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Roman Reigns debuted on WWE television at the 2012 Survivor Series held on November 18 of that year.
He was one third of a new faction, The Shield, which would go on to dominate WWE for two years, beating anybody and everybody in their path.
Reigns was the least experienced of his teammates. Dean Ambrose had wrestled for years on the independent scene as Jon Moxley (the moniker he would return to in AEW in 2019), where he had competed for a wide array of promotions including the ultra violent CZW, as well as Dragon Gate and FIP. Seth Rollins was previously known as Tyler Black and had reigned as ROH World Champion, following in the footsteps of the likes of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe. Reigns was largely an unknown quantity in comparison.
However, Reigns had the familiar connections. His father is WWE Hall of Famer, Sika, one half of the Wild Samoans, his brother wrestled in WWE as Rosey and his cousins include WWE Hall of Famers Yokozuna and Rikishi. His cousins once removed are The Usos and The Rock. Reigns had a legacy that his faction brothers could not compete with. He also had the look, size and dimensions that Vince McMahon demands of his headline superstars.
Although most observers expected Ambrose and Rollins to be the breakout performers of The Shield (indeed it was Ambrose who first tasted singles gold in WWE, reigning as United States Champion for one year between 2013 and 2014), Reigns was the one who was first positioned as a headline talent in late 2013.
His coronation as WWE Champion was supposed to occur at WrestleMania 31, but the boos that had plagued the 'Big Dog' since his 2015 Royal Rumble victory showed no signs of abating. WWE had misjudged the public mood and were caught unaware when the WWE Universe chose Daniel Bryan as their main man instead.
Forced to change tack, WWE instead gave the belt to Rollins at WrestleMania and crowned Reigns as champion at the 2015 Survivor Series instead. The experiment failed and Reigns would lose, win and lose the belt at incredible speed as WWE tried all sorts of booking tricks to direct cheers instead of boos at Reigns. All attempts failed.
They tried again at WrestleMania 32. This slideshow covers whether WWE were successful at the third time of asking.
Previous parts in my series can be found here: Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16. part 17, part 18 and part 19.
Stay tuned for the final part in my series bringing the WWE Championship right up to date soon!
Roman Reigns (April 3, 2016 - June 19, 2016)
Roman Reigns as WWE Champion has never worked. That fact is evidenced by how quickly the company relieved him of the title after winning it, time after time. His third title reign was no exception, however this time he did not lose it due his unpopularity. He was relieved of the belt due to outside the ring issues.
Reigns was suspended for 30 days, two days after Money in the Bank on June 19, 2016.
That suspension was related to a failure of WWE's Wellness Policy due to substance abuse. Therefore, Reigns had to lose the belt at Money in the Bank, earlier than planned. That title loss came in a one on one battle with Seth Rollins.
Reigns title reign was over. It had begun 77 days earlier at WrestleMania when the Big Dog defeated Triple H in the main event. This was meant to be another coronation of Reigns as the main man in WWE. Once again, due to unforeseen circumstances this time, that eventuality had to be put on ice.
Reigns has yet to regain the WWE Championship. Expect him to do so in 2020.
Seth Rollins (June 19, 2016 - June 19, 2016)
Seth Rollins never lost the WWE Championship. His 220-day reign ended on November 4, 2016 when he was forced to give away the belt due to injury. After more than six months on the shelf, Rollins returned at Extreme Rules and attacked WWE Champion Roman Reigns after the Big Dog had successfully defended the strap versus AJ Styles.
That set up a singles encounter at Money in the Bank, where Rollins defeated Reigns to win back the title he never lost.
However, his celebration was to be short lived when his former buddy, Dean Ambrose, who earlier in the show had won the Money in the Bank briefcase, rained on the new champion's parade by successfully cashing in the contract to win the WWE Championship.
Rollins's second title reign was over just as soon as it had begun as Ambrose emerged as the new WWE Champion.
This marked the final time Rollins would hold the WWE Championship. Rollins's subsequent World title runs would be with the Universal Championship in 2019, when he defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and SummerSlam.
With the WWE Championship back on RAW in November 2019, Rollins now has the opportunity to add a third title reign to his resume.
Dean Ambrose (June 19, 2016 - September 11, 2016)
Dean Ambrose finally won the WWE Championship at the 2016 edition of the Money in the Bank pay per view.
