WWE Royal Rumble 2018: Brock Lesnar Can Lose, Still Main Event

There’s a case for having Brock Lesnar losing the WWE Universal title to Braun Stroman at the Royal Rumble. And it would be amazing for everyone.

Early after WrestleMania 33 last year, the wrestling world was made aware of WWE’s plans for WrestleMania 34. Indeed, the Observers, Insiders, Sheets and other purveyors of select, privileged information began reporting that WWE’s yearlong plan leading into 2018 could be summarized with Two Succinct Bullet Points:

– Brock Lesnar will hold the Universal Title into WrestleMania 34.
– Roman Reigns will defeat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania 34.

Of course, this plan was never made official by WWE, because that would be infinitely stupid for them to do so. Therefore, Brock holding the Universal Title all year to drop it to Roman at WM34 has always remained in the world of speculation.

But the Internet has accepted a self-developed narrative regarding Brock and Roman and the Universal Title based on speculative news. After all, even my elegant and deceptively clean peers at Daily DDT all seem to agree with it.

And no matter how reliable a source may be, Ray Roman-o Reigns vs. Meaty Meat Beast Boy Brock was, and still is, not a 100% certainty. The reasons for this can be summarized with Two Succinct Bullet Points:

– Dirt sheets sometimes get things wrong
– WWE can swerve its fans at any time

I would like to think that WWE could try to mess with us and generate some of the unpredictability we fans love to get without destroying its alleged WrestleMania main event plans. Therefore, it is in this light that I posit, gentle reader, the following booking hypothesis:

Braun Strowman will win the WWE Universal Title at Royal Rumble.

So let me put on my booking hat (it’s made of felt) and let me work you through how this is possible.

The Logic So Far

The basic booking logic behind the triple threat match at Royal Rumble is that Kane is in the match to take a pin. Since both Brock and Braun are protected in terms of overall booking, the most sensible outcome is for the Big Red Machine to lay down for Brock, maintaining Brock at the top of the mountain and keeping Braun from looking weak.

But what if it was reversed? What if Kane was in the match to take the pin from Braun? I sincerely think this could be done in a way that doesn’t counteract any of WWE’s main event plants for Lesnar and Reigns.

Let’s Book The Triple Threat at Royal Rumble

This is how Booker Warren would set up the triple threat match between Brock, Braun, and Kane at Royal Rumble to mix up the Road to WrestleMania a bit:

• All three huge masses of mankind enter the ring and give each other the staredown of a lifetime,
• To quote a famed linguistic erudite, this match is a slobberknocker. It’s not pretty nor a technical marvel and that’s fine because we’re not expecting anything else from these dudes.
• The match goes on with clobbering forearms and power moves. Perhaps some early finishers are hit on the outside. An announce table collapses. Michael Cole tosses the word “carnage” around.
• As we enter the final third, all three hosses are exhausted from pummelling each other for 15 minutes.
• Kane gets knocked out, big time. Probably through a combination of finishers, like a power slam through an announce table or a second-rope F5. Or maybe via a flurry of chairshots. Whatever it is, Kane is unconscious.
• Braun and Brock set their sights on each other and go at it. They fight outside the ringside area, up the ramp, maybe even onto the arena floor. They start throwing each other into the scenery. Your keywords here are “brutal,” “harsh,” and “physical.”
• It is during this sequence that Braun performs his obligatory impossible feat of strength on Lesnar. In this case, it’s a feat that renders the champ immobile. This is the important part: Whatever Strowman does, it doesn’t knock Brock out nor does it injure him. He just pins Lesnar under something or into something that ensures that Brock cannot escape out of, no matter how much he struggles. Maybe pressed under a forklift. Maybe padlocked into a road case. Whatever the case, there is an actual, physical barrier that keeps a fully conscious, fully aware Brock Lesnar from returning to the match.
• Braun returns to the ring to a slowly reviving Kane. They trade a few blows, but Kane is donezo. A powerslam later, Braun Strowman pins Kane in the middle of the ring, as a livid, writhing and incapacitated Brock Lesnar looks on, incapable of changing the outcome.

Aftermath

An outcome like this would have nothing but positive outcomes, with the foremost giving the Internet Wrestling Community a legitimate shocking surprise that most never saw coming. Wrestling is at its best when the unexpected happens so the buzz would be off the charts.

Not to mention that strapping a title around Braun’s kaiju-esque waist would be a deserved reward for a guy who has carried Raw through some of its best moments for the past twelve months and has upped his game exponentially. It’s a move WWE fans would rally behind.

Most importantly, it would inject some life into the Universal title picture. There’s an argument to be made that Brock holding the title for this long has made the top Raw title scene feel a little complacent.

So imagine a seething Brock Lesnar coming out on Raw the next night working an “I was never defeated” angle. Imagine how electric it would be, with an upset Paul Heyman cracking out an energized promo like only he can manage. You can hear it, can’t you? “My client, Brock Lesnar, was never defeated for this title. My client’s Universal championship was undisputed while Braun Strowman’s championship is most certainly disputed.” Just thinking about the tirade Heyman would go on is giving me chills.

All this would lead to a one-on-one re-match (with a stipulation) against Braun at Elimination Chamber. Brock would then regain the Universal title and WWE’s main event plans for WrestleMania 34 would remain untouched. Brock Lesnar could defend against Roman Reigns. We would have just been served a nice tall glass of Swerve Cola to keep us invested in the buildup to the biggest show in wrestling.

Next: What Were The 15 Greatest Royal Rumble Moments Ever?

Speaking of which, what about Roman Reigns’ Road To Wrestlemania in this scenario? How does he end up being in the main event at WM34 this year without winning the Royal Rumble? Well, that’s an article for another day, gentle reader.