7 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE Extreme Rules 2018

by Scott Carlson

1. Lashley Out-Spears Reigns

Bobby Lashley
WWE.com

Maybe, just maybe, WWE is finally listening to its fans. Or maybe they’ve gotten cold feet again. Or maybe the dream is just delayed a bit longer.

Whatever the case, Roman Reigns fell short in another big match Sunday night, losing cleanly to Bobby Lashley when he went for a spear but Lashley beat him to the punch. The win was easily the biggest since the Dominator returned to WWE, and it served as yet another setback for Reigns, who was seemingly destined for a coronation at WrestleMania 34 and has since flailed around in mini-feuds that have led nowhere.

Roman’s rivalry with Lashley has been intriguing because of Bobby’s newness and aura of still being a possible top guy. His win Sunday solidified that belief, and it put Roman’s quest to finally win the big one on the back burner once again. Lashley really needed this win, or else he would have fallen back to just being a guy, and in this case, a guy without a recent repertoire to fall back on.

Of course, it’s very possible (as mentioned before) that this could be a simple delay, and Reigns will get his 83rd coronation attempt at SummerSlam, and the wheels will be set into motion on Raw Monday night. But for now, this was the right call.

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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 fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.