SummerSlam saw Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns collide for what might have been the last time. While they’ve only worked a small handful of matches together, the fact that this particular pairing has been put together in such high profile positions as WrestleMania main events and a historic stadium show in Saudi Arabia has made it feel like an exhaustive rivalry.

The degree to which hardcore fans dismiss Lesnar vs. Reigns stems, in part, from mixed reactions to both of the performers. Lesnar may be the most credible star WWE has today (and possibly has had ever). He has also worked as a part time champion, though, wrestling on an increasingly part time schedule and under the cloud of persistent rumors that he plans to leave and doesn’t consider WWE, much less its fans, his top priority. Meanwhile, Reigns is WWE’s chosen one—a guy who has clearly been positioned to take over the spot previously occupied by men like John Cena, Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan as the face of the company. The fact that he isn’t the in ring worker or talker that his predecessors or a number of his contemporaries are has led to frustrations from the fans, just as his continuing to appear in world title pictures, main events, and particularly challenging Lesnar has created fatigue among a segment of the audience.

For all of these limitations, Lesnar vs. Reigns remains a big time matchup, which understandably headlined SummerSlam. Despite the ostensibly straight ahead, smash mouth style , there were hidden subtleties to the match that were easy enough for the casual observer to overlook. This article notes twenty items you might have missed from the match.

20 Paul Heyman’s Reason For Saying "Defending" Six Times

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It has become routine for Paul Heyman to interrupt WWE ring announcers and insist on introducing Brock Lesnar personally before matches. The SummerSlam intro was a bit unusual, though, for Heyman not only introducing The Beast Incarnate as “the reigning, defending Universal Champion,” but repeating the word defending six times.

On a first listen, one might think that he was just getting excited and trying to pump up the crowd by repeating the word.

The repetition was actually more precise and purposeful than that, however, as Lesnar had up to that point actually defended the title precisely six times.

The first defense was against Samoa Joe, then there was the preceding SummerSlam’s Fatal Fourway, followed by defending against Braun Srowman, then Strowman and Kane at the Royal Rumble, and finally the back to back defenses against Roman Reigns this spring.

19 Full Circle With The Anoa’i Family

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Sixteen years prior to this weekend’s SummerSlam event, Brock Lesnar won his very first world title in WWE in his very first SummerSlam appearance, defeating The Rock. Things may well have come full circle, as Lesnar was a youngster, beating that generation’s top star from the Anoa’i family, who was working a part time schedule. Here was Lesnar, all these years later, working a part time schedule himself, passing the torch to Rock’s younger cousin Roman Reigns.

These title changes feel all the more symmetrical considering that while Lesnar beat Rock for his first title, it’s widely rumored he’s done with WWE, at least for now, and so may well have lost his last world title to Reigns.

18 Braun Strowman’s Attempted Cash-In Is Unique

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Before the bell could ring to officially start Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman interrupted the proceedings to storm the ring and cut a short promo promising to cash-in his Money in the Bank contract against whomever won the Universal Championship match.

It has become routine over the last 13 years for briefcase holders to surprise beaten down champions after hard fought matches. We’ve also seen faces like Rob Van Dam and John Cena use their opportunities to schedule world title matches at specific shows. Given the time of his arrival, Impact Wrestling fans may have thought Strowman was planning to make like Hernandez with his Feast or Fired briefcase and add himself at the start of a world title match. Strowman’s choice was genuinely unique, though, to declare his intentions to cash-in after a big match, but not directly intercede in the match itself.

17 Brock Changes The Tempo

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The psychology of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar was highly logical. In addition to each man trying to beat the other for the Universal Championship, the specter of Braun Strowman cashing in added a layer to the proceedings.

It made total sense that Reigns took to the offense so quickly in hopes of putting Lesnar away and remaining fresh for a second match.

Moreover, when Lesnar took control, it made sense that he didn’t go for quick covers, but rather focused on holds and delivering blunt force trauma to stall the action. After enduring Superman punches and spears, he was essentially catching his breath and physically recovering before he might have to defend his title a second time.

16 A Call Back To The Greatest Royal Rumble

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When Brock Lesnar retained his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia, it happened in controversial fashion. Roman Reigns delivered a spear into Lesnar that sent them both crashing through a cage wall, at which point Lesnar was declared to have hit the floor first, and thus won the match.

The SummerSlam match made a clear call back to that finish as Reigns went to spear Lesnar at the edge of the ring, Lesnar dodged, and Reigns went flying between the ropes before colliding with Braun Strowman. Not so dissimilarly, this looked as though it could have marked a turning point that would cost Reigns, though, of course, things worked out for him in the end this time.

