that up for next year, it would be the absolute biggest story of the weekend that WWE would harp on for 12 months straight.

It's not happening, but that's what makes it an unconventional outcome that would get people talking.

                

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.