Roman Reigns finally defeated Brock Lesnar on Sunday night at SummerSlam to earn the WWE Universal Championship, ending Lesnar’s 505-day reign of terror over Raw’s top title, and did so with the accidental assistance of Braun Strowman.
Strowman arrived at the start of the main event with the Money In The Bank briefcase he retained earlier in the night by squashing Kevin Owens to announce that he would be cashing in after the match, and then proceeded to stand menacingly at ringside holding the briefcase.
By standing ringside, Strowman was able to be a target for both Lesnar and Reigns. First he got hit by a Reigns suicide dive (that Lesnar sidestepped) and then Lesnar beat the hell out of the Monster Among Men, hitting him with an F5 and then beating him with the briefcase and a chair on the ramp. Lesnar disposed of the briefcase by launching it up the ramp and into the lighting behind the stage, breaking the LED board.
As our Brandon Stroud captured from inside the Barclays Center, the light board was indeed broken by the Beast Incarnate’s discus throw.
After spending a solid two minutes dismantling Strowman at ringside to ensure he couldn’t cash in, Lesnar returned to the ring, chair in hand, to go after Reigns. Roman, though, had wisely used this period of time to rest and prepare for Brock’s return, and hit him with a vicious spear before Lesnar could hit him with the chair and got the three count for the win and to pick up the WWE Universal Championship for the first time — without having to face a cash in from the incapacitated Braun.
