Universal Championship Match Set For Next Week's SmackDown

Coming of the heels of Summerslam, Roman Reigns was on Smackdown this week to get the fans to acknowledge him, as he was successful in his Universal Championship defence against WWE icon John Cena. The spectre of a returning Brock Lesnar loomed over the blue brand this week, but rather than Lesnar, Finn Balor was the man who interrupted the champ at the closing moments of Smackdown.

Balor, who was briefly set to challenge Reigns for the title at Summerslam, made another challenge for the Tribal Chief. He mentioned Extreme Rules, before saying that he didn't want to wait. Shortly after Smackdown went off the air, WWE social media made it official- on next week's Smackdown, it will be Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor for the Universal Championship.

Balor has been positioned as a top level star since returning to Smackdown from NXT, but Reigns has been unstoppable for over a year. With The Bloodline (Jimmy & Jey Uso) and Paul Heyman in the champ's corner, it'll be an uphill battle for the first ever Universal Champion, Finn Balor.

By Mick Robson