Roman Reigns finally beat Brock Lesnar to win the Universal title in the main event of SummerSlam. Immediately after, WWE caught up with him for his first promo as champion:
EXCLUSIVE: There was no alternative for #RomanReigns. He HAD to win the #UniversalTitle at #SummerSlam! @WWERomanReigns pic.twitter.com/b78HT0H7PK
— WWE (@WWE) August 20, 2018
“I came to win, man. I said it, uh, it feels like a few weeks ago down in Miami. I have to win. Like, if I didn’t win tonight I’d have to find a new trade, I’d have to get a new job because everything I said would have been false. I’ve always said I’m a man of my word and in life stuff happens. It’s not always going to be peaches n cream. You’re going to run into roadblocks, you’re going to run into walls, and sometimes you’ve just gotta put your head down, know what you believe in, and run right through them. Tonight that wall was Brock Lesnar and I ran through him.
”It got a little crazy out there having the Monster Amongst Men Braun Strowman making a statement like he did but at the end of the day Brock took his eye off the ball and I hit the home run. Yessir.
”I’ve always felt like I’ve gotta just move forward and connect that first punch. That’s always been my mentality, hit hard and hit often. To be completely honest, once Braun came out there it did, it added a whole new element into the game. Like I said, Brock just had that one window that was open and that’s when I made my move. From there, everything happened so fast. It’s crazy because I feel like, honestly, this year has gone so fast and it felt like that match. We’re at SummerSlam here in Brooklyn at the Barclays, sold out house... sometimes a minute can feel like an hour out there but it honestly just felt like I was on a treadmill just sprinting. But at the end of the day, no matter the route you take there, I was trying to get to the same destination, and that’s being Universal champion.
”Right now, you know what I mean, I think I’m going to take a page out of The B-Team’s playbook and I’m going to celebrate. I never thought I’d say that in a thousand years but sometimes it’s good to leave in the moment and just enjoy what you have right now. I definitely want to talk to my wife and the main thing is just to be able to get through Monday, to be able to get through tomorrow, Monday Night Raw. We’re back here in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s going to be crazy as ever. So, mainly, I want to be what I said I was going to be: a fighting champion. So who knows? Maybe we’ll put this thing up for grabs tomorrow. If it happens to be Braun Strowman coming out there, I’ll be ready for any test that pops up on me.”
The future is here, and it starts on Monday Night Raw this week.