At Payback 2020, Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman and The Fiend to become Universal Champion for the second time in his career. Since then, Reigns has held the title with a vicelike grip, going on to also become WWE Champion along the way. The Tribal Chief has proven to be one of the most dominant wrestlers in WWE history. But that's not all, as he was also undefeated in his first reign in 2018, meaning Reigns has never lost as Universal Champion.

RELATED: Every Universal Champion In WWE History, Ranked Worst To Best

Several high-caliber Superstars have had the audacity to challenge Roman Reigns. Finn Balor, Brock Lesnar, Cody Rhodes Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, Edge, John Cena, and more, and none of them could survive. Without further ado, here is every Roman Reigns' Universal Championship defense, ranked from worst to best.

UPDATE: 2023/11/10 14:30 EST BY ANDREW KELLY

Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship defenses are unfortunately becoming less and less frequent due to his part-time status in WWE today, with his 2023 seemingly being closed out at the start of November following Crown Jewel 2023, with no more advertised dates and likely no more matches or defenses. Whilst his reign is truly iconic, it must be said that fans are growing tired of the same formula and repetitive matches, which makes it feel as though his time as champion is never-ending. This has led to some poorly received bouts which are among the worst of his time as champion.

33 Roman Reigns Vs. Sami Zayn, WWE SmackDown 12/03/2021

Roman Reigns' Quickest Title Defense

Fifteen seconds. That’s all it took for Roman Reigns to squash Sami Zayn at the back end of 2021. This came due to Sami Zayn being on the receiving end of a beatdown at the hands of Brock Lesnar, but this really didn’t do much for Zayn at all, making it the worst defense of Reigns.

Of course, one year later Zayn would be a big part of Reigns’ story, but he was made to look like an afterthought, and the story here was more about Reigns and Lesnar trying to one-up each other.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SmackDown

0:15

Singles

Reigns' Shortest Title Match

32 Roman Reigns Vs. Braun Strowman, WWE SmackDown, 10/16/2020

Roman Reigns Took On His Long-Term Rival

Undoubtedly, this is up there with the worst Roman Reigns matches as Universal Champion. It took place on the October 16 episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

It was impressive to see Reigns' new attitude, but the bout was boring and predictable and both Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman had average performances. However, the ending was nice. Reigns performed a Guillotine Choke on Strowman, who tapped out before losing consciousness.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SmackDown

10:40

Singles

31 Roman Reigns Vs. Baron Corbin, WWE Raw 09/17/2018

Roman Reigns Relinquished The Universal Title After This Match

On the September 17, 2018, episode of Monday Night RAW, Roman Reigns defeated Baron Corbin to retain the Universal Title. It was a rather boring and predictable 17-minute affair, as everyone anticipated the outcome.

This was Roman Reigns' last defense before relinquishing the title to battle his leukemia.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Raw

17:35

Singles

30 Roman Reigns Vs. Daniel Bryan, WWE Elimination Chamber, 02/21/2021

Roman Reigns Made Quick Work Of A Tired Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan managed to win an extraordinary Elimination Chamber match against King Corbin, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and Jey Uso to earn a Universal title shot.

Roman Reigns was smart and entered the ring immediately after Bryan won. Obviously, the leader of the YES! Movement was exhausted and had no chance against Reigns, who won the match in less than two minutes. This would be Daniel Bryan's excuse to request a rematch days later.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Elimination Chamber 2021

1:36

Singles

29 Roman Reigns Vs. Jey Uso, WWE SummerSlam, 08/05/2023

Bloodline Shenanigans Ruined Tribal Combat

Roman Reigns’ most recent SummerSlam defense was one of his worst. This “Tribal Combat” match with Jey Uso was long, slow, and far from the expected quality going in. The crowd just didn’t get into it, with WWE missing the ball with the match presentation.

Interference, a shocking heel turn from Jimmy Uso, and yet another bland finish summed up all the criticisms that Reigns’ record-breaking run as champion has received in recent months.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SummerSlam 2023

36:04

Tribal Combat

28 Roman Reigns Vs. Braun Strowman, WWE Hell In A Cell, 09/16/2018

An Awful Finish Ruined Hell In A Cell For Roman Reigns

This match was absolutely underwhelming. Roman Reigns defended the title inside the structure against the Monster Among Men. It was a very promising bout, but frankly, it was more fun to watch the showdown around the cell between Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler.

