Roman Reigns defeated Finn Bálor one-on-one to retain the Universal Championship in a title match two years in the making, but when it came to repelling Braun Strowman and his Money in the Bank contract, the Universal Champion needed a little help from his friends.

Before Strowman showed up and all hell broke loose, however, Reigns and Bálor put on an instant classic where The Extraordinary Man summoned the full reserves of his legendary heart. Reigns, unfortunately, had reached his proverbial final form and took everything Bálor had to give him. The arrival of Strowman allowed Finn to set up the Coup de Grâce, but Reigns avoided the move and spiked the Irishman with a thunderous Spear for three.

Strowman quickly entered the ring and struck down the reeling Reigns with a vicious kick, but his Monster in the Bank cash-in was cut short by the unmistakable crackle of “Sierra, Hotel, India” and the arrival of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, back in the signature black colors of The Shield. Strowman didn’t hesitate to throw down with the brothers in black, but The Hounds of Justice overwhelmed him all the same after Reigns Speared Strowman on the outside, setting up a monstrous Triple Powerbomb through the announce table. Clearly, the message of Reigns’ bout with Bálor was that Raw does, indeed, have a fighting champion. The message of what happened after is that Braun Strowman isn’t the only one with an ace in the hole.

Party with The Hounds of Justice following their Triple Powerbomb to Braun Strowman at the conclusion of Raw.