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.