How WWE should've booked the Universal Title programme this week (2 April 2018)
The go home episode of Monday Night Raw ended with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns teasing the level of violence that would be present during their impending war at WrestleMania.
And that is a positive aspect in this feud, as their previous build to their initial WrestleMania 31 encounter was disappointing. WWE got the build-up of this feud off on the right track from the onset, as Reigns intense promo on Lesnar’s lack of professionalism was a true turnaround in this rivalry.
With Reigns dishing out the verbal assault and Lesnar reacting with two vicious physical assaults, this rivalry had to conclude with a bang on the go home episode of Monday Night Raw. However, it didn’t have to be the violent type.
How WWE progressed the narrative this week
On the go-home episode of the flagship show, WWE chose to reuse material from the last few weeks of build up from this feud and cram it all in one segment.
As Paul Heyman did his usual routine of insulting, hyping and selling, while Reigns was dropping verbal attacks on anyone that stood in his way and Lesnar was at his finest by dishing out the pain. However, the entire involvement of the tag team division, Reigns beatdown on Lesnar and Lesnar standing tall over a prone Reigns felt all but common at this point.
Instead, WWE needed to do one last thing to round this programme off, and that was to let these two men tell their side of the story, sharpen their motivations and tell fans exactly why this is the most important match on the WrestleMania match card.
How WWE should've progressed the narrative this week
Reigns vs Lesnar is a match that needed the aid of a contract signing to add the finishing touches to their programme. As it would’ve been refreshing to see WWE step away from the violent nature of this feud and explore what is driving these two wrestlers to destroy each other at WrestleMania.
Whether it is their pride, fighting for a legion of fans to have a true champion or being the power-hungry heel who feels money is the most important thing, WWE could’ve had this segment reflect on something which would’ve benefitted Reigns going into WrestleMania, and that is the truth.
Reigns could’ve addressed his failures the first time around when he faced Lesnar, and that was he was just a rookie in the main event, he was not viewed as the top guy in the eyes of the crowd and he was not the man he is now.
Lesnar, on the other hand, could’ve just touched on his career as a wrestler and how this could be his last chance to define his legacy. A human side to an otherwise violent narrative, WWE should've given fans a final build to this programme that would’ve justified it main eventing WrestleMania.