March 27 (UPI) -- Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman, kicked off Raw Monday and taunted Roman Reigns who they said would not be present due to his injuries from last week.
As Heyman was delivering a passionate speech about his client, Reigns emerged from the audience looking for a fight and grabbed the nearest steel chair he could find. The Big Dog was looking less than 100 percent after Lesnar sent his WrestleMania opponent to the hospital last week.
Reigns, despite having the chair, was laid out by Lesnar who met his rival head-on outside the ring. Reigns would recover however and would bring the fight to the Beast until he was tossed to the ground by Lesnar following a failed Superman Punch.
Lesnar, in wanting to brutally punish Reigns once again, delivered an F-5 to Reigns who landed chest-first onto a set of steel steps. As Reigns withered in pain, Lesnar stood tall on the steps with his Universal Championship in hand.
Lesnar will defend his title against Reigns at WrestleMania 34 on April 8.
Also on Raw, Ronda Rousey was joined by Raw general manager Kurt Angle as they discussed their upcoming WrestleMania match against authority figures Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.
After Rousey referred to McMahon as "trust-fund tough," the Baddest Woman on the Planet was confronted by Paige and her Absolution teammates, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Paige kept things friendly and offered Rousey a spot on Absolution which the former UFC Champion declined. Paige then exited the ring as Rose and Deville tried their best to assault Rousey.
Rousey quickly disposed of Deville and next sent her sights on Rose whom she put into her Armbar. Rousey eventually let go of the submission hold after Angle pleaded repeatedly to not break Rose's arm.
John Cena, in the main event, took on Kane in a No Disqualification Match. Kane was defending the honor of his brother, The Undertaker.
The no-holds-barred affair featured Cena being slammed onto a guard rail and being thrown into a table that was leaning against a turnbuckle. Cena, in his quest to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania, continued to taunt the Deadman by performing a number of his signature moves including the Chokeslam.
Cena won the match after he sent Kane into a table using the Attitude Adjustment. Cena then gave a speech where he called out The Undertaker once again to appear and make a decision about facing him at WrestleMania."I hope for the sake of all that is good inside this ring I see you next week," he said.
Other moments from Raw included Nia Jax defeating Mickie James; Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali defeating Drew Gulak and TJP; Asuka defeating Jamie Frost; Woken Matt Hardy announcing that he will compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal; Sasha Banks fighting with Bayley backstage; Braun Strowman defeating Raw Tag Team Champion Sheamus; and Intercontinental Champion The Miz pretending to be feuding with his Miztourage before attacking Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. The fight ended with Balor on top holding up The Miz's championship.
