Bengaluru, Aug 28: Roman Reigns has successfully defended his Universal Title at SummerSlam 2021, this past Saturday (Aug 21) night.

But being a champion, there’s always a target on his back and he has already received his next opponent for another championship defense.

This week’s SmackDown on FOX main event segment witnessed Finn Balor confronting Roman Reigns and challenging him to a title match on next Friday’s edition. Reigns never accepted as Balor attacked Reigns only to get triple-teamed by SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos and Roman.

The attack continued until The Street Profits - Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins made the save. Reigns left the ring as the three babyfaces laid out the Usos. Reigns watched from the stage as Balor hit the Coup de Grace finisher on one of the Usos.

Following the show, WWE has officially announced Balor vs. Reigns matchup for the Universal Title for next week’s SmackDown. In an update, PWInsider has confirmed that Balor is also scheduled to challenge Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules and not Brock Lesnar. Unlike the speculations, Lesnar wasn’t backstage for SmackDown in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

It was noted in the report that while Balor vs. Reigns is planned for Extreme Rules, Lesnar vs. Reigns could take place either at October 21 Crown Jewel from Saudi Arabia, or the November 21 Survivor Series pay-per-view from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

There's no update on when Brock Lesnar will appear on SmackDown following his mega SummerSlam return to set up his next bout against Reigns. At present, the belief is that next week’s Reigns vs. Balor bout should lead to a stipulated rematch between the two at Extreme Rules. Even, WWE Hall of Famer Edge and Seth Rollins are also focused to be back on the Universal Title picture, as mentioned in their respective promos.



In the SmackDown Women’s Title picture, Bianca Belair has officially become the new number-one contender for the Championship held by Becky Lynch. During the post-SummerSlam edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX, the champion solidified her heel-turn in a promo segment before getting interrupted by Belair who was quick to challenge her for a title rematch.

The two were then interrupted by Zelina Vega, Carmella and then Liv Morgan as all of them wanted a title match opportunity. This set up a number-one Contender’s Fatal 4 Way Elimination Match featuring Belair, Vega, Carmella, and Liv.



Belair pinned Vega for the first elimination with her KOD finisher. Morgan then pinned Mella for the second elimination by planting her face-first to the math with the ObLivion move. Belair got the third and final pinfall win over Morgan via KOD to win the match and become the number-one contender for the Women’s Title.

WWE has not yet announced when Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch rematch will go down. This would either take place at the September 10 MSG special or at the Extreme Rules PPV.