Roman Reigns is currently in the middle of a record-smashing title run as the Universal Champion. At 560+ days and counting, he’s become the longest reigning Universal Champion in history, and the sixth-longest reigning champion in WWE history.
Throughout his title reign, Roman has defended his championship 20 times. He’s also had several long-term feuds with various opponents, though some of these feuds were more successful than others. Here’s every feud of his current title reign, ranked from least to most successful.
12 Goldberg
This miniature feud was undoubtedly the most underwhelming of all the match-ups in Roman’s current reign. It was pretty apparent that Goldberg was really just there to collect that Saudi Arabia paycheck.
The two-faced each other at 2022’s Elimination Chamber in Jeddah. The match lasted 6 minutes and was exactly what fans can expect from a Goldberg match in the year 2022. Though it was refreshing to see Goldberg get choked out by the Tribal Chief.
11 Braun Strowman
The Monster Among Men can be a really effective wrestler when placed in the right role. His role as a babyface challenger going up against a heel who’s much more charismatic and more dynamic of a performer is maybe the worst place for Strowman to be.
Strowman only had one singles match against Roman Reigns for his title. It took place on an episode of SmackDown in October 2020 and lasted 10 minutes.
10 Cesaro
Despite being one of the best technical wrestlers on the WWE roster, Cesaro was never really pushed to his full capabilities. This feud perked a lot of ears because it seemed like Cesaro was finally going to be treated as the main event player that many fans believe he should be.
Cesaro faced Roman at 2021’s Wrestlemania Backlash in what was a very solid match. Apparently, it wasn’t spectacular enough for those backstage at WWE, since Cesaro’s push fizzled out soon after, and he was sent back to the tag team division before leaving the company.
9 Rey Mysterio
The Master of the 619 is a living legend. WWE doesn’t exactly treat him like one, though. His feud with Roman Reigns at least had an interesting concept behind it since it juxtaposed Mysterio’s love for his son Dominick with Roman’s more controlling, almost tyrannical love for his family.
The two collided in a Hell in a Cell Match on an episode of SmackDown. The fact that they weren’t even given a PPV match kind of speaks for how little attention Mysterio is given in the main event picture.
8 Finn Balor
Balor is a great character to build a feud around because of his dual persona. When an opponent defeats the “normal” Finn, they can aggravate the Demon King to come out and seek vengeance. It’s formulaic, but it’s a solid story for pro wrestling.
WWE almost got it right with Roman and Balor. The Demon was so unlike any opponent Roman had faced, and it made for a fascinating story. The infamous, unexplained ending to their match at Extreme Rules where the top rope collapsed and caused Finn to fall hindered this feud significantly, though. Maybe Finn will get to try again someday.
7 Edge
Besides Goldberg, Roman Reigns really catches fire when he feuds with veterans of the business. After his Royal Rumble win, Edge was a perfect babyface for Roman to face. Edge is an excellent storyteller and used his promos and in-ring time to flesh out not only his own character, but the Tribal Chief’s sense of familial pride and buried insecurity.
Edge and Roman had fantastic chemistry, most notably in the triple threat match with Daniel Bryan at the main event of Wrestlemania 37.
6 Daniel Bryan
There’s no doubt that Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) is one of the best pro wrestlers in the world. He’s also one of the most influential wrestlers within the WWE within the last decade.
Bryan and Roman fought a couple of times for the Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber, Fastlane, Wrestlemania 37, and lastly on an episode of SmackDown. In their final bout, Bryan had to leave SmackDown forever due to a stipulation set by Roman, and he ended up leaving WWE entirely. Though the bar is very low, it’s kind of cool to see a feud have real consequences for once.
5 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens is one of the most consistent workers in WWE. He excels in any role given to him, whether it’s as a heel or babyface. His feud against Roman Reigns was no exception.
Kevin and Roman had three title matches - at TLC, on an episode of SmackDown, and at the Royal Rumble. These were all very solid matches, as would be expected between two of WWE’s finest performers today.
4 Brock Lesnar
This feud is definitely the one that WWE wants fans to be most invested in; they’ve devoted loads of screen time to building up Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns at this coming WrestleMania. Maybe, they’ve given a little too much to a match that we’ve seen several times before.
What keeps this feud lower on the list is the time in the spotlight it unnecessarily took away from other stars like Big E and Bobby Lashley. Having Lesnar defeat Big E for the WWE Championship, win the Royal Rumble, and win back his title at Elimination Chamber seems highly unnecessary and only hindered the momentum of other superstars.
3 John Cena
The return of John Cena was one of the biggest moments for the WWE in 2021. His subsequent feud with the Universal Champion has perhaps been the most high-profile feud that Roman’s had in his current reign to date.
Roman Reigns was able to establish himself as the top star of WWE’s current generation by going up against the top star of the past. It did what their match at No Mercy a few years ago failed to do.
2 Seth Rollins
Whether he’s the Visionary, the Messiah, or the Architect, Seth Rollins is undoubtedly one of WWE’s best storytellers. A feud against his longtime friend and rival, Roman Reigns, was effectively bound to deliver.
The mind games Seth employed during this feud brought out some much-needed depth to Roman’s Tribal Chief character that was seemingly missing since WWE left the Thunderdome. Plus, being the two extremely talented wrestlers they are, they put on a stellar match at the 2022 Royal Rumble PPV.
1 Jey Uso
Roman’s storyline with his cousin Jey was his first major feud after winning the Universal Championship. It’s ranked here as his best feud for two main reasons.
First, this feud immediately established Roman as a manipulative, intimidating, and dominant heel champion. This is exactly what a heel champion should be. Second, the feud exponentially increased Jey’s standing in WWE. He arguably still has the potential to become a top babyface if his feud against Roman were to pick back up. Whether WWE will take that opportunity, though, is highly debatable.