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Brock Lesnar gave Roman Reigns one of his best WWE matches to date at WrestleMania 31.Credit: WWE.com
The heartbreaking news of Roman Reigns being forced to relinquish the Universal Championship due to his ongoing battle with leukemia sent shockwaves throughout the WWE Universe this week on Raw.
Fans and wrestlers have been very vocal in their support of The Big Dog on social media in the days that have followed the heartbreaking announcement. Although there is no set timetable for Reigns’ return to the ring, his indefinite absence will undoubtedly be a significant blow to the Raw roster in the meantime.
Reigns has been among WWE’s most polarizing stars for several years, largely because of how he has been booked as a singles star since 2015. Despite that, his track record in high-profile matches speaks for itself, as he can always be counted on for a quality contest when it matters most.
Even during The Shield’s original run that lasted from 2012 to 2014, Reigns was involved in a number of exceptional outings alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Those thrilling encounters helped mold him into the performer he is today inside the squared circle, in addition to all of the other remarkable matches he has had on his own.
Reigns may be out of action for the foreseeable future, but now is as good of a time as any for fans to relive and enjoy the best bouts of his career to date. He’ll surely have many more matches added to this list down the road, but these 10 instant classics in particular prove that WWE will not the same without one of its most consistent competitors around.
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Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (Money in the Bank 2016): For years, it seemed as if Reigns and Rollins had always been destined to do battle, yet fate prevented them from clashing at both Night of Champions 2014 and Survivor Series 2015. The two finally went one-on-one for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank 2016. The exciting affair ended with Rollins regaining the gold.
Roman Reigns vs. Big Show (Extreme Rules 2015): The World’s Largest Athlete was a major thorn in Reigns’ side for the better half of 2015, leading to them settling their score in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules 2015. For all intents and purposes, this should have been a boring bout, but Reigns and Show exceeded expectations by putting forth an excellent effort.
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. The Rhodes Brothers (Battleground 2013): Reigns and Rollins dominated WWE’s tag team scene for the second half of 2013. However, they met their match in Cody Rhodes and Goldust at Battleground, where Cody and Goldust had the chance to get their jobs back if they were successful in defeating The Shield. The Rhodes Brothers reigned supreme following an emotional outing.
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt (Hell in a Cell 2015): During his time away from the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture in 2015, Reigns made an enemy out of Bray Wyatt. They had a solid string of matches that year, but their hard-hitting Hell in a Cell encounter was easily the best of the bunch.
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman (Fastlane 2017): Before feuding over the Universal Championship, Reigns and Strowman first waged war in the early months of 2017. Strowman had been undefeated in singles competition since arriving on Raw, though it was unknown how he would fare in such a high-profile outing against Reigns. Sure enough, they had terrific chemistry from the get-go and proceeded to steal the show.
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From Brock Lesnar to Triple H to The Undertaker, Roman Reigns has battled (and beaten) almost every iconic competitor to grace a WWE ring in recent years. The only name he had yet to clash with last year was John Cena, who had since taken on a lighter schedule with WWE and was only appearing occasionally.
Immediately after SummerSlam 2017, Cena returned to Raw for the first time in years to confront Reigns and challenge him to a match at No Mercy. Their verbal exchanges in the weeks that followed were nothing short of intense and usually ended with Cena getting the last laugh.
Similar to Cena, Reigns never ceases to deliver when the time is right and the lights are on bright. He brought his A-game against the leader of the Cenation at the event and surprised him by kicking out of every Attitude Adjustment he dished out.
Sure, it made for a slightly unrealistic scenario with Reigns powering out of every finisher Cena had in his arsenal (multiple times, too) and Cena being beaten by a single Spear, but it was clear the torch had been passed. Outside of international events such as Greatest Royal Rumble and Super Show-Down, Cena has yet to win a match on WWE pay-per-view, thanks to Reigns.
This attraction could have and should have been saved for WrestleMania, but it’s possible they rekindle their rivalry at some point down the road with Cena itching to get his win back.
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From the moment they arrived on the WWE scene, The Shield were constantly being compared to Evolution by fans, if only because of how dominantly they were booked throughout their run. After all, the trio of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns went undefeated in six-man tag team action for nearly seven months and held gold for the better part of 2013.
Thus, The Shield vs. Evolution was always more of a fantasy booking scenario than an actual eventual reality considering all the right pieces had to be in place in order for it to happen. Sure enough, Triple H, Randy Orton and the returning Batista reunited to eliminate the threat of The Shield in the spring of 2014, setting the stage for a highly anticipated encounter at Extreme Rules.
The name of the event would suggest that this match had no disqualifications, but that was not the case. Rather, the six Superstars took their fight all over the arena, yet still managed to keep the action contained to the ring at times when it mattered most to avoid the bout being thrown out.
Evolution met their match in The Shield, and the audience in attendance couldn’t get enough of these two legendary factions going at it. The Shield walked away the victors that night before facing off with Evolution again in a No Holds Barred rematch at Payback the following month, which was also won by The Hounds of Justice ahead of their abrupt breakup the next night.
