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Roman Reigns was originally supposed to win the Universal Championship for the second time at WrestleMania 36 against Goldberg. However, with the global lockdown taking place and the COVID-19 scare at an all-time high, Reigns decided to pull out of the event, prioritizing time with his family instead.
When he returned, it was five months later at SummerSlam 2020 after the main event. In the main event, 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman to capture the Universal Championship. Roman Reigns returned and assaulted both men, marking the start of a new era and his new character.
It was only two nights before Payback 2020 when he solidified his heel turn by aligning with Paul Heyman. In a weird loophole, Reigns would only sign the contract for the Universal title match at Payback once the actual bout between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman was underway. There, he captured his second Universal Championship - a title he still holds to date.
It was August 30th, 2020 when Roman Reigns officially became the Universal Champion again. As a heel, it would start the best run of his career, and what many consider one of the all-time great world titles reigns in WWE.
As of this writing, Reigns is close to completing a full year as the WWE Universal Champion. In one-and-a-half months, he can achieve this feat if he walks out of SummerSlam as the Universal Champion.
Also Read: How much is Universal Champion Roman Reigns' Net Worth?
What made Roman Reigns' current World title run so great?
Before his current Universal title run, Roman Reigns held the WWE Championship thrice and the Universal Championship once. All four reigns combined were short due to different circumstances.
In the case of his previous two world title reigns, one was cut short because of his Wellness Policy Violation and suspension, while the second title reign ended with him vacating it due to leukemia.
Interestingly, all four reigns combined tallies up to only 181 days. As of this writing, Roman Reigns has been the Universal Champion for over 320 days, nearly double the length.
His current World title run has been a success for a few major reasons. Firstly, his heel turn allowed him to show the personality that he was never able to while being a forced babyface. Everything feels organic about his character.
Secondly, he has been given a good and dominant run as a heel, emerging as WWE's unquestionable No. 1 star. Thirdly, it has been handled so well that many fans can't even think of a challenger who can legitimately dethrone Reigns in the near future.
From the way it stands, Roman Reigns seems to be enjoying his character work as well and it is paying dividends now.
