WWE has many problems, both on-screen and off, but one of the most glaring is the issue with the Universal Championship. While it should be the top prize and the headline of most shows (you still have to give time for the women and Intercontinental Championship), the Universal Championship hasn’t even been seen in months, and that might continue for a few more.
Oh, did you forget about the Universal Championship and Brock Lesnar? I don’t blame you, seeing how little it’s been featured since WrestleMania. In fact, Lesnar hasn’t been on TV once since the Showcase of the Immortals. Heck, even Paul Heyman hasn’t even popped his head up at all. Seriously? You have a new champion for your top prize, and you can’t even get his advocate to come in and sing his praises for a few minutes?
The bigger issue is that this seems likely to continue for a while longer. According to the tweet above from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the RAW-exclusive Pay Per View Great Balls of Fire will see Brock Lesnar defend the Universal belt for the first time. Even ignoring the nonsense that is the “30-day title defense” clause that was used to strip Naomi of her belt right before Mania, going two PPVs without a belt defense is a little much. It’s over three months without a fight.
If we want to dive into the world of kayfabe, then not only should Lesnar be dealing with the 30-day clause, but also a number of owed rematches. Kevin Owens never got his rematch with Goldberg, Goldberg never got his rematch with Lesnar and you could even argue that Finn Balor is owed a rematch from having to drop the belt due to injury. I suppose if we want to debate things that aren’t going to happen anyway, the counter is that Owens is now on SmackDown and Goldberg doesn’t want his rematch. That still leaves Finn though!
However, if recent injury rumors are true, Brock’s title match could get pushed back even further. It certainly seemed like there was a build-up for Braun Strowman to face Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, especially since Strowman called out Lesnar recently. Strowman is rumored to have injured his elbow, with estimates saying he’ll be out anywhere from four to eight weeks. Great Balls of Fire will take place on July 9, meaning Strowman does have time to recover before the show, but wouldn’t be around to help build the match.
If Lesnar continues his schedule of nothing, there will be nobody around to build up excitement. Sure, there’s still Heyman, but one pudgy bald guy can only do so much to make you interested in a match between two giants.
Seriously, Lesnar has ripped a car door off of its hinges and destroyed just about every superstar on the WWE roster. Strowman has recently been performing his own feats of ridiculousness with the ring break, ambulance flip and throwing around everyone like a rag doll. A build-up for these two finally going head-to-head should be insane. If you can’t build to it right, it’s best to just hold off.
So what should happen now? If it were up to me, I’d take this time to build towards that Finn rematch. Finn can face Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules to wrap that story up quickly, and jump over to a story where he wants his rematch. This could help Finn get some babyface underdog fire by being Lesnar’s first match since Mania, and a loss to Lesnar wouldn’t hurt his popularity or standing. Once Great Balls of Fire is done, take the time to build to a Lesnar/Strowman match at SummerSlam in August.
So what do you think? Who will Lesnar face at Great Balls of Fire? Do you agree about the Universal Championship’s issues? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
