Roman Reigns has been on the run of a lifetime since his return to WWE programming in late 2020. Now he's added another record to his name.
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It’s safe to say that few WWE superstars have matched the level of Roman Reigns in recent times. The former member of The Shield has grown into his own as a performer over the past year.
And Reigns has been on the run of a lifetime since his return to WWE programming in late 2020. Now he’s added another record to his name.
As of January 16, 2022, the ‘Tribal Chief’ is the longest-reigning WWE Universal champion of all-time. WWE would acknowledge this on their social media channels as well.
“History-making. Record-breaking. @WWERomanReigns is officially the longest-reigning #UniversalChampion at 504 days and counting. Acknowledge the #1,” said a post on their Twitter page.
History-making. Record-breaking.@WWERomanReigns is officially the longest-reigning #UniversalChampion at 5️⃣0️⃣4️⃣ days and counting.
Acknowledge the ☝️. pic.twitter.com/yao4srTPIR
— WWE (@WWE) January 16, 2022
The record previously belonged to Brock Lesnar, who held the strap for 503 days from April 2017 until August 2018. Incidentally, the man who ended Lesnar’s time as champ that time was Reigns.
That being said, it is safe to say that Reigns’ time with the strap has been far more impressive. It is well known that Lesnar is on a part-time deal with WWE; thus his appearances are sporadic in comparison to others.
However, Reigns has maintained a 500+ day title reign despite being a full-time performer. His only time off has been due to testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.
Reigns has been in and about the main event scene since about 2015. However, his run from 2021 onwards has been easily his most impressive.
He took a break from pro wrestling due to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic at the onset of 2020. However, he made his return in SummerSlam in August 2021.
Aside from his new-found ‘Head of the Table’ persona, what worked for Reigns was his alignment. The former enforcer of The Shield was largely a babyface since the group’s dissolution.
However, the ‘Tribal Chief’ was a perfect heel persona. And in Paul Heyman, he had arguably one of the greatest of all time wrestling manager’s by his side.
Reigns would go on to have multiple notable feuds – including with cousin Jey Uso, Edge, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro and now with Brock Lesnar too.
In fact, recent reports suggest the two behemoths will be working together come WrestleMania too. They have had matches aplenty in the past, but with both sporting new characters, fans will be eager to watch their latest clash.
