8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Oct 16)

2. Learn A New Hold

Braun Strowman Roman Reigns
WWE.com

It was rather surprising to see the Universal Title main event pitting Roman Reigns against Braun Strowman end clean. Most would've had some sort of screwy run-in finish or double count out at the top of their betting slips for this one, but Roman ended up choking Braun out with a new submission hold.

The upshot of this is that Reigns has learned a new move before facing Jey Uso inside the cage at Hell In A Cell on 25 October. Basically, this was a preview of things to come. There's a good chance Roman will lock that hold on and force Uso to say "I Quit" at HIAC. Or, Jey will pass out and argue that he never actually said those words.

It works either way.

Being honest, it was strange to see Reigns win with anything other than the 'Superman Punch' or his spear. Michael Cole pointed out that Roman has barely ever (if at all) won by submission in his career. The 'Tribal Chief' continues to evolve.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.