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Roman Reigns rarely lost high-profile WWE rivalries during his first five years as a singles competitor between 2014 and 2019. Granted, he sometimes found it difficult to overcome Superstars including Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar, but he usually emerged with a victory in the end.
If WWE fans thought Roman Reigns won a lot of matches in that time, his 2014-2019 win ratio pales in comparison to 2020. In the last 12 months, Roman Reigns has won 29 of his 32 WWE matches (90.6 percent win ratio). The statistic is made even more impressive by the fact that he did not suffer any pinfall or submission losses throughout the year.
Roman Reigns failed to win two tag team matches in 2020, with one ending in a no contest and the other ending in a disqualification. He also failed to win the 2020 Royal Rumble match. Other than those exceptions, The Tribal Chief won every other match that he competed in last year.
The WWE TLC 2019 pay-per-view was the last time that Roman Reigns lost via pinfall. That event saw King Corbin receive assistance from Dolph Ziggler and The Revival to defeat the former Shield member in a TLC match.
Now, after going a full year without losing via pinfall, it is inevitable that Roman Reigns will suffer a pinfall loss at some stage.
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who could realistically pin the Universal Champion in 2021.
#5 Kevin Owens
With respect to Kevin Owens, he does not look likely to pin Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in the near future. Owens failed to win the title from The Tribal Chief in a TLC match at TLC and in a steel cage match on SmackDown. He also suffered storyline injuries after being thrown off the WWE ThunderDome set by his rival.
Of course, even without winning the Universal Championship, there is still a chance that Owens could pin Roman Reigns.
Carmella recently pinned Sasha Banks in a tag team match on SmackDown to further their SmackDown Women’s Championship storyline. Perhaps a similar thing could happen in the Universal Championship storyline when Owens is healthy enough to compete again.
Kevin Owens’ history with Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens feuded over the Universal Championship in late 2016/early 2017. The roles were reversed on that occasion, with Owens playing the bad guy and Reigns playing the good guy.
Owens’ most notable pinfall win over Roman Reigns came at the 2017 Royal Rumble. Braun Strowman interfered in the match and attacked The Big Dog, allowing Owens to place his arm over his opponent to retain the title.
#4 Big E
Roman Reigns vs. Big E does not appear to be on the horizon just yet. Right now, Roman Reigns is feuding with Kevin Owens over the Universal Championship, while Big E only recently became the new Intercontinental Champion.
Realistically, there is no reason why Big E cannot enter the Universal Championship picture at some stage in 2021. Roman Reigns’ special counsel, Paul Heyman, has even said on Talking Smack that Big E could be a future opponent for The Tribal Chief.
Whether it happens in the near future or after WrestleMania 37, it is inevitable that Big E will face Roman Reigns in 2021.
Big E’s history with Roman Reigns
Remarkably, Big E and Roman Reigns have never faced each other one-on-one. Their most famous match against each other arguably came at Survivor Series 2017, where The Shield defeated The New Day in a six-man tag match.
Given that both Superstars joined WWE’s main roster in late 2012, it is staggering that their paths have not yet crossed in singles competition.
The two men have shared the ring on 23 occasions on WWE’s main roster, but many of those matches were Battle Royals.
#3 Drew McIntyre
The Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre rivalry is far from over. The two men faced off in a Champion vs. Champion match at WWE Survivor Series 2020, with Roman Reigns emerging with the victory. As is often the case with The Tribal Chief’s high-profile triumphs, he required assistance from Jey Uso to pick up the win.
Since then, Roman Reigns has focused on his feud with Kevin Owens on SmackDown. Over on RAW, Drew McIntyre has feuded with AJ Styles and The Miz in recent weeks, while he has also taken subtle digs at Roman Reigns.
The next Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre match is unlikely to take place before or at WrestleMania 37. However, there is still every chance that the two men could meet in 2021, with McIntyre picking up a huge pinfall win over his long-term rival.
Drew McIntyre’s history with Roman Reigns
Including their Survivor Series 2020 match, Roman Reigns has faced Drew McIntyre in four televised singles matches in WWE. The most famous of those matches came when the former Shield member defeated McIntyre at WrestleMania 35.
Roman Reigns also defeated the Scot at Stomping Grounds 2019 and in a match on WWE RAW in May 2019.
#2 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan has made it clear that he intends to win the 2021 Royal Rumble and go on to defeat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37. Realistically, the match looks set to happen at some point this year. It is just a question of whether it gets booked for WrestleMania or a different PPV.
Back in 2019, all signs appeared to point towards a rivalry between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns on SmackDown. For reasons that are still unknown, the storyline took a drastic twist and the two men ended up joining forces to face The Bludgeon Brothers. Bryan then feuded with Bray Wyatt, while Reigns faced King Corbin.
Interestingly, Bryan’s WWE contract is due to expire in 2021 and he has all but confirmed that he will not re-sign another full-time deal. If that is the case, then Roman Reigns could be his last major rival as a full-time Superstar.
Daniel Bryan’s history with Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan at Fastlane 2015 to set up his WrestleMania 31 main event against Brock Lesnar. To this day, the match remains one of the most impressive in-ring performances of Reigns’ career.
#1 Brock Lesnar
It is fair to say that the majority of the WWE Universe did not have much excitement for Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania matches. Their WrestleMania 31 match exceeded expectations, but the WrestleMania 34 rematch was essentially hijacked by fans who never even wanted it to take place.
Now, under different circumstances, there would be very few complaints if WWE booked another Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar match in 2021. The reason for that is simple: Paul Heyman.
Before Roman Reigns’ heel turn, there would have been no need for his storyline with Lesnar to be revisited. Now that he is aligned with Heyman, it would make sense for the former WrestleMania opponents to battle it out again when Lesnar returns.
As of the time of writing, The Beast is believed to be a free agent. Contract talks between Lesnar and WWE hit an impasse in 2020, according to PW Insider’s Mike Johnson. However, that does not necessarily mean that he will not appear in WWE again.
Goldberg is another probable opponent for Roman Reigns in 2021, but the chances of him pinning the former Shield member are very slim.
Brock Lesnar’s history with Roman Reigns
As well as their WrestleMania matches, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar also fought at the Greatest Royal Rumble and SummerSlam in 2018. The rivalry ended at SummerSlam, with The Big Dog finally defeating his rival to win the Universal Championship.
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