At SummerSlam 2020, Roman Reigns made his return to WWE.
Taking place inside The ThunderDome with no fans in attendance, the tagline “You’ll Never See it Coming” was forced down fans’ throats for weeks on end. With Vince McMahon known for having a tendency to force commentary to repeat taglines and plaster slogans all over posters, few thought much into it and believed that it was just Vince being Vince. However, as “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt celebrated his third reign as World Champion, Reigns would come barrelling into shot to take out Wyatt. Launching a vicious attack on Wyatt and challenger Braun Strowman, it appeared that the “You’ll Never See it Coming” tagline was correct, as Reigns had finally turned heel.
Back in 2015, Reigns was very much earmarked to be the next face of the company as Cena’s time in the company was very much limited and a new top star needed to be made. While WWE thought they were onto a winner with their selection, the 2015 Royal Rumble win proved otherwise. Rejected by the Philadelphia fans en masse in a post-match celebration that even The Rock could not save, Reigns was not accepted in the way that the company had hoped.
WWE tried every tactic possible to make Reigns into their next top babyface star. Reigns took down the authority, was part of badass beatdown angles and for the most part, had very good matches. However, with the company still pushing Reigns too hard and putting him in main event matches when he shouldn’t have been, such as Backlash 2018, Reigns seemed destined to be rejected.
On October 22nd 2018, the constant booing of Roman Reigns was immediately halted due to some very sad news that broke on Raw. As Reigns walked to the ring in street clothes and with the Universal Championship on his shoulder, Reigns announced that he had been battling with leukaemia for 11 years and that it come back, meaning that he would relinquish the title and take time away. An emotional crowd broke into a “Thank you Roman” chant as a result, as while they did not agree with the booking of Roman Reigns, all were incredibly emotional and sympathetic to Joe Anoa’i. Thankfully, Reigns made a return to WWE in February 2019 and announced he was in remission, much to the delight of the live crowd. Once again back to wrestling, Reigns would continue to be a part of the roster until he announced that he would be going on hiatus and miss WrestleMania in 2020 out of concerns about his health during the COVID pandemic.
Days after the aforementioned SummerSlam return Reigns cemented his heel status by doing the unthinkable, aligning himself with Paul Heyman. Given Reigns’ history with Heyman and his previous client Brock Lesnar, an alliance seemed unthinkable. As the unpredictability continued, WWE announced Payback one week later, which saw Wyatt defend the title against Strowman and Reigns in a Triple Threat match. With Reigns showing up towards the end of the match and becoming champion, this was the start of yet another championship reign. While fans had seen Reigns on top before, they had seen nothing like this…
Roman Reigns Introduces The World To The Tribal Chief
With Roman Reigns now the champion, he needed a challenger. Rather surprisingly, the first challenger for the Universal Champion was none other than Jey Uso. With Uso being exclusively a tag team wrestler at the time and being related to Reigns, few were excited by the prospect and found the booking of the match at Clash of Champions rather confusing. However, with Reigns showing no mercy and the match only ending when Jimmy Uso threw in the towel at the end of a captivating match, Reigns was looking to be the top name in his family on top of being the top name in the company and put a stop to all doubts about Uso being the choice of opponent. With the rivalry continuing at Hell in a Cell in an “I Quit” match, The Wild Samoans met Reigns at the top of the ramp and anointed Reigns as The Tribal Chief.
With new music and a new presentation, one of the most criticised points of Reigns’ post-Shield run, this was the most interesting that Reigns had become in years. Continuing his dominance, Reigns would go on to defeat Kevin Owens on multiple occasions, albeit with a controversial moment in their Last Man Standing match, before beginning his run of WrestleMania main events as he stacked Daniel Bryan and Edge in what was the first show in front of live fans in over a year.
For the next year, Reigns would stand tall over the biggest stars in the company and leave a lasting impression. Daniel Bryan was defeated on SmackDown in what really was his final WWE match as Bryan was AEW bound by September. As Edge, Finn Balor, John Cena and Rey Mysterio all became casualties of The Tribal Chief, it then became a question of if and not when Reigns would lose the title. Enter Brock Lesnar.
Making his shock return at SummerSlam, Lesnar became the first legitimate threat to Reigns since the start of his reign, as Lesnar always was a favourite to become champion at a time when no one else seemed worthy. Additionally, the extra wrinkle of who Heyman would align with actually made the previously stale feud more refreshed. Defeating Lesnar at Crown Jewel, they would cross paths again once more.
At Day 1 on New Year’s Day in 2022, Reigns contracted COVID and was unable to defend his Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar. As a result of this, Lesnar was inserted into the WWE Championship match and brought Big E’s title reign to an end, a move that did not go down well with the fans. Later that month, Reigns suffered a rare DQ loss to Seth Rollins at the 2022 Royal Rumble, meaning he was still champion. Lesnar lost his WWE Championship at the same show but would enter himself into the Men’s Royal Rumble match, once again setting up Lesnar vs. Reigns at Mania. With Lesnar winning back the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, the match became winner-take-all, which was once again won by Reigns. This was also the same show where Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE, more on that later.
At this point, fans began to sour on Reigns as had become what many were against. A part-time champion and one that was running through everyone, no one could say for sure who would actually beat Reigns and bring the lengthy reign to an end. The concerns only grew later in the year as The Usos repeated the success of Reigns and unified the Tag Titles, meaning that there were even fewer championships for the undercard to challenge for. The answer in September 2022 looked to be Drew McIntyre, who was set for a showdown with Reigns at Clash at the Castle in Cardiff. Despite there being rumours that the titles could be split or McIntyre would win the title in the UK, Reigns once again retained thanks to interference from Solo Sikoa, who made his main roster debut and strengthened The Bloodline.
