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In something of a surprise that really shouldn’t have ever been considered that, Brock Lesnar beat Braun Strowman to win the Universal championship at WWE Crown Jewel. Not long after, Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that Lesnar has signed for at least two more appearances with WWE:
”He’s going to face AJ at Survivor Series, which is non-title, and then the plan is for Strowman. Whether that’s at Rumble or ‘Mania, I don’t know. I could see Strowman winning the Rumble and then facing Lesnar at ‘Mania.”
You could argue that it’s obvious Lesnar has signed for at least two more appearances, considering it was announced at Crown Jewel that he’ll wrestle AJ Styles at Survivor Series in a non-title match. He’s going to have to drop the belt at some point, so the second appearance is a given. But what makes this interesting now is both that Strowman appears to be getting the spot Roman Reigns had, and the timing of all this.
Lesnar has been flirting with fighting in the UFC again, and is serving out the remainder of a suspension that will come up in January. It’s been made clear by UFC President Dana White that he would love to put together a UFC heavyweight title fight pitting Lesnar against current champion Daniel Cormier. Of course, Cormier could very well lose that title to Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 tomorrow night in New York, where rumors persist — despite an outright denial from White — that Brock will be in the building. Having said that, Jon Jones, who is back to fight Alexander Gustafsson in December, also said today that he still really wants a fight against Lesnar.
If WWE wants Lesnar to stick around to drop the title to Strowman at WrestleMania 35, that would likely complicate matters with UFC, considering Cormier, if he beats Lewis, wants to retire by his birthday next year (March 20), presumably after a fight against Lesnar fight. It’s possible, then, that he could still be Universal champion while fighting for the UFC heavyweight title.
It may not be all that interesting to watch the storyline WWE creates for all this on-screen, but it will be most interesting to see how everything plays out off it.