WWE, once again, faced plenty of criticism for the Backlash event which took place on Sunday night, with several moments leaving the fans extremely annoyed.
The finish of AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s WWE Championship match didn’t go down too well. In a no disqualification match where pretty much anything goes, a double low blow leaving both men unable to meet the referee’s 10 count isn’t exactly how the fans pictured the third match between The Phenomenal One and The King of Strong Style would go down.
BACKLASH
Then, it was the fact that Styles vs. Nakamura - as questionable as the finish was - didn’t serve as the main event. Instead, the singles match between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe went on last, and it’s not something fans have been happy with.
They voiced their frustrations online, while footage has also emerged showing large volumes of fans leaving the arena during the main event, and it probably didn’t help that The Big Dog ended up defeating SmackDown LIVE’s Samoa Joe either.
Based on the finish of Reigns’ match against Brock Lesnar at the Greatest Royal Rumble, it’s being assumed that Reigns could be the one that challenges Lesnar next, much to the fans’ annoyance.
However, since the event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it’s also been speculated that Braun Strowman could be given the green light instead to challenge The Beast. This falls in line with a tweet Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer sent out last week, claiming that the two options WWE has for a potential title match at Money in the Bank are Reigns and Strowman.
Following Backlash, though, WWE has already dropped their biggest hint yet that Reigns’ next big match in WWE is going to be another crack at Lesnar for the Universal Championship.
REMATCH?
In a dedicated article on WWE.com, the company has stated that with a win over Joe - which had nothing to do with championship titles - may have placed Reigns in a position to battle Lesnar again.
They posted: “Roman Reigns essentially neutralised his controversial steel cage match loss to Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at the Greatest Royal Rumble event by overcoming the all-out onslaught of Samoa Joe at WWE Backlash.
“Will The Big Dog’s victory finally put him in a position to battle The Beast for the Universal Championship?
"Or will other superstars such as Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman or Bobby Lashley get a title opportunity after impressive performances at WWE Backlash?”
Considering Rollins is still the Intercontinental Champion - and a fighting one - it’s unlikely that he’ll be the one jumping into a feud with Lesnar. Both Strowman and Lashley have also been linked with title matches against Lesnar too, however, with reports suggesting they’ll continue to team up before a heel turn takes place, that could rule them out too.
Reigns is the only one no longer in a feud, and when you combine that with the controversial finish in the Middle East then it’s obvious that he’s next in line, again, for an opportunity against Lesnar.
What do you make of WWE potentially booking Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar again? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.