15 Reigns Joins A Prestigious Club With Kurt Angle And The Undertaker

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Brock Lesnar is one of the best established stars in WWE history, but one of the most impressive pieces of his resume comes his list of performances—and particularly victories—at SummerSlam specifically.

The list of guys The Beast Incarnate has defeated at SummerSlam reads like a who’s who. The roster includes no lesser stars than The Rock, Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, and CM Punk, not to mention getting the best of Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and Samoa Joe in last year’s Fatal Fourway. Indeed, in beating Lesnar, Reigns joins only Kurt Angle and The Undertaker on the list of guys to ever beat Lesnar at this particular show.

14 Psychology Introduced On Raw

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On the episode of Monday Night Raw directly before SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns got into a violent confrontation. First, Paul Heyman blinded The Big Dog. Then Lesnar came to the ring and choked him out with a guillotine.

Lesnar has been synonymous with three moves, particularly over the last four years—his signature F5, a bunch of suplexes, and the Kimura armbar.

The guillotine fit nicely into his repertoire as a legit hold used in MMA. More than that, though, his use of the choke on Raw introduced it as a primary weapon which would come back, catching Reigns in it to cut off his initial flurry of Superman punches and spears.

13 Shades Of WrestleMania XX

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At WrestleMania XX, Brock Lesnar partook in one of the most infamous matches in WWE history. What originally looked to be a big man dream match with Goldberg disintegrated when both men made clear their intentions to leave WWE after the match, and word got out to the smart crowd of New York fans at Madison Square Garden.

While Lesnar’s part time schedule and largely uninspired performances this title reign haven’t exactly endeared him to hardcore fans, the likelihood of him leaving WWE for UFC cast an extra shadow over him going into this SummerSlam. Roman Reigns has already been rejected by fans for the perception of being WWE’s chosen one. Thus, not unlike what had happened 14 years earlier, the New York crowd turned on both men in this high profile match, most notably including a clearly “you both suck” chant in the heat of the action.

12 Lesnar Prepares To Get These Hands

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It's not unusual for Brock Lesnar to lose his gloves over the course of an intense match—in fact, it could be considered a signature spot for him, a bit les iconic but not altogether different from Jerry Lawler or Kurt Angle lowering their straps. In this match with Roman Reigns, he noticeably took off the gloves, only for the camera to focus on them and briefly shoot the action past them.

Given that Braun Strowman uttered his catchphrase—warning Reigns or Lesnar was going to “get these hands” to set up challenging the winner of the match—the focus on Lesnar’s hands in this case felt very purposeful and symbolic to keep fans’ focus on the intended cash-in.

11 Everyone’s Sort Of A Heel

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Ever since fans started to turn on John Cena over a decade ago, it hasn’t been entirely unusual for the crowd to treat the hero and villain alike in a match as if they were heels.

This effect crystallized here with not only Reigns, whom the crowd was pre-disposed to boo (and who sucker punched Lesnar to start the action) and Lesnar who was playing his heel part well, but even Braun Strowman.

Even though the Monster Among Men wasn’t sneaky in openly stating his plans to cash-in against the winner of the championship bout, it was nonetheless heelish to suggest that he, as a fresh man, planned to challenge whichever star survived the Lesnar-Reigns war.

10 A Similar Scenario To The Year Before

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Fans might have felt a sense of déjà vu in seeing Braun Strowman come to the ring during the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns pre-match stare down, or when he became a part of the fray in the late stages of the match. Indeed, a year earlier, all three of these men were official combatants in a match for Lesnar’s Universal Championship.

The only piece missing? Samoa Joe, who interestingly enough was still challenging for a world title, but instead going after AJ Styles’s Universal Championship in a separate match. Joe of course, arguably had the match of the night with AJ Styles.

9 Reigns Joins Lesnar As The Only WWE World And Universal Champion

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The Universal Championship has a relatively short history. Its first holder was crowned at SummerSlam 2016, not long after the new brand split took hold. Then-new call up Finn Balor stormed his way through the tournament bracket and ultimately pinned Seth Rollins to take the title.

Between the short time span, and Lesnar holding the title for nearly a year and a half in his part time capacity, there haven’t been many Universal Champions. Lesnar was the very first to have held both this title and, before that, the WWE Championship. Roman Reigns now joins him as just the second wrestler to have held the current top two titles in WWE, and quite arguably in the wrestling world on the whole.

8 For Once, Reigns Beats His Shield Friends To A Title

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When Seth Rollins won his first Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, he made mention on the following Raw that he was the last member of The Shield to do so. It called attention to how even the Shield boys have been, each taking a turn with a set of tag titles, each a US Champion, Intercontinental Champion, and even WWE Champion at one point. The Universal Championship, however, has been elusive for the alumni of the elite stable.

