From the WWE Rumor Mill: Meeting to determine future of the Universal Title to be held today
What’s the story?
Ever since Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 to win the Universal Championship, fans have been anticipating when The Beast Incarnate would be defending the title. Considering recent events and situations, WWE creative has decided to meet up today to decide just that, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The Background
Much like The Beast’s last WWE Championship run, putting the title on a superstar with a reduced schedule like Lesnar meant that any title defence he had was a major event. After grabbing the championship at WrestleMania – and with Goldberg stepping away from the company instead of getting a rematch – it looked as if The Monster/Mountain Among Men, Braun Strowman, was next in line to take on the champ.
Then, Strowman had to go and get himself hurt, throwing things into chaos.
The heart of the matter
Lesnar’s first title match since WrestleMania is scheduled to be at Great Balls of Fire in Dallas this July. The plan was to originally have Lesnar take on Strowman, but Strowman is currently on the shelf with an elbow injury.
While July is a long time away, and there’s a chance that Strowman will be perfectly fine by then, WWE doesn’t plan on taking any chances considering Lesnar’s limited schedule.
According to Meltzer, while Strowman could be medically cleared by the July 9th event, having him face Lesnar this early on might not be the best for his character. It’s possible that we may see Seth Rollins or Finn Balor in his spot in Dallas.
What’s next?
This seems less than a “will Strowman be healthy enough?” scenario and more of a “will Strowman be ready enough?” scenario. Either way, we still have a long way to go until May and, as the WWE goes, plans can always change at the last minute.
Author’s Take
WWE is clearly considering Braun a long-term investment, and rightfully so. He’s clearly the big man with the most potential in WWE since The Big Show, and he’s still young, too. His recent injury proves that he’s not indestructible and while Brock doesn’t have a reputation for injuring his opponents, his hard-hitting style may be more than Strowman is ready for right now.
At the very least, it builds anticipation for WWE’s July card – which it needs, considering what a stupid name it has.
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