The Tribal Chief. The Head of the Table. The longest reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in the modern era. All three descriptions are accurate when talking about Roman Reigns, the “Top Dog” of the WWE whose historic title run ended in the craziest main event of all time at WrestleMania 40. And, now that Reigns’ dominance over the WWE is finished (for now), it seems like a great time to break down the significance of a feat we may never see again.
Below, I will break down six things that wrestling fans should remember about Reigns and his ridiculously long run as the top champion in WWE and one of the most impressive title runs in the history of professional wrestling.
Roman Reigns’ 1,316-Day Title Run Started In August 2020
When Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, a finish we all saw coming, the American Nightmare ended a 1,316-day title run for the leader of the Bloodline. This historic reign began in August 2020 when a returning Reigns defeated WWE Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match at Payback.
Less than six months after dropping out of his WrestleMania 36 match with Goldberg for the Universal Championship due to COVID-19 concerns related to his battle with leukemia, Reigns entered the match late, pinned Strowman, and took his rightful place at the top of SmackDown. A little more than 18 months after that, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38, and he wouldn’t lose a singles match for another two years.
To Put It Into Perspective, His Reign Was The Fourth Longest In WWE History And The Longest In Nearly 40 Years
There are only three former WWE wrestlers who have been the top champions in WWE longer than Roman Reigns, and they are a murderer’s row of all-time greats. According to WWE.com, Bruno Sammartino held what would later be known as the WWE Championship for 2,803 days, or nearly seven years. Though Bob Backlund held the title for about two years less than Sammartino, he still had a 2,135-day reign, which was later followed by Hulk Hogan and his 1,474-day reign.
Each of those streaks took place in the 20th century, however, long before WWE moved to a system of shorter reigns and more champions in the company. Also, no one even came close to what Reigns was able to do with his 1,316-day run.
During This Stretch, Roman Reigns Had 31 Title Defenses Against A Who’s Who Of WWE Superstars
As Reigns was walking to the ring for the WrestleMania 40 Night Two main event to start his 31st title defense, Michael Cole, who is loving life in the Triple H era, ran down the list of wrestlers who have tried and failed to take the belt off the Tribal Chief since he became Universal Champion in August 2020. Cole described his various opponents as a “who’s who” or a “virtual hall of fame” of WWE.
This includes Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Goldberg, Daniel Bryan, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, LA Night, Logan Paul, and Cody Rhodes, who, just under an hour later, would finally defeat the champ and finish his story. However, this doesn’t even begin to touch on everyone who stepped into the ring with Reigns during that ridiculously long and successful stretch, but it does provide some context for the greatness we saw over the past few years.
Over Half Of Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania Main Events Were During His Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Run
I know the number is kind of fudged because WrestleMania has been a two-day event since 2020, but Roman Reigns has headlined the Showcase of the Immortals nine times since he had his first main event match in 2015. Now, here’s the kicker, five of those nine main events took place during his most recent title reign. He defeated both Daniel Bryan and Edge in the WrestleMania 37 triple-threat main event, unified the Universal and WWE titles by beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38, prevented Cody Rhodes from finishing his story at WrestleMania 39, and closed both nights of WrestleMania 40 with the tag team match with The Rock vs. Rhodes and Seth Rollins and the American Nightmare again, respectively.
Though the first few appearances weren’t that well-received by fans (myself included), there’s no denying these past few matches involving the Tribal Chief have ranged from great to legendary, especially his two-night showing at WrestleMania 40. What’s even crazier is that his story is far from over.
The Bloodline, One Of The Hottest Storylines In Modern WWE History, Was A Product Of This Run
Like Hulk Hogan being at the top of WCW in the late ‘90s with the NWO doing his bidding, Ric Flair killing it in the NWA with the Four Horsemen, and various other dominant champions with stables over the years, Roman Reigns was constantly with the Bloodline throughout his multi-year run as WWE’s top champion. The all-time great faction, which has consisted of members of the Anoa’i family, the “Wise Man” and 2024 WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, and at one point, Sami Zayn, was one of the great products of Reigns’ time on top.
Over the years, the Bloodline angle has gone in so many different directions and involved just about all the major stars in WWE in some shape or form, ranging from the epic program with Zayn throughout much of late 2022 and early 2023 to the inclusion of The Rock in the build to WrestleMania 40. It’s hard to say where the stable will go moving forward, but if it’s over, we’ve had one hell of a journey with one of wrestling’s premier dynasties.
Roman Reigns Essentially Carried The Company On His Back And Helped Usher In A New Era In This Stretch
Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Reigns essentially carried the company on his back for the past three-and-a-half years. Yeah, he didn’t wrestle on TV all that much, especially in the past year or so, but his appearances gave the product a certain mystique that was once only accomplished by the likes of the Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, and The Rock in more recent years.
It’s safe to say that business is booming for WWE, as well as wrestling as a whole, and a lot of that can be attributed to Reigns’ time on top. Massive main events that got even the most casual of fans to watch again, appearances on mainstream news and sports shows, and perhaps the biggest WrestleMania of all time wouldn’t have happened if not for Reigns and the way he elevated the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. And, this is coming from a guy who used to despise Reigns in every possible way.
If Roman Reigns were to go away and never come back, we would at least have the satisfaction of knowing we were witness to one of the greatest championship runs in wrestling history. However, I won’t be surprised if he shows up soon and tells us to acknowledge him once again at an upcoming WWE event.