With Reigns becoming predictable and The Bloodline getting stale, the faction was revitalised with the inclusion of Sami Zayn, who was made an honourary Uce for his dedication to the group, despite protests from The Usos and Heyman. As Zayn chose The Bloodline over best friend Kevin Owens, the Honorary Uce continued to question his allegiance both personally and by Heyman, leading to the excellent Trial of Sami Zayn in early 2023. As Zayn was saved, he was forced to choose between Owens or The Bloodline at the Royal Rumble. Choosing Owens, the chair shot to the back of Reigns led to a thunderous ovation and set up a very emotional defence of the Undisputed Championship at Elimination Chamber, which took place in Zayn’s hometown of Montreal. With his family in attendance, the match was commented as “improbably but not impossible” by Michael Cole as few thought that Zayn would win, especially as Rhodes won the Royal Rumble match. With another heartbreaking loss for Zayn thanks to a Reigns victory, surely this was time for Rhodes to become the victor?
WrestleMania 39 came and Reigns headlined the show for a 3rd time in his reign, which was close to 1,000 days. With Owens and Zayn being victorious the night before, it appeared that all roads [or Rhodes] led to this moment and it was time to switch things up. With interference throughout and Owens and Zayn getting their revenge on Reigns, SoFi Stadium came alive as they sensed a title change. Unfortunately, interference from Solo Sikoa caused Rhodes to lose on The Grandest Stage, sucking the air out of the stadium and leading to mass outrage.
As 2023 went on, criticism of The Tribal Chief only grew. Although The Usos briefly broke away from the group and Jey Uso pinned Reigns at Money in the Bank, the SummerSlam match ultimately led to nothing as the betrayal from Jimmy Uso allowed Reigns to pick up the victory in another underwhelming match. Also, with fewer defences and Bloodline getting involved constantly, at no point did anyone think that LA Knight, Randy Orton or AJ Styles would be the one to dethrone Reigns. With Jey Uso departing The Bloodline to move to Raw, any tension from the group faded and it was just a case of waiting until WrestleMania 40 for the inevitable rematch with Rhodes.
However, while some believed that Roman Reigns should not be champion, it could not be denied that his reign was still captivating as the business only grew and grew and the company continually broke records in 2023. Additionally, the longer the reign lasted, the more Reigns was recognised for his work and was receiving more and more praise, something WWE never managed to do before 2020.
Just as it appeared that it would be a slog to get to WrestleMania 40, there were a few more twists in The Bloodline saga. With CM Punk returning in November, there were no guarantees that Rhodes would win the Rumble and his direction looked more uncertain than ever. However, with another Rumble victory in 2024 and a point to Reigns immediately after, it did appear that it really was time, or so we thought…
The SmackDown after the Rumble victory and Rhodes declared that he would not be challenging Reigns but instead, it would be The Rock, who returned on January 1st. With hordes of passionate fans declaring they wanted Cody, the realisation set in that Rock may put plans on a massive detour and cause Reigns to hold onto the title even longer, much to the behest of Rhodes. With Hulk Hogan’s lengthy record just a few months after WrestleMania 40 and it being a near lock that Reigns would beat Rock at Mania, there really was a possibility that fans were in for one more year of Bloodline dominance, wich would definitely be one year too many.
Recognising the controversy and rectifying things at the WrestleMania press conference, Reigns vs. Rhodes II was confirmed and got fans very excited as they knew this would be something special. Selling out arenas for months and watching The Bloodline vs. Rhodes and Rollins progress, once again Reigns captivated the fans with his relationship with The Rock, at times appearing threatened that the Hollywood star would usurp him as Head of the Table, especially as at one point he asked The Rock to acknowledge him.
With Reigns set to team with The Rock to take on Rhodes and Rollins on night one, being victorious and setting up a Bloodline Rules match for night 2, this really did feel like it might be time to bring the 1,300-day plus reign to an end. However, with how strong Reigns had been booked in the past, there was always that shred of doubt, only heightening the drama.
With everyone getting involved in one of the most emotional and overbooked main events in WrestleMania history, Cody Rhodes finally finished the story and dethroned Roman Reigns, both cementing their legacies in WWE. Although Rhodes’ victory will no doubt be the in-ring moment of the year, a great hero always needs a great villain.
It seems like a lifetime ago that Reigns first became champion in an empty arena surrounded by virtual fans. While Reigns always has been good in the ring and was a dominant force, the booking held him back and left him as a very one-dimensional babyface that fans could not relate to. However, finally able to play to his strengths and bring in family history and turmoil into WWE, The Bloodline Saga became unlike fans had ever seen before and may never see again.
Few records last forever and there will likely be a point when someone will win 17 World Championships, 4 Royal Rumbles and headline WrestleMania more than 10 times. However, Reigns’ 1,316-day reign as Universal Champion is likely to be one that will not be broken for a very long time, maybe ever. Paul Heyman has often said that Roman Reigns will go down as one of the greatest Superstars of all time, and it’s nearly impossible to argue with this.
Although the nearly four-year story was not perfect and caused outcry on numerous occasions, the numbers don’t lie. Business is hotter than ever, wrestling has a mainstream appeal and the culmination at WrestleMania 40 was an ending only really comparable to the MCU. In a run that defined an era and was a journey like no other, Roman Reigns will be forever acknowledged.
Featured image: WWE
