Brock Lesnar: Why Feud With Roman Reigns Has Failed

Quite possibly the most criticized feud in WWE history is Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. When both highly talented superstars get together, it is usually for a top prize and is positioned in the main event of a major show. But could their positioning on the card be the reason this feud has been rejected by the fans?

The first major encounter between The Big Dog and The Beast was in the build to WWE WrestleMania 31. Despite Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns only meeting for the first time and it being for the WWE Championship, the fans rejected the feud.

Lesnar, who was the obvious heel, was receiving babyface responses from the crowd. Meanwhile, presumptive babyface Reigns was getting booed. Despite the lack of excitement for Lesnar and Reigns’ big showdown at WrestleMania 31, their match would headline the event and go on last.

The WWE Universe was strongly behind Lesnar throughout due to their disappointment a few months earlier at WWE Royal Rumble 2015 (Daniel Bryan’s early elimination and anticlimactic Rumble match) and the fact that the WrestleMania match seemed like it would be a predictable Reigns’ triumph. As most fans remember, a big Money in the Bank cash in by Seth Rollins sent the WWE Universe happy home that night.

Still, this was not the vision that Vince McMahon had months earlier. WrestleMania 31 was going to be Reigns’ night to stand alone as the king of the WWE.

Roman Reigns would then go on to main event the next two WrestleMania events, and Brock Lesnar would capture the new top prize in WWE, the Universal Championship. Despite Lesnar and Reigns both being participants in the fatal four-way main event of WWE SummerSlam 2017, the plan was for another match involving Reigns and Lesnar at WrestleMania.

WrestleMania 34 was, if anything, an ego move by McMahon, who was attempting to duplicate what he did a year prior — right a wrong. Brock Lesnar and Goldberg had one of the most notorious fan reactions to a match at WrestleMania XX, but at WrestleMania 33 the match was so hard hitting and fast paced that it received a positive response from the Orlando crowd.

Fast forward a year, and McMahon wanted to prove the audience wrong again by getting a Lesnar and Reigns match over at WrestleMania 34. The only issue, was this match would be slotted in the main event. The Lesnar vs. Goldberg match the year before did not have that same positioning, going on with two matches still to come.

The booking of Lesnar vs. Reigns had issues, as McMahon found a way to make Reigns a little bit more appreciated, but at the same time make Lesnar much more hated. As we have learned from many generations of professional wrestling that it is much easier to get heat from a crowd than cheers.

The booking backfired, and the WrestleMania 34 main event will not be remembered for a hostile crowd, but for a crowd that just did not care. This was not a slight on Reigns or Lesnar, but it was bad booking for a match that ended up being the main event.

Despite a clean win at WrestleMania and another successful defense of his championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble (not the main event), Lesnar now finds himself ready to defend his Universal Championship one more time against Reigns. This time The Beast and The Big Dog’s one on one encounter will not be at a WrestleMania, but in fact a SummerSlam main event.

It is important to note that the storytelling of Reigns and Lesnar over the past three plus years has been less than stellar, but would it be this negatively received if the feud wasn’t thrust into the main event every time? Before shooting down this question, think about what expectations come with a main event match.

Main events should be the most anticipated match, preferably with the number one babyface in the company involved. As mentioned before, Goldberg and Lesnar survived at WrestleMania 33, but would they have in the main event? Highly unlikely.