Roman Reigns is a name many a WWE fan is tired of hearing. He’s the heir to the throne, he’s the chosen one, and he’s the one that Vince McMahon has bet his last dollar on. As the new face of the WWE, Reigns’ rapid rise to fame has taken place over the past few years. In those years, we as fans have witnessed some pivotal moments involving the Big Dog.
Some of those moments have been awe-inspiring, others have been hard to watch. Regardless of the outcome, Reigns has been the centrepiece of WWE programming recently and long will he continue to be.
Here are 5 career turning moments for Roman Reigns.
#5 Royal Rumble in 2014
Believe it or not, there was a time when cheering Roman Reigns was cool. At one point, the fans were clamouring for him to win the Royal Rumble in 2014. They couldn’t stomach the fact that a movie star in Batista had swanned in from Hollywood and won the biggest match of the year.
For Roman, it’s a night that’ll stand out in his memory, a night where the hardcore fans were in full support of him, for the last time. The night will go down in history as a missed opportunity for the WWE to truly make Roman into a star.
It should have been the crowning moment to turn a hand-picked McMahon guy into the man the fans actually wanted, instead, Vince chose a part-timer to main event Wrestlemania. Thank God the Daniel Bryan tsunami hit just in time to save the show of shows.
#4 RAW in Philly vs. Sheamus
Philadelphia is known to be the home of wrestling, the home of the smarks and hardcore fans. Now picture this, a main event centred around the WWE’s golden boy getting ANOTHER title shot against the then boring WWE Champion, Sheamus.
All signs pointed towards a boring slugfest that would get rejected by the hardcore smarks, ending in a chorus of boos.
Instead, the crowd were on their feet for the most of the match and gave the new champion a standing ovation. The broadcast even ended with Michael Cole exclaiming ‘Welcome to the beginning of the Roman era!” Clearly, his coronation had just taken place and 17,000 fans ensured the moment changed Roman’s career forever.
#3 Royal Rumble 2015
A year ago they were on his side, but by 2015 the fans had fully rejected him. By this time the Daniel Bryan tsunami had lost a little momentum but was still in effect. As long as Bryan was still wrestling, fans weren’t willing to accept Reigns as their new saviour.
The fans rejected Reigns in a way that even Cena hadn’t experienced. It was brutal, every move was rejected, every facial experienced was booed and the eventual victory was disregarded.
After the event, #CancelTheWWENetwork was trending for hours on Twitter. The WWE Universe exploded, the hate for Roman had tripled and his career took an unprecedented trajectory upwards from then on.
#2 Beating the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33
Not only did Roman Reigns become only the 2nd man in history to beat the Phenom at Wrestlemania, he was the man who retired the Undertaker’s 27-year career. He will forever go down in history as the man who put to bed the greatest character in sports entertainment history. It doesn’t get more career turning/defining than that.
The marquee victory transformed Roman from a pretender into a contender, contender for greatest of all time status. It’s now clearer than ever that Vince is hell-bent on making the Samoan a pivotal figure in the WWE history books, regardless of what the fans think.
Reigns didn’t cheat to beat the Phenom either, he beat him 1-2-3 clean in the middle of the ring. Firmly going over the legendary mystical figure, in his own backyard.
#1 Match against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31
In the main event that nobody wanted, Reigns and Lesnar somehow delivered a classic in front of 70,000 at Wrestlemania 31. The involvement of Seth Rollins only heightened the dramatic appeal of the match, but the original competitors had already done their part.
As the centrepiece of the card, Reigns showed the WWE Universe for the first time that he can deliver in the big matches against the biggest of opponents.
This match signified the start of Roman Reigns as a main event player in the WWE, in fact, not just as a main event player, as THE main event player. That was his first Wrestlemania main event, and now he’s main evented three in a row. The showdown with the Beast marked Roman as a box office star, the one Vince had always hoped he’d be.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
