Brock Lesnar is replacing Randy Orton to face Roman Reigns at WWE SummerSlam after his Smackdown return, FightfulSelect.com reports. Orton is ‘unable to perform.’
It was previously reported that WWE Superstar Roman Reigns is certainly one of the top competitors in the company right now and has been on a solid run as the WWE Universal Champion, but he is losing his top spot to two WWE Smackdown women. Roman Reigns successfully defended his WWE Universal Championship against WWE Hall Of Famer Edge and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match in the main event of Night Two of WrestleMania 37. Roman Reigns might also be losing Paul Heyman eventually.
Roman Reigns also successfully retained his WWE Universal Championship against Cesaro in the main event of WrestleMania Backlash. Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his WWE Universal Championship against Rey Mysterio at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view. However, that match was shifted to a previous episode of Friday Night Smackdown.
Roman Reigns would successfully defend his WWE Universal Championship against Rey Mysterio as well and went on to defeat Edge and John Cena in subsequent title matches at WWE Money In The Bank and WWE SummerSlam respectively. He then retained his title against Finn Balor at WWE Extreme Rules as well. He defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 and became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion as well.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE does have a plan B for Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, should Randy Orton not be able to compete.
Orton may need back surgery and those with knowledge of the situation said that the planned Reigns vs. Orton main event for 7/30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville is in jeopardy. There is a backup plan for Reigns but we were told at press time the plan was not Riddle. There are limited options, with Cody Rhodes also hurt. They can put anyone in there, but aside from Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley, or possibly Gunther, nobody besides Riddle seems even remotely ready for that level. I suppose he could destroy Omos, but Omos lost the feud with Lashley, not that it matters with WWE booking.