The Match was declared a no-contest after Brock Lesnar showed up and destroyed both Strowman and Reigns. A no contest in a Hell In A Cell match is an absolute embarrassment in any era of WWE.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Hell In A Cell 2018

23:50

Hell In A Cell

27 Roman Reigns Vs. Goldberg, WWE Elimination Chamber, 02/19/2022

Roman Reigns Retired Goldberg From WWE

The short length of this match was a positive, but that is where the good points end. It wasn’t terrible per se, but it was just a finisher fest much like many of Goldberg’s WWE matches.

It was a cool visual to see Goldberg and Reigns finally in the same ring together after their WrestleMania 36 match was canceled, but the resulting matchup was far from the “dream” that many envisioned.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Elimination Chamber 2022

6:00

Singles

Goldberg's Final WWE Match

26 Roman Reigns Vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE WrestleMania 38, 04/03/2022

Roman Reigns And Brock Lesnar Main Evented WrestleMania Again

If you’ve seen one Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, then you’ve seen the vast majority of them. Despite this being billed as one of the biggest matches in WWE history, this was just another match in which Reigns and Lesnar hit their big moves, kicked out, and repeated.

A cheap low blow and a shot with the belt helped Reigns win here, although a clean victory in the WrestleMania main event would’ve been far more rewarding, especially after his long feud with Lesnar.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

WrestleMania 38

12:17

Singles

Unified Both WWE & Universal Championships

25 Roman Reigns Vs. Finn Balor, WWE Raw, 08/20/2018

Roman Reigns' First Ever Universal Title Defense

Roman Reigns and Finn Balor collided during episode 1317 of Monday Night RAW. It was a pretty solid bout, above average. However, it felt too long and even a bit monotonous. The match ended when Reigns performed his spear on Balor and pinned him to get his first win as Universal Champion.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Raw

21:41

Singles

Reigns' First Title Defense

24 Roman Reigns Vs. LA Knight, WWE Crown Jewel, 11/04/2023

LA Knight Has The Best Match Of His WWE Career

LA Knight’s huge wave of momentum couldn’t overcome the typical Roman Reigns formula of excessive interference and a screwy finish involving The Bloodline. The fundamentals of the match were fine, but it wasn’t anything special aside from that.

It loses points with the frustrating end which screams of no creativity and a lack of ideas at this point in Reigns’ three-year-plus reign with the gold.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Crown Jewel 2023

20:03

Singles

23 Roman Reigns Vs. Finn Balor, WWE Extreme Rules, 09/26/2021

Roman Reigns' Most Screwy Victory

A lot of this match between Roman Reigns and Finn Balor was good, making use of the Extreme Rules stipulation, but the ending of this one let it down in a major way.

RELATED: The First 10 WWE Wrestlers To Defeat Roman Reigns (In Chronological Order)

Balor was resuscitated by the “demon’s heartbeat”, before going on a rampage with his theme song backing him up in a cringe moment. When he was about to hit his finisher, the ring ropes broke in a laughable ending. It was a mess and it killed “The Demon” gimmick.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Extreme Rules 2021

19:41

Extreme Rules

22 Roman Reigns Vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE Crown Jewel, 10/21/2021

Brock Lesnar's WWE Return Saw Him Clash With Roman Reigns

Seeing Brock Lesnar back in the ring after over a year was nice, and whilst he did look a little blown up by the end, he put in a decent performance here.

It did have a big fight feel, but it wasn’t anything special. The added element of Paul Heyman’s conflict was interesting, but other than that this followed the formula of many Lesnar vs. Reigns matches.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Crown Jewel 2021

12:20

Singles

21 Roman Reigns Vs. Rey Mysterio, WWE SmackDown, 06/18/2021

WWE Brought Hell In A Cell To SmackDown

Originally, this match was going to take place at Hell In A Cell 2021, but for some reason, it was moved to SmackDown. The match was nothing special. Despite being inside the structure, it didn't feel that exciting.

Overall, it was a decent bout, but it could have been much better considering Rey Mysterio and Roman Reigns are both terrific performers. Rey Mysterio started the bout on fire, putting Reigns in trouble with the use of several foreign objects, but eventually, Reigns took complete control and won the match to wish Rey Mysterio a happy Father’s Day.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SmackDown

16:01

Hell In A Cell

20 Vs. Kevin Owens (Royal Rumble 2023)

A Good Match, But Remembered More For The Post-Match Bloodline Angle

Kevin Owens has faced Roman Reigns more times than anyone during this record-breaking reign, and they could have a solid match in their sleep. This one was fine, but it lacked some tension due to the predictable outcome.

