Eight years later, it still hits differently. WWE re-uploaded the full match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns from WrestleMania 34, and for fans who lived through it — or missed it entirely — the footage is a brutal reminder of one of the most controversial main events in WrestleMania history.
On April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defended his title against Roman Reigns in what became one of the most talked-about bouts of that era. What unfolded over the next 15-plus minutes was less of a traditional wrestling match and more of a calculated beatdown that left the entire arena — and the WWE universe — in stunned silence.
Reigns Earned His Shot the Hard Way
Reigns earned his title shot by defeating John Cena, Braun Strowman, Elias, Seth Rollins, the Miz, and Finn Balor in the first-ever Seven-Man Elimination Chamber Match. It was a grueling path to the main event, and Reigns arrived in New Orleans as the heavy favorite — at least on paper.
The backstory added real weight to the matchup. Reigns had grown increasingly vocal about Lesnar’s part-time status, calling him out for holding the Universal Championship while rarely appearing on Monday Night Raw. The crowd, however, was deeply divided — and that tension would define everything that followed inside the ring.
A Beatdown Nobody Was Prepared For
What Lesnar delivered inside that ring was nothing short of a demolition. The match featured moments that made even the most hardened wrestling fans wince:
- Six German suplexes, including one that sent Reigns crashing through the German announce table
- Five F-5s, each met with a kickout that kept the entire arena holding its breath
- A chilling moment where Lesnar removed his gloves and opened Reigns up with elbows to the forehead, drawing real blood
- Five belly-to-belly suplexes that added to the relentless physical punishment
Reigns absorbed every single bit of it — and kicked out every time Lesnar went for the cover. The heart and toughness Reigns showed throughout the match was genuinely remarkable. The crowd, though, was simply not buying him as the hero of the story.
The Reigns Ending Nobody Predicted
In the end, as Reigns attempted another Spear, Lesnar countered into a sixth F-5 to retain the Universal Championship, becoming the fifth heel to win in a WrestleMania main event. The result sent shockwaves through the arena and across social media almost instantly.
Much like their first encounter at WrestleMania 31, the shock was palpable. Nobody saw the finish coming, and nobody was ready for Reigns to leave New Orleans empty-handed once again. Paul Heyman’s celebration at ringside said everything words could not.
Why This Match Still Matters Today
Looking back, the WrestleMania 34 main event represents a fascinating and important turning point in WWE storytelling. The crowd’s flat reaction exposed just how difficult it had become to position Reigns as the company’s top babyface at that stage of his career.
The irony is what came next:
- Reigns would reinvent himself as one of WWE‘s greatest heels — the Tribal Chief
- His eventual title wins drew the exact emotional investment this match desperately lacked
- The loss at WrestleMania 34 now reads as a necessary and defining chapter in one of WWE’s best long-term stories
- Lesnar’s dominant performance here only amplified how shocking Reigns’ later character turn truly was
Had this type of brutal, sympathetic defeat happened earlier in Reigns’ career, it might have shifted the crowd’s perception entirely. Instead, it arrived at an awkward crossroads — but history has been far kinder to this match than the live reaction ever suggested.
Source: WWE
