Roman Reigns beat Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Thursday to retain the Universal Championship.

With the referee knocked unconscious, Paul Heyman slid the Universal title belt into the ring, although it was unclear who he was trying to give it to.

Reigns and Lesnar fought over the belt until The Usos showed up and hit Lesnar with a double superkick, allowing Reigns to use the belt and defeat Lesnar:

The stage was set for Thursday's match at SummerSlam in August when Lesnar made his surprise return to WWE after more than a year away. The Beast Incarnate appeared after Reigns beat John Cena in the main event to retain the Universal title.

Lesnar had a stare down with a shocked Reigns, while Reigns' special counsel, Paul Heyman, looked as though he had seen a ghost.

While Lesnar didn't attack Reigns at SummerSlam, he made it clear that his sights were set on the Universal Championship, and then proceeded to suplex and F-5 Cena after the show went off the air.

In the weeks that followed, Reigns and The Usos had suspicions that Heyman knew about Lesnar being at SummerSlam ahead of time. Lesnar did nothing to allay those concerns, as he suggested Heyman was aware of his presence.

He also thanked Heyman for pulling some strings to make him a free agent rather than part of the WWE draft, which made Reigns even more wary.

At one point during the build toward Crown Jewel, Reigns and Lesnar got into a tussle on SmackDown. Reigns ended up retreating and watching as his cousins, Jimmy and Jey Uso, got decimated by Brock.

While Reigns and Lesnar had locked horns several times in the past, their meeting at Crown Jewel felt bigger than the previous ones and had a different dynamic.

In their past matches, Reigns was the clear babyface and Lesnar the heel. 

Now, Reigns is more popular and respected than he has ever been thanks to his Tribal Chief character, while Lesnar is in a tweener role with a lean toward the babyface side.

Reigns emerged from the massive bout with his year-plus run as Universal champion still intact, but since there is still plenty of meat on the bone with him and Lesnar, it may not be the last he sees of The Beast.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: strong language).