Of all the WWE superstars to have debuted this decade, the one man who has stoked up the most controversy is undoubtedly Roman Reigns. The 3-time WWE Champion has been pushed harder than anybody over the past few years, and as a result, has found himself in many a PPV main event.
Whilst Reigns has certainly improved immeasurably over the past few years, a large number of fans are still of the opinion that Roman cannot wrestle, and that he needs to be carried by a superior worker in order to put on a great match.
To agree with this viewpoint, however, is to totally ignore all of Roman's hard work and improvement over the past few years, as well as his frankly shockingly underrated in-ring ability. How many 265lb wrestlers do you know, who can soar over the top rope with such ease? Or deliver a drive-by kick to a man hanging over the ring apron, from the arena floor? His move set may not be the widest range in the world, but Reigns' athleticism is not up for debate. From his 858 matches (and counting), Reigns has 23 4+ star matches to his name – some of which are tag team encounters and other solid singles matches.
If that wasn't enough to convince you, then here are 5 examples of times when Roman Reigns proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a fantastic performer.
#1 Roman Reigns vs CM Punk – RAW, Jan. 6th 2014
As 2013 became 2014, Roman Reigns was caught in the midst of the ongoing feud between The Shield and CM Punk. Having already beaten Rollins and Ambrose in singles action, Punk decided that he next wanted to test himself against Reigns, a match which came to fruition on the first RAW of 2014.
At this point, Reigns was the most popular member of The Shield and was viewed as a rising star by the fans, which made the match that much more of an intriguing prospect.
Opposite a fantastic performer in Punk, Reigns put in his first truly memorable singles match. Roman's power was on full display as he physically dominated "The Best In The World" for long periods before Punk eventually got back into things. As the match progressed, everything began to escalate and the crowd became highly engaged as Rollins and Ambrose got involved with the New Age Outlaws outside the ring, drawing Punk into diving out of the ring and onto Rollins.
Reigns then hit back with a big Superman punch for a close near fall, which drew a huge reaction from the crowd. Following this, Punk nailed Reigns with a massive roundhouse kick to earn a close near fall of his own, the pair seemingly unable to beat each other. Reigns had put in an outstanding performance but appeared to be beaten when Punk's trademark Shining Wizard in the corner connected with the face of Reigns, in brutal fashion.
However, in a moment that showed pure in-ring instinct on the part of "The Big Dog", Reigns shoved Punk towards Dean Ambrose, who was up on the apron. Punk became momentarily distracted, and turned round just in time to receive a vicious spear from the muscle of The Shield.
That was all she wrote, as Reigns capped off an impressive performance in the main event by pinning CM Punk, leaving the WWE Universe to ponder whether Roman Reigns truly was the best of The Shield. His dominant display and ability to hang with Punk in the ring, suggested that he may be just that.
#2 Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan – Fastlane, 2015
Early 2015 was a very difficult time in the career of Roman Reigns. Just as WWE pulled the trigger on the Reigns mega push, the fans decided that they no longer wanted him at the top. A victory in the Royal Rumble match confirmed to everybody that Roman Reigns was the priority at this point in time, not Daniel Bryan, and this did not sit well with the WWE Universe.
WWE quickly noted the fans frustrations and decided that the best course of action would be to confront the uneasiness of the fans head-on, in an effort to deal with the anti-Reigns portion of the crowd quickly and get them back on side as WrestleMania 31 fast approached. Reigns vs Bryan was booked for Fastlane, with the winner going on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania.
Whilst the original intention of the match failed, as Reigns still entered Mania as arguably the biggest heel in the company, the content of the match itself certainly lived up to expectations. Daniel Bryan is a notoriously stiff worker, his kicks particularly damaging, and it was with this in mind that Reigns was to face him at Fastlane, in an effort to slightly prepare him for the monstrous strikes of Lesnar.
Reigns took everything that Bryan could throw at him and came back stronger, impressively displaying his power and athleticism to full effect on the night.
Seemingly everything Bryan did, Reigns had an answer for. If he hadn’t done so already, then this was the night on which Reigns marked his arrival as a talent who could easily have main event calibre matches. The match was hard hitting, to say the least, as both men unleashed some very nasty kicks and strikes throughout the course of the bout. Going just over 20 minutes, Reigns vs Bryan reached its conclusion when Roman countered an attempt at a running high knee by Bryan, into a Spear to get the pin and the win.
Bryan stood in the middle of the ring and endorsed Reigns following the match, shook his hand and told him that he needed to “kick Lesnar’s ass” at WrestleMania. Unfortunately, despite the solid match and the handshake, this was not enough to get the crowd on board, as the post-match interaction between the two men was greeted by boos from the audience.
Regardless, Reigns had just given us his first truly great main event PPV performance, and this surely boosted him and helped to ensure that his second would come just over a month later.
#3 Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar – WrestleMania 31
As WrestleMania 31 rolled around, it was clear that Roman Reigns’ babyface push had failed miserably. The disastrous 2015 Royal Rumble match, coupled with Reigns’ unpopular victory over Daniel Bryan at Fastlane had ensured that the fans were well and truly against him; Roman would head into his huge WWE Championship clash with Brock Lesnar as the man that barely anybody wanted to win.
However, due to his magnificent performance that night, Reigns won many people over.
What really stood out about Reigns’ performance against Lesnar was his selling and his facial expressions. The smug, smirky, superhuman Roman that we see on our screens today was absent that night, and in his place was a man who simply oozed passion and a will to win.
