Another main event, another must-see match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar happened tonight at SummerSlam 2022. WWE promises this will be the last match between the two. This is Brock Lesnar’s first Last Man Standing match, so he wanted to make an impressive showing. In fact, Lesnar showed up in the ring aboard his tractor. The hilarious Reigns points the tractor at the referee and asks him to intervene.
Lesnar stood on the shovel of his tractor, grabbed the mic and introduced himself, only to then attack Roman Reigns by jumping off the same shovel as they announced it. The match started off like this, with Lesnar’s unexpected attack on Reigns leading to a decided start of the match in Lesnar’s favour. Obviously, we didn’t expect a blitz win from Lesnar in this match, as the rules dictate that the competitors be nearly exhausted and unable to get up for at least 10 seconds.
Lesnar’s domain lasts several minutes and in order to give Reigns the first moment of calm, the “wise man” Paul Heyman has to intervene, who manages to distract Lesnar for a few moments with his speech. Reigns manages to slam Lesnar across a table, but not enough to leave him on the floor for 10 seconds. Shortly thereafter, Reigns repeated with another table but didn’t even get to 6 seconds. He then enters the ring with Reigns administering his finishing moves to Lesnar without counting much more than 5-6 seconds.
Lesnar tries the steel steps and actually gets almost 10, almost, because Roman Reigns gets up at the very end. So Lesnar has the brilliant idea: let’s use the tractor. He puts Reigns on the shovel and then throws him in the ring. It doesn’t actually seem like a very painful move to me, and the count reflects that sentiment, with only a 5 count for Reigns. It’s time for Suplex City for Reigns, a city he now knows like the back of his hand, having visited countless times over the past few years.
The match continues with submissions including various guillotines. Reigns in particular seems to choke under the submission of Lesnar, who at one point leaves Reigns in the ring after choking him for ten seconds, confident of victory. Instead, the tribal chief surprises everyone and stands up for the few seconds it takes to avoid defeat. Brock Lesnar then decides to get back on the tractor. He starts banging on the ring again and picks it up amid the general hilarity. We have to acknowledge WWE that we’ve certainly never seen anything like this before.
Not even the train with the tractor guarantees Lesnar victory, the others of the Bloodline come to help Reigns and especially the Uso brothers. While the ring is still uprooted, the match moves to the ring. Heyman tries to convince Lesnar not to beat him up, gives him the belts, tells him he’s done so much for him, but it’s not enough. Lesnar is reckless and inflicts an F5 on the commentary table. However, this sacrifice helps Reigns, who inflicts a spear on Lesnar.
Theory’s song then plays and seems convinced to cash in on the belt. Lesnar and Roman are on the ground but stand up. Reigns is hit by the briefcase, but Lesnar reacts and avoids the worst. To spoil Theory’s party before it starts, the Uso brothers also hit Brock Lesnar. Keeping him down for 10 seconds isn’t enough because the beast stands up, so Reigns hits him again with a spear. But Lesnar gets up again. Reigns is desperate, he doesn’t know how to keep him grounded. He takes Theory’s briefcase and begins to hit Lesnar with unprecedented rage, just like Lesnar did to Theory on SmackDown.
But the referee doesn’t count either, so Lesnar calms down, at 9 he’s back on his feet. Reigns is trying out the WWE Champion belt now. The referee continues the count, which now looks like an infinite loop. At 7 a.m. Lesnar is still on the ground, but he gets up at 9 a.m. Reigns tries the universal title at this point, then puts everything on it, boxes, beams, the commentary table, the steps, even chairs, and then stands on this mountain of stuff. And that’s the only way Reigns finally gets the 10 count that allows him to remain champion.
