5 long world title reigns that weren't as good as Roman Reigns' current Universal Championship run
Roman Reigns' current Universal Championship run is the best of his 9-year-long WWE career. Roman Reigns' return in 2020 and heel turn shook SmackDown in a big way, changing the landscape of the blue brand.
There's no doubt that Roman Reigns has helped elevate SmackDown and is the best part of WWE television right now. Not only is Roman Reigns' current world title run longer than his previous four combined, but he has also improved more in a year than he did in 4.
We look back at some of the great world title reigns this century and reveal why Roman Reigns' current Universal Championship run is superior.
#5. Not as good as Roman Reigns' current run: AJ Styles (2017-2018)
AJ Styles' WWE title reign between 2017-2018 was a history-making run. He won the WWE Championship for the second time against Jinder Mahal on November 7th, 2017 when he defeated Jinder Mahal in Manchester.
He would hold on to the title for 371 days, joining an elite list of legends to have the WWE Championship for a calendar year or more. Other names on the list include Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, John Cena, and CM Punk.
It's incredible company to be in, and it happened between AJ Styles' second and third year in WWE. During this title reign, he even surpassed JBL to become the longest-reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history.
Looking back on the year-long reign, it was a good one. AJ Styles was a legitimate babyface Champion and a breath of fresh air after Jinder Mahal's somewhat controversial WWE title run in 2017.
Both of AJ Styles' WWE Championship runs have been great. The first one lasted 140 days, which doesn't seem like much, but it was. In the first reign, his main adversaries were John Cena and Dean Ambrose, while he also defended the title against other superstars like Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin.
That reign was as a heel, and by the end of 2017, Styles was in the midst of another babyface run. But why is Roman Reigns' current Universal title run better? He hasn't caught up to AJ Styles as of this writing, but it seems inevitable that he will surpass it.
Even if it were to end now, the impact that Roman Reigns' current title run has had is far more than what AJ Styles had, even without a crowd. In terms of character work, Roman Reigns has also been the superior World Champion.
AJ Styles undoubtedly had fantastic matches during his year-long title reign, but Roman Reigns' will be remembered as a greater one.