As of last Friday onWWE’sSmackDownshow, the seven-year rivalry between Brock Lesnar and WWE’s Universal Champion Roman Reigns has seemingly hit a fever pitch. Less than a week after Brock regained the WWE Championship atElimination Chamber, it was announced that the “Champion vs Champion” match between the two titans at WrestleMania 38 is now a “Winner Take All, Championship Unification” match, combining both of WWE’s top championships into one singular title for the winner of the match.
Such a radical shift inWWE’s championship lore comes six years after the last time there was a singular title representing the very top of WWE. The WWE Championship had been the sole top prize in the company up until August 2016, whenthat year’s WWE draftlead to a brand split and the title ended up exclusive toWWESmackDown, necessitating the creation of the WWE Universal Championship as the top title to be won onWWE RAW,at the time (subsequent drafts would see both top titles switch brands every other year or so).
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The news of the “Winner Take All, Championship Unification” match was first announced on WWE’s website on the morning of February 25th, and later confirmed on-air that night by Paul Heyman during Lesnar and Reigns' “contract signing” segment onSmackDown. It is currently slated to take place on “Night Two” ofWrestleMania 38 on April 3rd, likely to close out the show and “WrestleMania Weekend” altogether as the main event. Whether the unification of both major championships means an end to the brand split, however, remains to be seen.
This “Winner Take All” match comes as the latest installment of the long-standing rivalry between Reigns and Lesnar, hearkening back to their first one-on-one encounter at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, where the ending between the two was inconclusiveafter Seth Rollins committedhis historical “heist of the century,” cashing in his “Money in the Bank” briefcase during the match to insert himself as a competitor and win the WWE Championship. Since then, the two powerhouses have faced off one-on-one a total of four times, with each men winning twice. This match between them at WrestleMania 38 is not only historically significant with the titles being unified, but also stands as the ultimate tiebreaker to determine who truly is the better man after their brutal, bloody seven-year war.
The other significant factor that has made this feud as tremendous as it’s been is the rare case of modern-day WWE doing proper, emotionally in-depth storytelling rather than having a feud for the sake of “creating a moment.” Heyman having mental breakdowns over which of his two most prolific clients to side with, Reigns coming a long way from struggling to be “acknowledged” by his peers andthe WWE faithful, and even Lesnar making more regular appearances and showing a more snarky, jovial side has made this a must-see storyline in the eyes of many WWE fans.
With that said, there are also fans who merely wish for the epic-length rivalry to be over with for good for one reason or another, chief among them being that it will hopefully open the door for those on the regular roster who feel they are ready for a big opportunity rather than have a part-timer come in and take the glory. While it’s true that this feud has dragged on for some time and feels like WWE’s only real focus going into WrestleMania, the “Winner Takes All” stipulation makes it seem that WWE is not only putting yet another stamp on history, but hopefully on this feud as well.
