After his title win, Lesnar was scheduled to face WWE Champion AJ Styles at Survivor Series in another Champion vs Champion non-title match. However, five days before Survivor Series, Styles lost the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan on "SmackDown". At Survivor Series, Lesnar overcame a late rally from Bryan to defeat him. Lesnar then successfully defended the title against Finn Bálor via submission at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019. The next night on "Raw", Lesnar attacked 2019 Royal Rumble match winner Seth Rollins with six F-5s, setting up a title match for WrestleMania 35. At WrestleMania, Lesnar attacked Rollins before the match. Rollins then attacked Lesnar with a low blow while the referee was down and pinned Lesnar, ending his second reign as Universal Champion at 156 days.