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The way WWE has handled The Shield, from the night they debuted in WWE to their most recent breakup, is truly something to behold. Very few factions have been booked better than them, and that includes their various singles runs and pursuits of the WWE Championship.
Two years removed from when Seth Rollins caused The Shield to split up the first time, all three former friends found themselves chasing the world title simultaneously in the summer of 2016. A Triple Threat match pitting them against each other was announced for Battleground, with the winner taking the title to their respective brand, Raw or SmackDown Live.
Roman Reigns’ suspension caused him to miss a majority of the build to the bout, but it hardly felt like he was gone at all when he returned to the ring at Battleground. As well as they work as partners, Reigns, Rollins and Dean Ambrose also have fantastic chemistry as opponents and proved that by producing a tremendous Triple Threat.
The championship could have wound up with any one of the three, with Reigns being the most likely. However, Ambrose shocked the world when he hit Reigns with Dirty Deeds and pinned him for the three count, successfully retaining his title in the process.
This was another match that could have easily headlined a WrestleMania event, but there is still time for that to happen. The events that transpired this past Monday could have laid the groundwork for that.
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Roman Reigns was always destined to win the 2015 Royal Rumble match, but fans believed Daniel Bryan coming out on top in the annual Battle Royal would have been a better story. Besides, Bryan had been left out of the bout the year prior, and thus him overcoming the odds and winning the 2015 installment would have been a great way to get him back in the world title picture where he belonged.
Unfortunately for fans, it didn’t exactly work out like that, and instead of accepting Reigns as the Rumble winner, the WWE Universe rejected the former Shield member as WWE’s handpicked choice to main event WrestleMania. It made for an ugly scene in Philadelphia, but WWE did their best to rectify the situation by keeping Bryan in their main event plans (at least temporarily).
Bryan did indeed have a claim to the championship after never having actually lost it in 2014, so it was logical to book Bryan vs. Reigns in a No. 1 contender’s match at the inaugural Fastlane pay-per-view. Up to that point, Reigns had yet to have that one truly memorable performance, but if anyone could get a great match out of him, it was WWE’s resident “Yes!” man.
Bryan winning was never a real possibility, so the real purpose of this match was to make Reigns look as credible of a threat to the top title as possible. In that respect, it was a complete success, and Bryan deserves credit for getting Reigns ready for Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.
The post-match show of respect from Bryan to Reigns was well done, too. Reigns went on to have a handful of exceptional outings in 2015, but it all started with this one excellent main event against Bryan.
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WWE had a rocky road to WrestleMania 32 when it came to booking the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the event. For months, it had been blatantly obvious that the company was building toward Roman Reigns vs. Triple H for the title, though it was a matchup not many actually wanted to see.
To help spice things up a bit, WWE had Triple H win the belt from Reigns at the Royal Rumble. Instead of Reigns simply invoking his rematch clause at WrestleMania, he was forced to earn his shot at the strap by going through Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar in a Triple Threat match at Fastlane 2016.
Reigns and Lesnar showed the world the year before that they could bring the best out of each other, but throwing Ambrose into the mix made things more interesting. Of course, Reigns and Ambrose had been friends for years, but with a world title opportunity up for grabs, they tossed that alliance out the window for one night only and went to war with each other.
At one point, Reigns and Ambrose teamed up to take out Lesnar at ringside. The temporary setback merely angered The Beast Incarnate, who unleashed a flurry of destruction on the former Shield brethren and nearly punched his ticket to The Show of Shows.
While Ambrose was distracted with Lesnar at ringside, Reigns capitalized and pinned Ambrose to pick up the hard-fought victory. This was the real WrestleMania main event compared to what we wound up getting between Reigns and Triple H on the grandest stage of them all.
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Around the time The Shield were running roughshod on the WWE roster, The Wyatt Family were on path of destruction themselves, taking no prisoners and annihilating everyone who dared to challenge their dominance.
Shortly following Royal Rumble 2014, the two factions came face-to-face and agreed to do battle at long last at Elimination Chamber. They actually held off on coming to blows until right before the pay-per-view, and even then, they held back from going all out to ensure their match was as special as possible.
Before the bell rang that night, “This is awesome!” chants from the crowd could be heard throughout the arena. Fans desperately wanted to watch The Shield and The Wyatt Family wage war so they could finally find out who the better stable truly was.
This six-man tag team affair had everything one would want out of such an important match: drama, storytelling, suspense, excitement, and so much more. Plus, the fans in attendance were with them every step of the way and were on the edge of their seats to see what would happen next.
The Shield were already in the process of parting ways en route to WrestleMania, so their dissension was what caused them to fall short of victory here. However, those final few moments with Roman Reigns valiantly attempting to fight back only to get outnumbered by the Wyatts was a thing of beauty.