Not only is Reigns the first to get the Universal Championship, but it's also the first time he’s beaten both Rollins and Dean Ambrose to a belt, as one or both of his old running buddies has gotten to each other title he’s won first.

The closest call was the tag titles, which Reigns at least won with Rollins to give them both their first taste of main roster gold at that time.

7 Reigns Was The First To Ever Pin Lesnar At SummerSlam

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Although Lesnar had been beaten at SummerSlam twice before, it’s noteworthy that his loss to Reigns marked the first time he was pinned at the annual super show. In Lesnar’s first loss, he was forced into submission to Kurt Angle’s ankle lock. The second time around, his grudge match with The Undertaker ended with The Deadman locking him into Hell’s Gate gogoplata until he passed out.

The pinfall victory is representative of both an old school sensibility—WWE has traditionally featured heroes who focused on pins more than submissions, particularly at the very top of the card—and Reigns not compromising his style. The Big Dog has never had a signature submission hold, and stayed true to his trusty spear to get the job done here.

6 The Shield Is Responsible For Ending Lesnar’s Part Time Reigns

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Brock Lesnar has had not one, but two reasonably long world title reigns while working a part time schedule for WWE. The first started at SummerSlam 2014 and lasted over half the year to WrestleMania 31. This most recent started at WrestleMania 33 and lasted well over a year.

In each case, though, Lesnar’s title Reign ended in a match with Roman Reigns. The first time, Reigns didn’t beat him, but rather his fellow Shield member Seth Rollins added himself to the match via Money in the Bank in the late stages of the battle and won. This time, Reigns himself got the job done. In both cases, it’s interesting to note that the stars from WWE’s most celebrated modern stable unseated the Beast Incarnate.

5 Reigns Won His First World Title In Over Two Years

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Hardcore fans balk at Roman Reigns for his status as the Vince McMahon’s chosen one of Vince McMahon. Indeed, Reigns has been pushed near the top ever since first becoming a singles star, and while Brock Lesnar worked as a part time champion, Reigns was often booked as the de facto main event guy for PPVs.

An inconvenient caveat to this narrative: Reigns hasn’t actually held any top title in over two years.

He lost his most recent world championship to Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank 2016, and talents including Rollins, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, John Cena, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar have all had reigns with top tiles since then. At least in terms of titles, one could go so far as to argue Reigns was over due for this victory.

4 All The Champions On Raw Are Faces

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It’s most often the case in WWE that we see a mix of face and heel champions. The dynamic allows for the feel-good story of a face champion on top, while also having the excitement of face challengers chasing heels. Moreover, if fans aren’t happy about a heel holding a title, the faces who do have belts counterbalance that dynamic.

We now have the unusual situation of every single champion on Raw playing a face, from the underdog Tag Team Champions The B-Team, to new Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, to new Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, to new Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The dynamic may not last for long, though one could also argue that only the tag champs really come across as vulnerable at this point.

3 The Smallest Live Audience A Reigns-Lesnar Match Has Ever Had

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This was fourth iteration of Brock Lesnar defending a world title against Roman Reigns. Despite happening at quite arguably the second biggest show of the year, it’s interesting to note that this was by far the smallest crowd this pairing has ever worked in front of.

To be fair, two of their previous encounters were WrestleMania main events in front of stadium crowds with over 60,000 fans.

The other occasion was the Greatest Royal Rumble show in Saudi Arabia, with its own stadium crowd and a reported attendance of 60,000 itself. The Barclays Center is an impressive modern arena, but even in a sellout situation, its capacity tops out around 20,000.

2 Roman Reigns Joins Daniel Bryan In An Exclusive Main Event Club

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While WrestleMania is undoubtedly the highest profile show on WWE’s annual calendar, SummerSlam is generally looked at as the second biggest event. So, being in, much less winning the main event at either show is a pretty big deal.

To wit, of the current full time WWE roster going into this past Sunday, Daniel Bryan was the only man who’d won both a WrestleMania main event and a SummerSlam main event in the past—achieving both in a year’s span, between SummerSlam 2013 and WrestleMania 30.

When Roman Reigns pinned Brock Lesnar, he joined Bryan as the only other man to accomplish this feat, having won the closing matches of WrestleManias 32 and 33 before taking his first SummerSlam main event.

1 SummerSlam Is The Only PPV With More Universal Championship Title Changes Than Retentions

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In the just over two year history of the Universal Championship, there have been only five occasions when a new champion was crowned. Finn Balor won the original iteration at SummerSlam 2016. From there, Kevin Owens won the vacant title on an episode of Raw, Goldberg beat him Fastlane 2017, and Brock Lesnar unseated him at WrestleMania 33.

The Universal Championship has been on the line at a number PPVs, but the only annual event to see the title change hands more than once is now SummerSlam, where two out of three times it has been on the line, a new champ has emerged.