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Roman Reigns, according to many WWE fans, is the Superstar who is handpicked to steer WWE on for the years to come. WWE has tried to push Roman Reigns to the top but not many members of the WWE Universe have taken kindly to this decision. The fans have made it loud and clear with their consistent booing that they don't see The Big Dog as the poster boy of the WWE.
The company has fought long and hard to get its fans on the same page, but something just doesn't click. The fans have been adamant about not accepting Roman Reigns in the same light as the company does.
WWE may still pursue pushing Roman Reigns over with the fans but it has also used him to trick its fans into thinking that he would come out of a match the winner because it was too obvious.
When the dust settles and you see Reigns' opponent's hands raised by the referee, you are surprised and may even complement WWE for it pulling a fast one over you. Here we look at five such moments:
#5 Royal Rumble 2017: Roman Reigns loses twice in one night
Going into the 2017 Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns was feuding with Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship. At Roadblock in late 2016, Roman Reigns lost a match for the same Championship to Owens when Chris Jericho interfered and attacked Owens. The following night, Jericho revealed that he attacked Owens so that he could retain the Title against Reigns.
The next night, the then-GM of RAW, Mick Foley, made amends by awarding Reigns a rematch at the Royal Rumble PPV. During the build to the PPV, Foley also announced that the match would be a no DQ match with Jericho suspended in a shark cage above the ring.
We all knew that a cage wasn't going to stop the Ayatollah Of Rocknrolla from making his presence felt. He handed Owens a pair of brass knuckles, which Owens used after a frog splash on Roman Reigns through a table. After being put through a table, hit with brass knuckles and a stunner, The Big Dog didn't budge and was on the verge of putting Owens away when Braun Strowman came in and chokeslammed Reigns through the announce table. Owens quickly capitalized and pinned Reigns for the win.
Later in the night, Roman Reigns entered the Royal Rumble match as the final entrant. After eliminating four Superstars, Reigns was left in the ring with only Randy Orton in his way. Fans across the globe could feel the PPV closing with Roman Reigns pointing at the WrestleMania sign but Orton eliminated Reigns to book a shot at the WWE Title at WrestleMania 33
#4 Royal Rumble 2018: Shinsuke Nakamura eliminates Roman Reigns to win
In the year of his debut on the main roster, Shinsuke Nakamura went on to win the Royal Rumble. With Styles as Champion and on the same brand as Nakamura, WWE fans were excited about getting a chance to witness a dream bout between the two in a WWE ring.
When Styles retained his WWE Title at the PPV, the WWE Universe was a step closer to realizing this dream encounter, and the prospect of this taking place at WrestleMania was all the more exciting. For all the pieces of the puzzle to fit, Nakamura had to win the Royal Rumble.
The final two participants left in the match were Nakamura and Roman Reigns, who was relatively fresh as he had entered in the 28th position. When fans saw Roman Reigns in the final two, they had their hearts in their mouth. All they wanted was for Nakamura to eliminate Roman Reigns and face AJ Styles at WrestleMania.
After a few close calls, Nakamura eliminated Roman Reigns after a Kinshasa and immediately challenged The Phenomenal One for the WWE Title. Had Reigns won the Royal Rumble, fans would have been disappointed and hijacked the show.
#3 WrestleMania 34: Brock Lesnar beat Roman Reigns to retain the WWE Universal Championship
After coming so close to victory at the 2018 Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns won a shot at the WWE Universal Championship by winning the Elimination Chamber Match at the namesake PPV. At that time, Brock Lesnar was the reigning Champion and had made sporadic appearances with rare title defenses. His actions were highly criticized by Reigns as well as the WWE Universe.
The match between Lesnar and Reigns was built with high intensity. The Big Dog crossed the WWE Chairman which led to his suspension. Even though he was suspended, Reigns showed up on RAW and confronted Lesnar which led to his arrest. Paul Heyman too teased the feud between the two on the premise that they were the only Superstars to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
In the match, Brock Lesnar annihilated Roman Reigns but The Big Dog kicked out of five F5s which included one on the announcer's table. The fans anticipated Roman Reigns to walk out with the Universal Championship because he was built as the face of WWE and rumors about Lesnar not re-signing with WWE were up in the air.
When Lesnar hit the sixth and final F5, which Roman Reigns didn't kick out of, it surprised the WWE Universe as they were served with something they didn't expect at all.
#2 The Greatest Royal Rumble 2018: Roman Reigns loses his steel cage match against Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar walking out of WrestleMania 34 as the WWE Universal Champion stunned all WWE fans. The next night, it was announced that he had re-signed with WWE and that he would be defending his Title against Roman Reigns at The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. This match was slated to take place in a steel cage.
Fans were perplexed at WWE's decision to give Lesnar the win, but they were sure that this only delayed the moment Roman Reigns would be crowned Universal Champion. WWE tried to portray Reigns as the victim but that didn't help his cause as nobody bought it.
At the event, Roman Reigns dominated Lesnar for most of the match. But when Roman Reigns tried to leave the cage through the main door, Paul Heyman denied him by ramming the door into his head. This gallowed Lesnar to capitalize and hit Roman Reigns with an F5 but for a near fall.
After 3 spears, Roman Reigns hit another spear on Lesnar but put him through the steel cage, collapsing the wall of the cage. Even though Reigns' foot hit the floor first, the referees declared Lesnar the winner, costing Reigns another chance of holding the WWE Universal Championship.
#1 WrestleMania 31: The heist of the century
In 2015, Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble match that guaranteed him a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship that was held by Brock Lesnar. The fans weren't very pleased that WWE's chosen one was given a shot at the WWE Championship over the very popular Daniel Bryan. To make matters worse, The Big Dog defeated the Leader of The Yes Movement at Fastlane a month before WrestleMania.
Lesnar, as usual, dominated the match with his series of German Suplexes and F5s. Midway, Roman Reigns pushed Lesnar into the ring post, cutting Lesnar on the forehead. The challenger capitalized on this moment and hit Lesnar with three Superman Punches and two consecutive Spears for a near fall. Lesnar then caught Reigns with an F5 but was unable to cover him.
The crowd was very sure that this was Roman Reigns' crowning moment and that nothing could stop him. Until we heard Seth Rollins' music across the stadium and Mr. MITB ran down to cash in his briefcase. What followed was a Curbstomp, an F5 attempt that ended in a Spear and a final Curbstomp by Rollins on Roman Reigns to get the three count.
