Roman Reigns officially breaks an all-time WWE record
Roman Reigns has officially surpassed Brock Lesnar to become the longest-reigning Universal Champion of all time.
The Universal Championship was introduced back in 2016 following the reintroduction of the brand split. Brock Lesnar had the longest run with the title after winning it from Goldberg at WrestleMania 33. He held the belt for 503 days before dropping it to Reigns at SummerSlam 2018.
As of Sunday, January 16, The Tribal Chief has surpassed The Beast Incarnate to become the longest-reigning Universal Champion of all time at 504 days. He won the title at Payback 2020 after defeating Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat match.
Back where it belongs. #AndNew #WWEPayback https://t.co/bKy6v1pvwE
The former Shield member is currently second on the list of combined days as Universal Champion after racking up more than 560 days in his two reigns, only behind The Beast Incarnate's combined total of 686 days spanning across three title runs.
Reigns has been on top of his game ever since he returned to WWE in 2020 and has broken multiple records during that time, including an incredible 698-day undefeated run in singles competition. He was last pinned in December 2019 by Baron Corbin.
Can Roman Reigns beat Seth Rollins?
Roman Reigns is set to defend put the Universal Championship on the line at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view against Seth Rollins. The two superstars went face-to-face on the latest edition of SmackDown and took multiple jabs at each other, with Reigns even mentioning RAW Women's champion Becky Lynch.
"If I wanted to main event the Royal Rumble with a megastar I would've chose your wife." - @WWERomanReigns to @WWERollins
Oh SNAP! @BeckyLynchWWE #SmackDown https://t.co/sR34YqgKYI
The former stablemates have faced each other on 29 different occasions so far, with Reigns winning 19 times and Rollins picking up 9 victories while one match ended in a double count-out. They last faced each other in a singles match in October 2019 where Rollins picked up a DQ win.
While The Tribal Chief seems to have an upper hand overall, the more telling numbers are about the championship matches that both have been a part of. As Rollins pointed out during their war of words, Reigns has not won a single encounter.
During his current run as Universal Champion, Roman Reigns has beaten some of the biggest names in WWE including John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan and Finn Balor. However, it looks like he could be about to face his stiffest test yet in the form of Seth Rollins.
Do you think Roman Reigns will walk out of Royal Rumble as Universal Champion? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.