5 WWE Superstars who wrecked Roman Reigns and left with his title

Given that Roman Reigns has been one of WWE’s most prominent Superstars over the last eight years, it is somewhat surprising that he has only been defeated for a singles title on five occasions.

Following The Shield’s separation in June 2014, Roman Reigns immediately emerged as WWE’s top babyface Superstar of the future.

The Big Dog won the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble and went on to headline WrestleMania in each of the next four years.

Along the way, Roman Reigns has won the WWE Championship (x3), Universal Championship (x2), Intercontinental Championship, and United States Championship. He also held the Tag Team titles with fellow Shield member Seth Rollins in 2013.

Roman Reigns returned to WWE in August 2020 after five months off television. Not only did he return with a new ally, Paul Heyman, and a new attitude, but he also had a new slogan: wreck everyone and leave.

So far, Roman Reigns has done exactly that. WWE’s Tribal Chief won the Universal Championship from “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at Payback and he successfully defended the title against his cousin, Jey Uso, at Clash of Champions.

Although this new version of Roman Reigns has been well-received by the WWE Universe, long-term fans will know that the four-time WrestleMania main-eventer has not always been the unstoppable force that he is right now.

In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who wrecked Roman Reigns and left with one of his singles titles.

#5 Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns (WWE Championship, Survivor Series 2015)

Roman Reigns became one of WWE’s most polarizing Superstars at the start of 2015 when his Royal Rumble triumph was met with loud boos by the WWE Universe.

It looked as though the former Shield member was going to follow up his Royal Rumble victory with a win over Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 31. However, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Six months after that memorable moment, Rollins had to vacate his title after suffering a serious knee injury at a WWE live event in Dublin, Ireland.

As a result, the Rollins vs. Roman Reigns match at Survivor Series 2015 was scrapped and WWE announced a tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

The final of that tournament saw Roman Reigns defeat another former Shield colleague, Dean Ambrose, in the main event at Survivor Series.

At that point, the victory should have been the greatest moment of Roman Reigns’ career – but then “Sheamus 5:15” happened.

Just five minutes and 15 seconds after claiming his first World Championship, Roman Reigns’ reign was over. Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and quickly defeated The Big Dog to become a four-time WWE World Champion.

As you can see in the main picture for this article, an emotional Roman Reigns had tears in his eyes after the monumental setback.

#4 Triple H won Roman Reigns' WWE Championship (Royal Rumble 2016)

“Wreck everyone and leave” is exactly what Triple H did when he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Roman Reigns at the 2016 Royal Rumble.

The 30-man match had a “One Versus All” tagline, with Roman Reigns being forced to defend his title against 29 other WWE Superstars after entering the Royal Rumble from the #1 position.

Needless to say, the odds were firmly stacked against Roman Reigns. He was a target for all four members of The League of Nations (Alberto Del Rio, King Barrett, Rusev, and Sheamus), as well as Triple H and Vince McMahon.

After surviving an attack from The League of Nations, Roman Reigns made it down to the final four WWE Superstars in the match, along with Dean Ambrose, Sheamus, and Triple H.

Roman Reigns succeeded in eliminating Sheamus, only for Triple H to throw him over the top rope.

The Game, who entered at #30, then eliminated Ambrose to win the match, claiming his 14th WWE World Championship in the process.

#3 Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns (WWE Championship, Money in the Bank 2016)

Two months after Roman Reigns’ WWE Royal Rumble 2016 setback, he defeated Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 32 to regain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Roman Reigns went on to defend the title against WWE newcomer AJ Styles at Payback and Extreme Rules. The closing stages of the latter pay-per-view saw the returning Seth Rollins attack The Big Dog, setting up a one-on-one match between the two men at Money in the Bank.

The Architect of The Shield then defeated Roman Reigns at Money in the Bank to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

However, Dean Ambrose immediately cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title from Rollins, meaning all three Shield members held WWE’s top title in the space of a few minutes.

So, technically, Rollins did wreck Roman Reigns and leave the match with his title, but he did not keep hold of it for very long.

It emerged shortly after the PPV that Roman Reigns had been suspended by WWE for 30 days due to a violation of the company's Wellness Policy.

One month later, Ambrose defeated Roman Reigns and Rollins in a Triple Threat match at Battleground to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

#2 Chris Jericho defeated Roman Reigns (United States Championship, WWE RAW)

The January 9, 2017 episode of WWE RAW saw Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens defeat Roman Reigns in a 2-on-1 handicap match for the United States Championship.

Four months earlier, Roman Reigns won the United States Championship from Rusev at the Clash of Champions 2016 pay-per-view.

Throughout his title reign, the United States Championship seemed like nothing more than a prop for Roman Reigns. This was summed up at Roadblock: End of the Line when he faced Owens in the main event, but only Owens’ Universal Championship was on the line.

Three weeks after that pay-per-view, Jericho and Owens joined forces to end Roman Reigns’ disappointing reign as United States Champion.

The finish to the match saw Owens powerbomb Roman Reigns against the ring apron. Jericho then hit his Codebreaker finisher on his opponent in the middle of the ring to pick up a decisive victory.

At the time, Jericho and Owens were the top two heel Superstars on the RAW roster.

Their handicap win over Roman Reigns meant they possessed both male singles titles on the red brand, with Jericho holding the United States Championship and Owens holding the Universal Championship.

#1 The Miz defeated Roman Reigns (Intercontinental Championship, WWE RAW)

Roman Reigns unsuccessfully challenged for the Universal Championship again when he faced Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, and Samoa Joe in a Fatal 4-Way match at WWE SummerSlam 2017.

Following a short feud with John Cena, Roman Reigns set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his WWE career.

The Big Dog’s first Intercontinental Championship match ended in a disqualification win over The Miz on the October 2, 2017 episode of RAW, meaning The Miz retained his title.

Seven weeks later, Roman Reigns defeated The A-Lister on the November 20, 2017 episode of RAW to win his first Intercontinental Championship.

Roman Reigns went on to defend the title against Superstars including Elias and Jason Jordan in the weeks that followed, while he even defeated Triple H in an Intercontinental Championship match in Abu Dhabi.

Fast forward to the 25th anniversary episode of RAW on January 22, 2018, and Roman Reigns’ two-month Intercontinental Championship reign came to an abrupt end.

The Miz, who has become synonymous with the Intercontinental Championship in recent years, launched Roman Reigns into an exposed turnbuckle during their one-on-one title rematch.

He then followed up with his Skull Crushing Finale finisher to record a huge victory over one of WWE’s top Superstars.