15 WWE SummerSlam 2018 Impulse Reactions
2. The Third Man
Braun Strowman's inclusion in the main event of SummerSlam was an ingenious way to deflect the torrent of grief that awaited Roman Reigns as he prepared to try and topple a seemingly insurmountable foe.
Almost as ingenious was his decision to abandon the typical tropes of Money In The Bank and tell his prospective opponents that he was about to absolutely crush them. It protected both combatants in principal, until his ringside placement actively fed into the direction on the night.
Absorbing a suicide dive from Roman Reigns, Strowman also fell victim to a Brock Lesnar assault that left him too incapacitated to follow through on his promise/threat. This in turn ensured that the soundtrack to Vince McMahon's unwelcome opus would somehow not be the vuvuzela-like hum he'd been hearing since he first started attempting to anoint Reigns the monochrome version of the day-glo merch-shifter John Cena.
He did it. He actually f*cking did it. Braun's time will come too, but he was a far more vital component lying face-down on the floor than he was arms aloft as SummerSlam faded out.