It was the post-match segment with Sami Zayn turning on The Bloodline that was the main takeaway, but that didn’t take place in the match itself, so that can’t be added to the equation when ranking it. It was however, one of the best moments in recent WWE history.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Royal Rumble 2023

19:15

Singles

Sami Zayn Betrayed The Bloodline After The Match

19 Roman Reigns Vs. Edge, WWE Money In The Back, 07/18/2021

Edge & Roman Reigns Had A Long, Hard-Fought Main Event

Edge was supposed to get his one-on-one world title match after winning the 2021 Royal Rumble. The problem is that Daniel Bryan forced his way in. It turned out that was for the better because that WrestleMania match was the best Roman has had in this run.

However, Edge finally got his moment at Money in the Bank 2021 and the two put on a solid match. As with most of the icons that Roman has fought in 2021, he had a huge advantage for most of the match. Edge knows ring psychology, though, and made this an entertaining match nonetheless.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Money In The Bank 2021

33:10

Singles

18 Roman Reigns Vs. John Cena, WWE SummerSlam, 08/21/2021

John Cena Passed The Torch To Roman Reigns

WWE brought back John Cena for a special SummerSlam match to attempt to lure older fans back to see what the company is doing now that fans are back in arenas. The problem is that, before this short run, Cena had not wrestled since the Firefly Funhouse Match at WrestleMania 2020, and he had not worked a real in-ring match since 2019.

There wasn't a lot of ring rust for Cena, and the match was what most people expected. Reigns mostly dominated Cena, with the 16-time world champion getting in moments of offense. The story coming into this match was that Cena just need a quick roll up or submission to earn his record-setting 17th World Championship but he failed. The fact that Brock Lesnar coming out after the match was more memorable than the match itself speaks volumes.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SummerSlam 2021

23:00

Singles

17 Roman Reigns Vs. Seth Rollins, WWE Royal Rumble, 01/29/2022

Seth Rollins Played Shield Mind Games With Roman Reigns

Seth Rollins entered this match to The Shield’s attire and music, playing mind games with Reigns ahead of what was a very enjoyable match for the Universal Title. It had a faster pace than many of Reigns’ matches during this run, with the pair showcasing their chemistry.

This was cut short by Reigns getting himself disqualified to save his title, and the lack of follow-up especially leads to this falling down the list a little, even though 90% was great.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Royal Rumble 2022

14:23

Singles

A rare loss for Roman Reigns.

16 Roman Reigns Vs. Matt Riddle, WWE SmackDown, 06/17/2022

Roman Reigns Had A Rare TV Title Match In 2022

In a rare TV defense for Roman Reigns, he took on Matt Riddle on an episode of SmackDown in June 2022, and it was a great gem of a bout which often gets overlooked.

The fans were hot behind Riddle here, who hit an RKO to one of the best near-falls of Reigns’ run so far. Of course, Riddle didn’t have a hope in hell of actually beating The Tribal Chief, but his performance convinced fans that an upset was afoot. There was another level it could have reached, but it was still strong.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SmackDown

16:56

Singles

15 Roman Reigns Vs. Jey Uso, WWE Hell In A Cell, 10/25/2020

Roman Reigns & Jey Uso Was An Emotional Masterclass

Roman Reigns and his cousin Jey Uso collided in the first and only I Quit Hell In A Cell match. The storytelling was perfect, as Roman Reigns didn't want to hurt Jey, but the latter was too rebellious and Roman had no choice.

RELATED: 10 Best Challengers To Roman Reigns' WWE Universal Championship, Ranked

When Jimmy Uso showed up, Reigns did a masterful job with his character, pretending like he was sorry for hurting his family, but in reality, luring in his cousin Jimmy to choke him out. Seeing his twin brother being tortured was enough for Jey to say "I Quit". The match as such was pretty good, full of violence and action, although maybe those 29 minutes were too long.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

Hell In A Cell 2020

29:06

'I Quit' Hell In A Cell

14 Roman Reigns Vs. Kevin Owens, WWE SmackDown, 12/20/2020

Roman Reigns Escaped With A Victory

The feud between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns was truly remarkable. They delivered three top-notch matches, including this Steel Cage match on the December 22, 2020 episode of SmackDown.

The bout was very exciting. Kevin Owens was as tough as usual, in fact, he almost won the match, but Roman Reigns' right-hand man Jey Uso was there to prevent it. Afterward, The Tribal Chief walked out of the cage.

Event

Match Length

Match Type

Additional Notes

SmackDown

25:25

Steel Cage