4 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (July 16)

4. Reigns Advances For Another Shot

roman reigns finn balor
WWE.com

For those who were lamenting the soul-crushing defeat that Roman Reigns suffered Sunday night, don’t worry. He rebounded in fine fashion Monday night.

Reigns toppled Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor to advance in the #1 contender’s quest. Nevermind that fans were rabidly behind Balor, or that McIntyre was impressive in his physicality and even his aerial skills, or that Reigns was booed every time he was on offense.

The announcers harp on Reigns being the uncrowned Universal Champion because of what happened at Greatest Royal Rumble, but they overlook his clean defeat at WrestleMania 34, which was pretty damn decisive. But hey, that wouldn’t fit the narrative.

But now, Roman will get another opportunity to possibly challenge for the Universal Championship. If he succeeds in advancing to SummerSlam, he’ll have faced Brock Lesnar in four of the Beast’s last six title defenses.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.