5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)

3. Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar Tread Familiar Ground

You have seen matches like this latest Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar clash before.

WrestleMania 38 closed on another Paul Heyman special. These bouts rely on the audience being gripped by wild, sudden momentum swings prompted by the biggest of big bombs being dropped back and forth. Signature move shootouts performed by captivating, larger-than-life beasts and their incredible auras, focusing mostly on fireworks over story.

That isn't to say Lesnar vs. Reigns was completely lacking in story. Paul E. sliding the WWE Championship to Roman following a referee bump was a nice call-back to Crown Jewel 2021, when Reigns felled the Beast this exact way, though Brock was better in Dallas than he was in Saudi Arabia. He thought through the shenanigans, shattering Roman's fragile ego and forcing a late-match monologue to hide his insecurities, convincing himself that he's still the Head of the Table, let alone you.

An adrenaline-pumping bout reached a somewhat abrupt finish as Roman reversed an F5, put Brock into the ropes, and hit the match-ending spear. Countless other spears, F5s, Superman punches, and suplexes were thrown prior to this, culminating in Roman being crowned WWE's Undisputed Universal Champion.

While far from this match format's most exhilarating example, the main event still inspired enough awe to finish on the positive side of the ledger. It should be a long time before these two cross paths in the ring again, though.