WWE Fans Reflect on How Roman Reigns' Record-Breaking WWE Universal Championship Reign Began

Roman Reigns is currently on the longest WWE world championship reign in nearly four decades at 938 consecutive days. But with WrestleMania 39 now just one week away, many fans are anticipating that "The Tribal Chief's" reign of dominance is going to end at the hands of Cody Rhodes. But before the WrestleMania festivities get underway, Reddit user u/Seth_Freakin_Rollins took to the Squared Circle Subreddit this weekend and uploaded a five-minute clip of how Reigns' run began on Aug. 30, 2020. 

For some context, Reigns stepped away from WWE for personal reasons just before WrestleMania 36, where he was supposed to challenge Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship. He finally returned at SummerSlam months later, showing a much more aggressive persona as he attacked both Bray Wyatt (who won the Universal title as The Fiend in the main event) and Braun Strowman. WWE then decided to book the Payback pay-per-view just one week after SummerSlam, a rare decision but one that didn't face too many hurdles as the COVID-19 pandemic had the company shunted inside the ThunderDome at the time. A triple threat bout for the Universal title was announced and Reigns accepted the match by revealing he had joined forces with Paul Heyman. 

How the reign began. Roman wins the universal title at payback 2020
by u/Seth_Freakin_Rollins in SquaredCircle

The match started with just Wyatt (as The Fiend) and Strowman in the ring as Reigns chose not to arrive when the bell rang. The two big men brawled for a while, eventually breaking the ring via a superplex. It was only then that "The Big Dog" arrived to pick up the scraps, nailing Wyatt with a low blow before spearing Strowman for the win. 

In the weeks that followed, Reigns would continue to introduce his tyrannical "Tribal Chief" persona. By the time he unified the Universal and WWE Championships into the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 38, he had cheated to retain his title numerous times and built up his Bloodline faction by bullying and gaslighting Jimmy and Jey Uso into joining forces with him.

WWE WrestleMania 39 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Night Two)
• WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. John Cena (Night One)
• Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul (Night One)
• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
• Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
• Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
• Edge vs. Finn Balor (Hell in a Cell Match)
• Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
• Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky)
• Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
• Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. TBA