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It’s official: Roman Reigns has held the WWE Universal Championship for an entire year.
The Tribal Chief defeated Braun Strowman and The Fiend at WWE Payback on August 30, 2020 to win his second Universal Championship. Since then, he has defeated superstars and legends including Edge and John Cena in what has arguably turned out to be the best 365 days of his career.
While Reigns has created several career-defining moments over the last year, his title reign has also had its fair share of ups and downs.
In this article, let’s take a look at six positives and four negatives from Reigns’ 365 days as Universal Champion.
#10 Positive: Paul Heyman singing Roman Reigns’ praises on Talking Smack
Talking Smack was introduced as SmackDown's post-show which got axed. It's 2020 reboot had a lot to live up to, and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
Paul Heyman’s amusing digs at host Kayla Braxton made for entertaining viewing. He also frequently referenced topics that fans would not expect to hear about on WWE television, such as Samoa Joe’s release from the company.
Best of all, no matter who the guests were, Heyman turned almost every conversation around and made it all about Roman Reigns. Thanks to his special counsel, Reigns’ superstar status grew more and more by the week, and he didn’t even need to say a word.
#9 Negative: Roman Reigns vs. Jimmy Uso did not happen
Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso was one of the most compelling WWE storylines of 2020. Jey initially refused to acknowledge Reigns as The Head of the Table of their family. After suffering numerous beatdowns he was then left with little choice but to become Reigns’ right-hand man.
WWE began telling a similar story after Jimmy Uso returned to television in April 2021 following a year out of action. At one stage, it looked as though Reigns vs. Jimmy Uso could be WWE’s next big feud, possibly leading to a pay-per-view main event.
We may never know the full story, since Jimmy’s real-life DUI arrest in June 2021 appeared to alter WWE’s plans. Instead of feuding with Reigns, Jimmy joined forces with the Universal Champion and WWE stopped planting seeds about a possible match between the cousins.
#8 Positive: Fans appreciate how good Roman Reigns really is
Despite being presented as WWE’s top babyface, Roman Reigns received more boos than almost anyone on the roster between 2015 and 2020. He was even taunted with occasional chants of “You can’t wrestle!” from fans at WWE events.
Even Reigns’ biggest detractors know he can wrestle. The problem was simply that his character had become stale after so many years and fans had seen enough of the same old routine.
Now that the five-time WrestleMania main-eventer is a heel, fans have come to appreciate just how good he really is. When fans used to boo Reigns, they disliked the presentation of his character. Now when fans boo Reigns, they do so because they dislike the villainous antics that he gets up to every week on television.
#7 Negative: Roman Reigns’ predictable victories
Roman Reigns’ title reign has included wins over Braun Strowman, The Fiend, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, Edge, Cesaro, Rey Mysterio and John Cena.
Realistically, Reigns was always likely to defeat the majority of them. Edge and Cena could potentially have dethroned The Tribal Chief but they were ultimately unsuccessful.
WWE deserves credit for making every Reigns feud seem compelling, especially when his matches often have predictable outcomes.
Finn Balor is set to challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship on the next episode of WWE SmackDown. Once again, the story has been great and the match will undoubtedly receive rave reviews, but the end result seems quite obvious: Reigns retains.
#6 Positive: Roman Reigns elevates his opponents
With respect to Cesaro and Jey Uso, neither superstar would have main-evented a WWE pay-per-view if their opponent was not Roman Reigns.
Jey Uso lost against Reigns in the Clash of Champions 2020 main event before losing against him again a month later inside Hell in a Cell. Earlier this year, Cesaro unsuccessfully challenged for Reigns’ title in the main event of WrestleMania Backlash.
Despite their losses, both Cesaro and Jey Uso were elevated simply by going one-on-one with The Head of the Table. The latter has even earned himself the nickname “Main Event Jey,” which surely would not have been possible without his association with Reigns.
#5 Negative: Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble botch
Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match at the 2021 Royal Rumble to retain his Universal Championship. While the match was of a high standard, the finish did not go anywhere near as smoothly as initially planned.
Paul Heyman was supposed to unlock Reigns from a set of handcuffs to break the referee’s 10-count. However, he struggled to free the Universal Champion from the cuffs, causing a lengthy delay. The referee even stopped his count at five to prevent Reigns from losing his title.
Former WWE referee Mike Chioda recently said he would have counted to 10 if he was in charge of the match. If that happened, Owens would have won the Universal Championship from Reigns in one of the biggest botches of all time.
#4 Positive: The return of long-term storytelling
The majority of Roman Reigns' storylines over the last 365 days have been months and, in some cases, years in the making. Not only does this make for better storytelling, but it rewards loyal fans who have watched WWE’s weekly shows for several years.
WWE often receives criticism for its tendency to suddenly change storylines week by week. This has not been the case with Reigns. With the exception of the Jimmy Uso development, Roman Reigns' storylines are clearly planned several weeks ahead of time.
Paul Heyman’s Talking Smack role also helped contribute toward building Reigns’ next title challengers. Bryan, Cesaro and the current Mr. Money in the Bank, Big E, all informed Heyman months in advance that they were targeting Reigns.
#3 Negative: Roman Reigns has almost run out of credible title contenders
Granted, Roman Reigns might have helped elevate the people he has worked with over the last year, but what about everyone else?
Looking at the rest of the WWE roster, only Brock Lesnar seems a credible contender to win Reigns’ Universal Championship. Big E also poses a threat to The Tribal Chief’s title reign, but the Money in the Bank holder is lacking momentum right now.
If Lesnar fails to win the title, Goldberg and The Rock are probable challengers in the next 12-18 months. But, much like Edge and John Cena, neither of those legends are likely to dethrone Reigns as Universal Champion.
#2 Positive: Every Roman Reigns match is must-see
Roman Reigns is one of a select few WWE stars who can claim that every one of their matches is must-see. The Undertaker’s matches had that aura in the last decade of his career, while Brock Lesnar’s matches also had a must-watch feeling in 2014-2015.
Nowadays, Reigns is that guy. His matches over the last year have been among the best of his career, both from an in-ring perspective but also from a storytelling aspect. The fact that he rarely competes on WWE SmackDown also helps make his long-awaited matches more meaningful.
Reigns tweeted in 2019 that he is “The Best Performance Fighter Alive.” Based on his work in 2020 and 2021, it’s hard to disagree.
#1 Positive: The best 365 days of Roman Reigns’ career
Remember when Roman Reigns faced Baron Corbin in a five-month feud surrounding dog-food on SmackDown? Or when fans hijacked Reigns’ pay-per-view matches in 2018 with nonsensical chants because they were bored? Those days are long gone.
Love him or loathe him, WWE fans are fully invested in this version of Reigns’ character. They boo because his on-screen persona is a bad guy, not because they want him away from the main-event scene.
Simply put, The Head of the Table has had one of the greatest 365 days in WWE history. The question now is how long he can keep hold of the Universal Championship.
