Roman Reigns Defeats Brock Lesnar; Unifies Universal, WWE Titles at WrestleMania 38

In a bout billed as the biggest WrestleMania match of all time, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar on Sunday in the main event of WrestleMania 38 to unify the Universal and WWE Championships.

Sunday marked a rematch between Reigns and Lesnar following their controversial bout at Crown Jewel in October.

Lesnar made his long-awaited return to WWE after more than a year away at SummerSlam in August. He immediately set his sights on Reigns and the Universal title, and it wasn't long before he was granted a championship match.

Reigns vs. Lesnar is always a big deal, but there was added intrigue entering Crown Jewel because of the status of Paul Heyman, who had taken the role of Reigns' special counsel after previously being Lesnar's advocate.

There were questions about whose side Heyman was on leading up to Crown Jewel, and nothing that happened at the event quelled those inquiries, as Heyman played a central role in the finish of the match.

Heyman threw the Universal title belt into the ring while the referee was incapacitated, but he threw it equidistant in between Reigns and Lesnar. Reigns ultimately won by using the belt and getting help from The Usos, and Heyman looked somewhat distraught afterward.

A rematch was supposed to occur at Day 1 in January, however, Reigns had to pull out of the matchup after testing positive for COVID-19. As a result Lesnar was added into a Fatal 5-Way match for the WWE Championship, and he won the title.

With Reigns firing Heyman, he became an advocate for Lesnar once again, and was in Lesnar's corner for a title defense against Bobby Lashley at Royal Rumble.

Reigns interfered in the match and was handed the WWE Championship by Heyman, who effectively turned on Lesnar. Reigns hit The Beast with the belt, and Lashley pinned him to become the new champion.

Lesnar won the men's Royal Rumble match later in the night, and he subsequently announced that he would challenge Reigns for the Universal title, but also made it clear that he wanted it to be a title vs. title match.

Brock was added to the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship and went on to win, which ensured that both the WWE and Universal Championships would be on the line in the main event of WrestleMania.

Sunday marked the third time Reigns and Lesnar headlined WrestleMania against each other, and Reigns came out on the losing end each of the previous two times.

At WrestleMania 38, Reigns conquered those demons by beating Lesnar for the WWE Championship and extended his record reign of nearly 600 days as Universal champion.

Now, Reigns is WWE's undisputed champion, and it is possible his win over Lesnar signaled the official ending of the brand split.

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