He would be the final member of The Shield to win a World Title, after Seth Rollins had done so at WrestleMania 31 in April 2015 and Roman Reigns that November at Survivor Series.
That fact is surprising, as back in 2012 and 2013, it was Ambrose who was pegged as the most likely of the Shield team to become a headline star.
With Hannibal Lecter inspired promos, an eerie presence and the most accomplished in-ring skills of the triumvirate, Ambrose was seen to be destined for singles greatness. Indeed, it was he who reigned as United States Champion for a year between 2013 and 2014, while Reigns and Rollins fought over Tag Team gold.
Ambrose's long awaited title win was memorable but his subsequent reign did not live up to expectations. It didn't help that his biggest feud as champion came against perennial mid-card act Dolph Ziggler, whom he defeated at SummerSlam.
Despite Ambrose's fine in-ring performances and his presence and dynamism on promos, his character often veered into goofy territory, which did not fit well within the World title picture.
Ambrose would never be considered for a WWE Championship run again and frustrated with the creative process in the company, he left WWE when his contract expired in April 2019. He is currently portraying a much more maniacal character under his old moniker, Jon Moxley in AEW to great fanfare.
AJ Styles (September 11, 2016 - January 29, 2017)
AJ Styles as WWE Champion seemed unthinkable for a long time. Despite reigning as NWA, TNA and IWGP World Champion over the prior decade, he did not fit the profile of a World Champion in Vince McMahon's company.
It came as a surprise then that Styles ascended the ladder in WWE to reach the pinnacle and hold the WWE title in just eight months.
Styles made a surprise appearance as an entrant in the 2016 Royal Rumble match and quickly segued into a feud with WWE veteran, Chris Jericho. The pair traded wins at Fastlane and WrestleMania 32.
Styles looked like he would spend the winter years of his career as an upper mid-carder in the WWE system. However, a feud with John Cena over the summer transformed his fortunes. He contested in some of the finest matches of Cena's career at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam.
His stock at an all time high in the company, WWE made the call to switch the strap from the faltering WWE Champion, Ambrose to Styles at Backlash 2016. Styles, against all odds was WWE Champion.
John Cena (January 29, 2017 - February 12, 2017)
John Cena challenged frequent foe, AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at the 2017 Royal Rumble event. The pair had had electric chemistry in their previous battles and their 'Rumble collision was their best yet. Full of thrilling big moves and near falls, the finish came when Cena vanquished Styles with the Attitude Adjustment to win a joint record 16th World Championship.
The original plan called for fellow 16-time World Champion, Ric Flair to present new champion, Cena with the title post-match. Plans changed however and Cena celebrated alone.
Perhaps, WWE has been saving that moment for when Cena wins a record-breaking 17th title. However, with Cena now a special attraction only due to his burgeoning Hollywood career, it seems likely that Cena will retire as a 16-time champion only.
Where Cena stands alone, however, is his 13 WWE Championship victories. That is four more than the nearest rival, Triple H who has won nine titles. That record is one that will likely stand for longer than Flair's World title record did before he shared it with Cena.
Bray Wyatt (February 12, 2017 - April 2, 2017)
When WWE announced the six participants in the 2017 Elimination Chamber, nobody expected Bray Wyatt to walk out of the brutal structure as the new WWE Champion.
The competition was stiff. The defending champion was John Cena, who had only lifted the belt two weeks earlier from AJ Styles at the 2017 Royal Rumble. Also featured in the match were former WWE Champions Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles and The Miz plus rising star, Baron Corbin. Wyatt, in contrast was a star on the decline.
Wyatt, had been one of WWE's breakout stars in 2013, but a damaging feud with Cena, in which he was repeatedly and soundly beaten, was followed up by lacklustre feuds with the likes of Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns to name a few. Wyatt's earlier career promise had been long extinguished prior to February 2017.
It was a colossal shock then, when Wyatt pinned Styles and Cena to win his first World Championship.
Fan's hopes that this was the beginning of a renewed push were quickly dashed when Wyatt dropped the title less than two months later in a mediocre battle with 2017 Royal Rumble winner, Orton at WrestleMania.
Wyatt's character returned to mid-card hell until he was completely repackaged as The Fiend in spring 2019, wherein his character underwent a startling transformation and finally became a player once again. His push renewed, he became Universal Champion when he downed Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel on October 31, 2019.
