Roman Reigns' WWE Universal Championship Reign Hits Historic Milestone

Roman Reigns' ongoing reign as WWE Universal Champion officially reached one calendar year on [...]

By Connor Casey

Roman Reigns' ongoing reign as WWE Universal Champion officially reached one calendar year on Monday. "The Tribal Chief" first won the title at the 2020 Payback event, defeating both "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple threat just as his heel persona was beginning to emerge. He has since gone on to defend it against Jey Uso, Strowman, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, Edge, Cesaro, Rey Mysterio and, most recently, John Cena at the SummerSlam pay-per-view. He'll put the title on the line on this week's Friday Night SmackDown against Finn Balor.

The reign is by far the longest of Reigns' career, and holds some historical significance. He now joins Brock Lesnar as the only two men to have their Universal Championship reign eclipse one year and is the 10th wrestler in WWE history to have a year-long world championship reign. The others are Bruno Sammartino (who did it twice), Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, Pedro Morales, John Cena, Randy Savage, AJ Styles and CM Punk.

Reigns' celebration at SummerSlam was cut short when Lesnar made his surprise return to the company. "The Head of the Table" finally responded to the confrontation on last week's The Bump.

"I think he wanted to get the best look possible at what's going on here, the most dominant Universal Champion to ever do this thing. I think he sees the Island of Relevancy just like John Cena did," Reigns said. "He's just coming with like a farmer/butcher outlook as opposed to being the Hollywood guy. But yeah it just goes to show all this work, this foundation of greatness that I've been laying down, what the Bloodline's been doing, continually showing everybody that we're number one.

"It's really just to put themselves in the conversation with me, to amplify everything, but there ain't really anybody out there that can compete with what we're doing," he added. "Between me and my cousins, the wise man, we come together and we're putting together greatness right now. We're raising the bar and lifting the standard, and I think Brock Lesnar, like everybody else, in this industry, they want to be a part of that."

Just how long will Reigns' run as Universal Champion last? Will either Lesnar or Balor manage to dethrone him in the near future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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