WWE Extreme Rules 2018: Preview and predictions

Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley

While not officially a number one contender’s match for the WWE Universal Championship, this first-time match between Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley seems to be just that.

The two were originally scheduled to be part of a multi-man match to determine who will face Brock Lesnar when he returns (whenever the hell that may be), but Vince McMahon is said to have changed his mind on that and we’ve got these two powerhouses ready to go at it. While some of the promos leading up to this match have been pretty bad, there’s been some good in there as well. Reigns throwing in that Lashley couldn’t get things done a decade ago was a nice touch. Lashley is better on the mic than he used to be but still can’t quite get anyone to believe in him. This is the type of high-profile match that we’ve been expecting since his return, and at the very least, we don’t have to sit through Lashley vs. Sami Zayn again.

How this match goes will be determined by the type of match it is. If these two go out there and try to actually wrestle one another, the crowd is going to lose it immediately. That’s why I liked the two needing to be separated on Monday Night RAW, as it leads me to believe that we’re going to get an all-out brawl, which is what this needs to be.

Prediction: The window for Roman Reigns taking the title off of Brock Lesnar is rapidly closing with Brock seemingly ready to start training for his return to UFC. There’s been no official announcement on whether or not he’ll be defending at SummerSlam, but this needs to all be done. If creative knows that going in, I see Reigns picking up the victory here to give more momentum heading into next month. If not, I could see a double-DQ or double-countout to protect both guys. But I’m going to try and play optimist that Lesnar will be around for SummerSlam, so I’ll take Reigns here.