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Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Roman Reigns has had one of the most successful half-decades in WWE history.
Since debuting on the main roster in 2012, he has won the WWE Championship three times, headlined WrestleMania three times, defeated the likes of Triple H and John Cena, and even retired The Undertaker.
It’s almost five years since “The Big Dog” made his first appearance in a WWE ring, so we thought now would be a good time to take a unique look at what the future might hold for the man from Pensacola, Florida.
Using WWE 2K18’s Universe Mode, we simulated the next five years of Reigns’ career to see how WWE’s new video game rates his chances of replicating the success he has already achieved in the company.
Will he win the Royal Rumble again? How many times will he main-event WrestleMania? Will he break the World Championship record?
The Shield member is almost certain to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34, so our simulation begins with that match and covers his subsequent five years in WWE, up to and including March 2023.
Year 1: March 2018 to April 2019
March 2018 - Reigns loses to Lesnar
At WrestleMania 34, Reigns was able to do something that Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman couldn’t: kick out of the F5. But he couldn’t kick out of a second F5, as you can witness in the video below, and Lesnar retained his Universal Championship. However, it wasn’t long before a feud with Dean Ambrose saw both Shield members re-enter the title picture at Money In The Bank, where Reigns pinned Brock to win the title.
July 2018 - Big Dog dominates
On a July episode of Raw, the new Universal champion warned the WWE Universe that he was “ready for a change”, possibly hinting at a future heel turn. The next week, he picked up a big win over Finn Balor and, after being called out by Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, he went on to retain his title against “The Kingslayer” at Hell In A Cell and Survivor Series.
December 2018 - Title loss & Apollo challenge
It was at this point that things started to go badly wrong for Reigns. He was defeated by Kane and Karl Anderson in non-title matches and then went one-on-one with his most dangerous challenger yet: Samoa Joe. “The Destroyer” won the title from “The Big Dog” at Roadblock and was victorious in their Royal Rumble rematch. This prompted a frustrated Roman to attack Apollo Crews, leading to a WrestleMania 35 match with the Titus Worldwide member, which the former Universal champion won.
Year 2: April 2019 to March 2020
April 2019 - Unfinished business
The rivalry with Apollo Crews continued after WrestleMania 35. At the Payback PPV, the Titus Worldwide member earned a massive victory over Roman and even pinned Seth Rollins clean on Raw the night after, but the man who retired The Undertaker would have the final say by winning their third PPV encounter at Extreme Rules.
October 2019 - Six-man Hell In A Cell!
After losing his Universal Championship earlier in the year, Reigns set his sights on Raw’s secondary title midway through 2019. He pinned Intercontinental champion Luke Gallows in a non-title match on Raw and was one of six men to do battle for the championship in a Hell In A Cell match. He looked set to get the victory, as you can see in the clip below, but Big Show was the eventual winner.
March 2020 - Ambrose turns on Reigns
Reigns reunited with his Shield partners to defeat Team Balor at Survivor Series. However, the next few weeks would see Ambrose repeatedly call out his former best friend and even eliminate him from the Royal Rumble. At WrestleMania 36, just like the previous year against Apollo, Reigns got his revenge by pinning his rival for the 1-2-3 on “The Grandest Stage of Them All”.
Year 3: April 2020 to March 2021
June 2020 - The Shield collides
Reigns had a series of matches with Dean Ambrose following their WrestleMania 36 feud, as you can see in the video below. The rivalry culminated at the Extreme Rules PPV, where the Pensacola-born Superstar won a steel cage match to become the No.1 contender for Seth Rollins’ Universal Championship. However, Samoa Joe was also involved in the match, making it a Triple Threat, and Rollins was able to pin Roman for the win.
December 2020 - Reigns turns heel!
Mark it on your calendars, people: Roman Reigns turned heel on December 14, 2020! The night after Survivor Series, where Team Reigns defeated Team Balor again, Roman called out Universal champion Rollins to debate which of them really is top of the WWE food chain. The next night on Raw, Seth defeated Titus O’Neil but was brutally attacked post-match by Roman, who turned not only on his former best friend but also on the WWE Universe.
March 2021 - Title reign lasts 28 days
Seth was able to retain his title against Reigns at Roadblock, and then again in a rematch at the Royal Rumble. However, “The Guy” was afforded a third and final opportunity against his former Shield buddy at Fastlane, where he captured his second Universal Championship. While Roman’s first reign with the title lasted 154 days, this one lasted just 28 days. In the main event of WrestleMania 37, he was defeated by Royal Rumble winner Sheamus.
Year 4: April 2021 to March 2022
July 2021 - The empire crumbles
After his loss to Sheamus, “The Big Dog” was restricted to just four matches in as many months. He traded victories with Curtis Axel at Payback and Extreme Rules, then won an 8-man battle royal on Raw to become the No.1 contender for Samoa Joe’s Intercontinental Championship. The title match took place at Battleground but, as is the way when Reigns and Joe meet, “The Destroyer” came out on top.
November 2021 - Reigns can’t handle this!
With no major feuds on the horizon, Reigns decided to attack Rich Swann during a promo segment on Raw, setting up a match at Survivor Series. The former Universal champion was victorious against the fan favourite, as you would expect, but the cruiserweight produced one of the biggest shocks in WWE history when he defeated the 265lb Samoan in a rematch at the Royal Rumble.
March 2022 - Another WrestleMania defeat
Still reeling from the shock loss to a man half his size, Reigns interrupted familiar foe Seth Rollins two weeks later on Raw. “The Architect” went on to pick up two wins against his old rival, largely thanks to interference from Sheamus, and brought back memories of WrestleMania 31 by beating his former friend again on the biggest stage.
Year 5: April 2022 to March 2023
July 2022 - The Sheamus saga
In front of the raucous night-after-WrestleMania crowd, Reigns had just defeated Apollo Crews when Sheamus called “The Big Dog” out. Unlike the previous year, when Sheamus beat Roman for the title at WrestleMania 37, this rivalry was only going to be won by one person. They fought at Payback, Extreme Rules and Money In The Bank, and the former Shield member was victorious on all three occasions.
October 2022 - Reigns loses his touch
Reigns attempted to work his way back into title contention following his wins over Sheamus. He took on Raw’s two main champions, Cesaro and Braun Strowman, in non-title matches but lost on both occasions. After a series of defeats, former WrestleMania rival Rollins told Roman during a promo that he had “lost his touch”.
March 2023 - Reigns finally beats Samoa Joe
Rollins’ wise words appeared to have worked. “The Guy” got back on track with a victory over The Miz and won back-to-back PPV Triple Threat matches against Seth and Big Show. At WrestleMania 39, the three-way match was booked to take place again, with the addition of Samoa Joe – someone Reigns hadn't defeated in six years – to make it a Fatal 4-way. Finally, he was victorious, pinning “The Destroyer” clean for the 1-2-3.
Final statistics
Final take
There we have it, folks. Roman Reigns is only going to main-event one more WrestleMania – against Sheamus, of all people – and he will officially turn heel on December 14, 2020.
Along the way, he’s going to lose a PPV match against Rich Swann in January 2022, and we’ll have to wait until March 2023 for Reigns to pin Samoa Joe clean again in the middle of a WWE ring.
For those wondering, the main event of WrestleMania 39 saw Intercontinental champion Braun Strowman defeat Universal champion Finn Balor to combine the top two titles on Raw.
Maybe, just maybe, Reigns isn’t the new face of WWE after all!
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