Every Roman Reigns WWE Universal Title Defence Ranked In Order Of Greatness
9. Vs Brock Lesnar (SummerSlam 2022)
Groans the world over could be heard when, short of a credible foe and needing to save Drew McIntyre for Clash At The Castle the following month, WWE went to the Lesnar/Reigns well yet again in the summer of 2022.
The build - like everything in the company - was completely overshadowed by the fact that Vince McMahon had just resigned in disgrace and Triple H had taken over creative duties. But perhaps that was for the best. There was simply no way to sell a Last Man Standing match between the tired rivals as exciting. Especially because the company couldn't reveal how they actually intended to achieve the impossible.
In maybe the best Last Man Standing match ever, and at very least the best one since John Cena felled Umaga in 2007, everybody's expectations were subverted when Brock Lesnar drover a tractor to the ring and uprooted it from the floor.
It was incredible. It still is. The picture above is incredible - Reigns is tumbling backwards because he is not stronger than mechanical farming equipment! An only-in-WWE spectacle plays out from there, with a g*ddamn ring lifted from the floor throughout. You can't not look, and marvel, and love.
Very literally knocking 'The Tribal Chief' off his perch momentarily, the long-beaten Brock is instantly a threat all over again, and Roman is a bigger deal for surviving the latest preposterous attempt at his throne.