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Has Roman Reigns Only Lost Clean to Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins?

Rishabh Singh
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Has Roman Reigns Only Lost Clean to Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins

WWE’s hottest commodity, Roman Reigns, has proven to be invincible in singles contests over the years. Reigns’ domination started after the split of The Shield. The Big Dog defeated top talents to claim his place at the top of the food chain. The Tribal Chief is currently the longest-reigning World Champion of the modern era, having held the Universal Championship for over 870 days.

Reigns made history at WrestleMania 38 after he vanquished Brock Lesnar and claimed the WWE Championship. The WWE Undisputed Universal Champion has since been on a winning spree, as it is virtually impossible to beat Reigns in a singles contest. 

With each passing PLE, Roman has left nothing but destruction in his path. The likes of Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and many more have failed in their attempts to dethrone the Head of the Table.

At this point, a Roman Reigns defeat in singles action is rare, as the company is too selective of who they think should be the one to take his place.

The Bloodline leader has hardly lost a singles match in a long time. In an environment free from outside interference, only a few have been able to beat Roman Reigns cleanly. Roman two notable clean losses that have not made it under the radar were against Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins. 

Are Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins the only two wrestlers to defeat Roman Reigns cleanly in a singles match?

Seth Rollins’s upset win against Roman Reigns was at the Money in the Bank PPV in 2016. During the closing moments of the match, Reigns was in the corner, setting up Rollins for a spear. When he thought the time was right and lunged forward with the spear, Rollins intercepted the spear and countered into a pedigree in midair.

However, it wasn’t enough to get the win. The Architect had to hit another pedigree to the lifeless body of Reigns to pick up the win. As for Brock Lesnar, The Beast Incarnate and the Tribal Chief have met in the ring on multiple occasions. 

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Out of their eight matches, Roman is leading Lesnar with 5–3 victories. However, Reigns was brutalized by Lesnar back at WrestleMania 34 when he was left beaten in the middle of the ring cleanly.

Aside from Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins, there are three more superstars that the fans may have forgotten that beat Roman Reigns in singles bout without cheating or outside interference. Here are those superstars:

  • Braun Strowman– In 2017, Roman Reigns was involved in an interminable feud with the Monster among Men, Braun Strowman. Roman has conceded two clean defeats to Strowman, one of which was their memorable Ambulance match where Strowman dodge a spear that led Reigns to go crashing inside the van, allowing Strowman to lock the doors to pick up the win. Strowman’s other win over Reigns was at PayBack PPV in 2017, however, this time Strowman decimated an already injured Roman Reigns.
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  •  Bobby Lashley– The Almighty is also among the very few men who have beaten Roman Reigns cleanly. Lashley made his return to WWE in 2018. By this time, he had already been a fixture in MMA and TNA. WWE rewarded Lashley by allowing him to pick up a win over Reigns at Extreme Rules PPV with his signature move, the spear.
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  •  Fin Balor– Surprisingly, Fin Balor was the first-ever to win a singles match against Roman Reigns cleanly. In 2016, WWE was looking to push Finn Balor to the degree that he became the face of Raw. Balor was also the inaugural Universal Champion. Finn defeating Reigns on Raw with the coup de grace allowed him to establish himself as the face of the red brand. 
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Will Cody Rhodes be the next to defeat Roman Reigns?

Although Cody Rhodes has not won a World Championship in WWE, he was the top titleholder in AEW. During his time away from WWE, Rhodes made a phenomenal transformation in his physique and wrestling career.

And considering his achievements outside the WWE, Rhodes has become everybody’s favorite to replace Roman Reigns. Speaking on the Kurt Angle Show, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle stated that he believes Rhodes should be the one to dethrone Roman Reigns. 

“Oh, he (Cody Rhodes) was the first one I was going to pick. Cody Rhodes is the guy. I believe that they are probably going to do something at the Royal Rumble. I think he will probably win the Rumble and go on to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. 

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About the author

Rishabh Singh

Rishabh Singh

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Rishabh has been a pro wrestling aficionado for two decades. As a gullible seven-year-old kid he believed that his dad could only be defeated by The Undertaker. His love for pro wrestling is visible in his writing. Over the years, he took inspiration from his favorite wrestling icons and adopted fitness lifestyle. He is a big proponent of exercise. Besides that, he is a movement coach, a Steelmaceflow artist, and a Krav Maga instructor.

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