There are reports going about that Brock Lesnar's next defense of the WWE Universal Championship won't be until SummerSlam, nearly 3 months from now, and that it's looking like he will wind up staying in WWE. There are contradictory details regarding Lesnar's current deal with WWE. Most of what I've read suggests that it's short term and is due to expire before SummerSlam. If Lesnar's SummerSlam defense is legit, then his deal wasn't that short or a new deal has already been signed.

I've generally come to accept the fact that Lesnar as Universal Champion is something that's not going to be changed until Vince, or possibly even Lesnar himself, decides to change it regardless of the criticism made by many fans. I'm getting to the point where I don't really care at all for various reasons including Lesnar's inability to consistently perform in entertaining 1 on 1 matches, the choice of who winds up facing Lesnar, Vince's renewed obsession with the alpha male superstar as all of this is winding up providing us with challengers that we know don't really have a chance. I'm of the opinion the title needs to be taken off Lesnar, Lesnar is someone that's above championships at this point in his career and this leaves a big hole in WWE's main event picture.

For me, a lot will depend on who wins the men's MITB ladder match and what the final plan for Lesnar's SummerSlam opponent is. Because of WWE's inconsistent booking and, as I stated, Vince's overreliance on establishing the alpha male superstar at the expense of just about anyone else, the only guy on the Raw side of things in the MITB match that still has enough credibility against Lesnar is Braun Strowman. A babyface Strowman announcing ahead of time that he intends to challenge Lesnar for the title at SummerSlam, resulting in a longer build, could be fun as it's such a deviation from the normal surprise cash in. I mean, a sneaky, opportunistic cash in just doesn't fit with Strowman's character whatsoever, but having him call his shot and face up to Lesnar man to man does. It won't be a match for the ages, but Strowman as next champion makes complete sense when you consider he's the among most over babyface on the Raw roster right now, I'd say Seth Rollins is pretty close but Rollins is doing his thing with the IC title and that's working just fine right now.

Also, if WWE ever wanted to turn Roman Reigns heel, and there's more pressure to do it now than ever as Roman just continues to fail to connect in the way Vince wants, having Strowman be the one to pin Lesnar in the middle of the ring could be what "sets him off." Reigns is "screwed" out of the title at GRR, he's "screwed" out of being part of MITB and probably his greatest singles rival comes along, slays the Beast, and becomes champion. Reigns and Strowman had one of the top feuds of 2017, it did wanders for both men really and switching roles with Reigns as a ruthless, bitter heel fans give nothing but crap to while Strowman is beloved and champion just has all kinds of real possibilities. I'll take it over trying to make Roman Reigns an underdog fighting from underneath any day because it's just so friggin' stupid.