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WWE Raw was in a rather poor state at the end of 2016, as it seemed the company was incapable of focusing on anyone else but Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Those four dominated the Universal Championship picture going into 2017, and by the Royal Rumble, the Reigns vs. Owens feud had ran its course.
Even with Chris Jericho being contained in a shark cage high above the ring, it was impossible for fans to care about the bout beforehand because of the uninteresting story told with them. Thankfully, a No Disqualification stipulation was added at the last minute and that helped make the match infinitely more exciting.
Instead of relying on the same slow pace that had dragged down their previous encounters, Reigns and Owens held nothing back and battered each other with everything they could find around ringside. The audience was electric for the action and it was obvious that Owens and Reigns were determined to steal the show.
Despite the stipulation, Jericho still managed to get involved, though Reigns successfully thwarted his sneaky attempts to aid Owens to victory. It wasn’t until Braun Strowman surfaced that Reigns was done for, which kicked off a rivalry than would run through the rest of 2017.
Owens’ reign as Universal champion was fairly lifeless due to bad booking, but at least he and Reigns can always hang their hat on this amazing outing from the Royal Rumble.
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The element of surprise helped make The Shield’s debut at Survivor Series 2012 so special because no one saw it coming. The trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose wasted no time in leaving their mark on the main event scene by targeting Ryback and promising to restore “justice” in WWE.
The original main event for TLC 2012 was supposed to see CM Punk defend his WWE Championship against Ryback in a TLC match, but an unforeseen injury to Punk caused plans to change for the better. Instead, Ryback and Team Hell No vs. The Shield was announced for the event in what would be the black-clad trio’s very first matchup in a WWE ring.
Despite suffering from a rushed build, the bout was a complete car crash in the best way possible. It was all action from bell to bell, the pace never once slowed, and the spectacle of seeing these six Superstars attempt to annihilate each other with tables, ladders and chairs kept the audience engaged even though nothing was on the line.
The Shield in particular shined and had no problem holding their own against the three established Superstars. Their debut match was going to be remembered no matter what, but WWE having them emerge victorious was crucial to their future success.
Reigns didn’t have the chance to contest many above-average matches while in NXT, but he (as well as Ambrose and Rollins) quickly proved he belonged on the main stage of NXT with this performance.
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Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar sounded like a perfectly reasonable main event for WrestleMania 31 when the seeds were planted many months earlier around SummerSlam season. Reigns was quietly being built up as a dominant force, while Lesnar had been on an absolute tear after he snapped the long-standing streak of The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30.
However, that was before Reigns suffered an injury that kept him on the shelf for three months. Instead of gradually grooming Reigns for that top spot, WWE rushed into him winning the Royal Rumble and a majority of fans were not happy, to say the least.
His aforementioned outing against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane helped his progress, but the WWE Universe was still not sold on Reigns as a world championship caliber competitor. In fact, his ‘Mania match with Lesnar had the potential to be a dud due to Lesnar’s rumored WWE departure post-WrestleMania, but The Beast Incarnate re-signing through 2018 added a bit more unpredictability to the outcome.
Not only that, but their styles meshed perfectly. Lesnar was in total destruction mode right out the gate by delivering suplex after suplex to the former Shield member, which led to “Suplex City” being coined as a term shortly thereafter.
Despite the punishment he endured at the hands of Lesnar, Reigns preserved and battled back, hitting several Spears and coming to close to clinching the victory on multiple occasions. Ultimately, Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank contract spoiled what should have been Reigns’ championship coronation, but it made for a much better moment and arguably one of the most exciting endings in WrestleMania history.
Unfortunately, Reigns has had a string of stinkers in the main event of The Show of Shows ever since.
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Roman Reigns’ third reign as WWE champion didn’t get off to the most stellar start when he defeated Triple H for the title in the main event of WrestleMania 32. It was a fairly underwhelming outing to say the least, which is why AJ Styles’ inclusion in the championship picture coming out of the event was welcomed by fans.
Styles was still relatively new to the WWE scene, yet he had already proved himself to be one of the best all-around competitors in the company. Although he was unsuccessful in taking the title from Reigns at Payback 2016, his strong showing versus Reigns (as well as shenanigans from The Usos, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) earned Styles another shot at the strap at Extreme Rules.
This time, however, there would be no disqualifications and nothing holding either one of them back from beating the living daylights out of each other. Of course, interference was expected, but when it came to Reigns and Styles doing their thing mono a mono, they did not disappoint in delivering an extremely exciting main event.
It was already apparent by this point that Reigns could hold his own against almost anyone on the roster, so this was hardly a case of Styles “carrying” The Big Dog to an above-average encounter. Rather, this was an equal effort from both men, resulting in one of the best bouts all year in WWE.
Styles pulled everything out of his arsenal in an attempt to put Reigns away, only to fall victim to a single Spear from the WWE champ and lose. The two haven’t crossed paths in singles action since, though if this classic contest was any indication, it’s more a matter of when and not if they will cross paths in a WWE ring again.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and “like” his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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