The career path of Roman Reigns provided a unique story of WWE finding their top star from day one in developmental. WWE had big plans for Reigns when he signed a developmental contract to make the move from football to wrestling. The plans to make Roman a top star would see him move from NXT to the main roster with The Shield.
Reigns worked hard to get established despite sharing the spotlight with two equally superb talents. WWE would eventually make him a top singles star with a few different character changes despite always having the same intent. Every version of Roman will be ranked from worst to best based on success and entertainment value.
8 Leakee
Roman Reigns started his WWE career in developmental trying to find his identity in wrestling. The first version of the future legend came in Florida Championship Wrestling. Reigns was booked as a top prospect showing great arrogance under the name of Leakee.
WWE always wanted Roman to become a future main eventer and tried to find the right character for him. FCW was not doing well and it led to him struggling with the Leakee chapter of his career. The transition to NXT helped enough before the main roster call-up.
7 The Shield Reunion
WWE could not find the ideal path to reuniting The Shield whenever they tried from 2017 to 2019. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose were all established singles stars at that point with world title reigns on their respective resumes.
The various injuries and other variables caused each Shield reunion to flop. Things worked out most in 2018 when Roman was the Universal Champion and his faction brothers reunited at his side. Unfortunately, the real-life battle with leukemia ended this reunion. Reigns returning the following year gave us another short solid Shield run before Ambrose left the company.
6 Finding Self As A Singles Star
Roman Reigns struggled to get the full fan support when The Shield broke up. WWE clearly viewed Reigns as the biggest star of the three, but the blatant booking dictating that influenced the fans to start booing him at most shows.
The run from late 2014 to mid-2016 saw Roman struggling to find an ideal role. WWE tried to make him the generic face character that worked in the past, but it just caused more resentment. WrestleMania 31 plans to have Reigns beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship changed to Seth Rollins winning due to the resentment towards Roman at the time.
5 Returning Hero
Even the biggest Roman Reigns critics were heartbroken when he shocked the world with his announcement of leaving WWE in 2018. Reigns vacated the Universal Championship and discussed his battle with leukemia returning.
The heartfelt joy when Roman returned in early 2019 showed a different side of him and the fan base. Many of the fans who booed Reigns realized they missed him during his time out. The overwhelmingly positive joy of his return added to programs against the likes of Drew McIntyre, Erick Rowan, and Baron Corbin.
4 The Shield Face Run
WWE fans started to love The Shield during their heel run due to the great matches and fresh feel of three young stars making their names. The shift towards a face run came in 2014 when Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns feuded with The Wyatt Family and The Authority.
Perfect timing would see Batista, Randy Orton, and Triple H all playing heels when they reformed Evolution for a program with The Shield. Reigns was firing on all cylinders during the trio’s dominant performances against Evolution.
3 The Guy
Roman Reigns started to find his footing when WWE embraced the polarizing nature of his character. Many of the fans who booed him would not change that no matter what he or the creative team tried to do to change it.
The WrestleMania 33 victory over The Undertaker just gave Roman more heat from the audience. Reigns cut a career-defining promo the following night stating he wasn’t a “good guy” nor a “bad guy.” The massive boos would see Roman declare himself as “The Guy” moving forward as the top star in WWE. Reigns benefited from having the crowd split since every match would take place in front of a hot crowd.
2 The Shield’s Rise
No one could have predicted that The Shield would become as successful as they did when debuting. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose never teamed together before they were called up to the main roster from NXT as a trio.
The Shield received stronger booking than any new WWE star in many years. Incredible matches with various teams involving Daniel Bryan, Kane, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, The Usos, and many others put them on the map. Reigns, Rollins, and Ambrose scoring dominant victories in outstanding matches made them all must-watch performers.
1 Heel with Paul Heyman
The recent change to Roman Reigns with his heel turn is still relatively new, but it has become the best chapter of his career. Reigns always wanted to turn heel and many of the fans felt the same way when booing his huge face push.
The alignment with Paul Heyman added another element to make fans realize something drastic has changed. Reigns is having the best Universal Championship reign in the belt’s short history with outstanding feuds against Jimmy Uso and Kevin Owens. No one in WWE has touched Roman as the top performer since this version as the Head of the Table emerged.