Braun Strowman Destroys Roman Reigns At WWE Payback

In his first match since defeating the Undertaker at WrestleMania, Roman Reigns met his match in the New Face of Destruction, Braun Strowman.

Reigns came out to the ring wrapped up in tape and ace bandages selling the kayfabe injuries he suffered while being tossed off a loading dock while strapped to a gurney and hurled upside down in an ambulance.

After a back and forth battle, Strowman kicked out of Roman’s signature spear, shocking The Big Dog. Strowman followed up by going for his finisher but Roman slid out and hit two superman punches on the big man. The Monster quickly rose back to his feet to put Roman in his standing triangle sleeper before hitting him with two running power slams for the victory.

Once the closing bell rang, Strowman tossed Roman onto a set of steel steps in the middle of the ring, then brutally sent the steps crashing down onto the “broken ribs” of the former WWE Champion.

As Strowman left the ring, Roman struggled in the ring coughing up blood while a noticeably vocal portion of the crowd chanted “thank you Strowman” and “you deserve it.”

Roman continued to sell the injuries after Payback went off the air and just as The Big Dog looked to get into the ambulance, Strowman ran at him yelling his signature, “I’m Not Finished With You!” Luckily for Roman, he managed to get out of the way and fend off Strowman by striking him with the doors of the ambulance.

With the victory, Braun avenges his WWE Fastlane loss and likely sets up a rubber match between the two at Extreme Rules.

Braun needed this victory in a major way as he had just come off a surprising loss to Kalisto on Raw in a Dumpster Match and a quick WrestleMania exit in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. As for Roman, the loss in no way hurts him as his injuries were clearly the story of the match with Michael Cole continuing to sell the fact that he “was in no way 100%.”

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