Following the brutal manner in which Lesnar hurled Reigns overhead with his usual display of Suplex-based dominance, Reigns actually allowed himself to show some vulnerability. Everybody could sense that there was a real chance that Reigns could actually get beaten, and beaten badly, and this actually got a large portion of the crowd behind Reigns at points during the match.
His sympathetic portrayal of the stalked prey was truly magnificent, but something that is sadly yet to be replicated since. As Reigns withstood everything Lesnar could throw at him, eventually going so far as to slap him, the match built at a beautiful pace until finally, everything broke loose and Brock ended up busted open by the ring post. Reigns rallied at this point, hitting Lesnar with three Superman Punches and two Spears, but this was still not enough.
Lesnar recovered to drop Reigns with an F5, leaving both men down and out. Alas, the dream ending was not forthcoming, as Seth Rollins entered the fray at this point to shockingly cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase, snatching the WWE Championship and robbing everybody of the chance to see a proper finish to Reigns and Lesnar’s epic battle in one fell swoop.
Reigns may not have won the title, but he sure did earn a tonne of respect from everybody watching.
#4 Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles – Payback, 2016
Roman Reigns met AJ Styles for the first time at Payback 2016, in a match that everybody simply couldn’t wait for. Styles seemed to be a perfect opponent for Reigns, a smaller athlete against whom Reigns could display a high level of power and aggression.
This, in fact, actually turned out to be the case, as the very different in-ring styles of the two men seemed to mesh brilliantly together, creating a highly entertaining match that had no shortage of drama. The match actually got restarted on two separate occasions, and the controversial nature of this battle led to Reigns and Styles facing off again at the following PPV, Extreme Rules. However, before we get into all that, let’s focus on Payback for a moment.
The match was first restarted when Reigns was counted out, after taking a Phenomenal Forearm through an announce table. Shane McMahon declared that the restarted match had a no count-out stipulation, but this was rendered pointless soon after when Reigns unintentionally hit a low blow on Styles, drawing the DQ.
This time, it was Stephanie McMahon who restarted the match, and made it a No DQ match. After this, Reigns hit two Superman Punches and was closing in on the victory when Gallows and Anderson appeared, to drag Styles to safety at ringside.
As the drama picked up, Gallows and Anderson assaulted Reigns, which left him prone to receive another Phenomenal Forearm from Styles. This was not enough to keep Reigns down, however, and The Usos soon joined the action in aid of their cousin, Roman.
Reigns then reminded everybody of his superb athleticism, throwing Styles out of the ring towards The Usos and Gallows and Anderson, before diving over the top rope to take out everybody on the floor below.
The action soon hit the ring again, and Reigns showed his tenacity by kicking out of a beautiful 450 Splash by AJ.
The match reached its pulsating conclusion as Styles got himself in a position to deliver yet another, final, Phenomenal Forearm. In a finish that appeared to be a carbon copy of the way Edge dispatched of Rey Mysterio at the 2008 Royal Rumble, Reigns hit a massive spear on a mid-air Styles to leave him lying motionless. Reigns then pinned Styles, securing his status as WWE Champion for a little while longer.
Just as important as his retention of the title, if not more so, was the fact that Roman had reminded everybody that, given the right opponent, he can be a highly entertaining superstar. His push may seem unfair at times, but times like these show us that Roman Reigns really can deliver when pushed.
#5 Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles – Extreme Rules, 2016
The second instalment of Reigns vs Styles was truly – to borrow a well-known catchphrase, “Phenomenal”. Everybody was fascinated to observe another collision between WWE’s handpicked number 1 guy, and the man who had recently entered the company after years of being widely recognised as the best in the business, and things certainly lived up to expectations.
Looking back, it has to be said that this match was all about AJ Styles. Having been in the company just under four months at this point, this match served as his coming of age party; he had reached the main event and was there to stay after putting in another amazing performance opposite Reigns.
However, this would not have been possible with just any man stood across the ring from him. The role that Roman Reigns had in making the match a great one has been greatly understated in the time since the event. Despite WWE presenting it as a babyface vs babyface clash, Reigns undoubtedly played the heel during this particular match, as the crowd sided with Styles, which worked to perfection in terms of portraying himself as the physically superior champion, and Styles as the gutsy, spirited athlete.
The pair fought into the crowd, brought out the weapons and had to navigate the involvement of The Usos and Gallows and Anderson to provide an absolutely fantastic example of a well-paced, enthralling Extreme Rules match. There were a number of huge spots during the match, including Styles being put through two different announce tables and Reigns taking a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles, who had leapt from the pre-show table in amongst the fans.
Anderson and Gallows then showed up to hit Reigns with a Boot of Doom and enable Styles to make a cover, which was unsuccessful. Following this, The Usos interfered and laid out Gallows and Anderson before both hitting Styles with a Superkick, then a Samoan Splash. Styles kicked out, which led into a breathless finale.
Reigns kicked out of one Styles Clash, and then received another one, but this time onto a chair. One of The Usos grabbed at Styles’ leg, momentarily delaying him making the cover and allowing Reigns to kick out again. Styles then duly went crazy with a chair, unleashing a barrage of shots onto Reigns and The Usos.
In a finish that echoed their clash at Payback, Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm, only to be met with a huge Spear, and that was it. Reigns had defeated AJ Styles, retained his title, and proven without a shadow of a doubt that he can deliver on the big stage.
