The 13 Best Roman Reigns WWE Opponents

Roman Reigns is the WWE’s biggest homegrown star of the last 10 years, emerging as the flagbearer for an entire generation of performers. His historic 1,316-day WWE Universal Championship run put him among the most memorable champions of all time, and he’s still one of WWE’s biggest attractions.

His path to that point wasn’t easy, and he faced several obstacles en route to reaching the top. There were 13 performers who were instrumental in getting him to this spot though, as he went from young gun to top draw.

1. Brock Lesnar

There was a seven-year stretch in WWE where it seemed like Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns would truly fight forever.

The two first faced off at WrestleMania 31, where by all accounts, the plan was for Reigns to slay “The Beast” and be crowned the WWE Champion. But the creative direction changed, and Seth Rollins walked out as the shocking winner.

Reigns and Lesnar would meet at WrestleMania twice more, with Lesnar once again retaining at WrestleMania 34 in shocking manner, before losing a title unification match at WrestleMania 38 to Reigns. They also fought at SummerSlam later that year, where Lesnar quite literally upended the ring with a tractor.

2. Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns seemed inseparable upon breaking into WWE, members of the iconic Shield faction. They were tag team champions together, and everyone knew the two would be on to great things in their respective careers.

Few expected Rollins to be the one to break up the stable, but he did so in 2014 by hitting Reigns in the back with a chair. He’d ruin the aforementioned championship coronation moment for Reigns at WrestleMania 31, and the two would fight on multiple occasions over the next decade.

Rollins would become an instrumental piece in trying to break Reigns’ historic four-year run as WWE Universal Champion, first trying to take him down at the Royal Rumble in 2022 by dressing in his old Shield gear. He would ultimately help Cody Rhodes win the title from Reigns at WrestleMania XL, eating a chair shot to the back just as he had given Reigns a decade prior.

3. Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns may now be sharing similar goals, but their two WrestleMania main event classics make Rhodes one of Reigns’ best opponents.

Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022, and he seemed set for a collision course with Reigns at WrestleMania 39. That would indeed be the case, as Rhodes won the Royal Rumble match that year and headlined the “Show of Shows” with Reigns. But a shocking Rhodes loss set him up for a year of chasing Reigns once more. The return of The Rock bolstered Reigns’ Bloodline, but with some help from John Cena, Rollins, and The Undertaker, Rhodes was able to end the record-title reign at WrestleMania XL.

4. John Cena

John Cena was clearly WWE’s top star for more than a decade. Carrying yourself as the face of the franchise for that long requires a tremendous amount of not just consistency but fan support as well. That’s why his feud with Reigns was a challenging one.

Reigns was struggling to garner top-tier fan backing, even though he was being positioned as the No. 1 babyface in the company. He was paired with Cena for a heated feud culminating at No Mercy 2017, where Cena would pass the torch with Reigns picking up the win. Cena and Reigns would battle once more at SummerSlam 2021, with Cena returning from hiatus to challenge for Reigns’ WWE Universal Championship. Reigns would be successful once more in defeating Cena.

5. Jey Uso

Roman Reigns is bonded by blood with Jey Uso, adding to their highly underrated feud in 2020 that has carried to the present day.

Jey had two emotional matches with Reigns that year, facing him at Night of Champions in a losing effort and then an “I Quit” match the following month. The Usos would get on the same page with Reigns in tribute to their Tribal Chief, holding the WWE Tag Team Championship for a record reign. The Bloodline would begin to crumble after WrestleMania 39, though, where The Usos would pin Reigns and Solo Sakoa in a brutal Bloodline Civil War match. Jey’s feud with Reigns helped elevate him into singles star territory, winning the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in 2024.

6. Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn found himself as the most unlikely member of The Bloodline, an “honorary Uce” having earned the trust of Roman Reigns. But his turn towards the light resulted in a set of highly emotional moments.

Zayn found himself pushed to his breaking point in saving his best friend, Kevin Owens, at the Royal Rumble show in 2022. Reigns and The Bloodline wanted Zayn to prove his loyalty by hitting Owens with a chair, which Zayn then used to hit Reigns. The two had a memorable match at the Elimination Chamber show the following month, where Zayn nearly won the WWE Universal Championship. That was far from the end of Zayn’s involvement with The Bloodline, though.

7. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens was a central piece to The Bloodline story, and in particular, the rise of Roman Reigns in a villainous role.

Owens was given a high-profile feud for the Universal Championship at the end of 2020 into 2021, with Reigns winning a viscous “Tables, Ladders, and Chairs” match and a Last Man Standing match over Owens. Owens pushed Reigns in a way he hadn’t yet been challenged as champion and would show up several times over the next few years to remind him of his presence. Owens and Zayn would reunite as a tag team in the spring of 2023,

8. Randy Orton

Roman Reigns needed a major test in 2014 to see if he was a main event-level player, and Randy Orton proved to be the perfect opponent to push him.

Orton was involved in two brutal matches against Reigns and The Shield in the spring of 2014 as Evolution tried to unfurl the momentum The Shield had established. He would link up with Reigns at SummerSlam that year in one of Reigns’ first high-profile singles matches, an attempt to see if Reigns could hang with the best. He succeeded, and the two had a memorable bout that saw Reigns pick up a major win.

They’d also wrestle in a four-way match at the Royal Rumble 2024 event, which saw Reigns retain his championship.

9. Bray Wyatt

The Wyatt Family and The Shield made magic at the 2014 Elimination Chamber show, putting on one of the most memorable trios matches in WWE history. After that, it seemed perfect for Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns to feud again together.

Wyatt cost Reigns an opportunity at the Money in the Bank briefcase in the summer of 2015, and Reigns and his Shield brethren, Dean Ambrose, would begin feuding with Bray and Luke Harper through SummerSlam. Wyatt and Reigns then had a heated match in a cell, which Reigns won with the help of a kendo stick. They’d pick up their feud years later when Reigns returned from a hiatus and beat “The Fiend” to start his historic championship run.

10. Triple H

WWE struck gold with the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin feud with Vince McMahon, and they tried to replicate it with Roman Reigns and Triple H.

Triple H was the leader of The Authority and tried to hold Reigns back from success in 2015 and 2016. Reigns was forced to defend his WWE Championship in the 2016 Royal Rumble match, entering at No. 1. Triple H would enter at No. 30, eliminate Reigns, and win the championship in the process. He would then defend it against Reigns at WrestleMania 32, with “The Big Dog” picking up a much-needed win.

11. Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman needed a good babyface to terrorize in 2017, and Roman Reigns needed a monster to go against. Hence, a perfect pairing was formed.

Strowman and Reigns had excellent synergy, with Strowman displaying supervillain feats of strength against Reigns during their feud. The two had an Ambulance Match that summer, where Strowman picked up a shocking win over Reigns. But Reigns would immediately emerge from the ambulance, trap Strowman inside, and crash it into a WWE production truck. It was wild, wacky, and the culmination of a fun feud between the two.

12. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan’s stature compared to Roman Reigns is a great visual juxtaposition, and it allowed for some fantastic storytelling opportunities between the two.

Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble match, to the chagrin of many WWE fans, who were pulling for Bryan. Reigns put his guaranteed WrestleMania main event spot on the line against Bryan at Fastlane, and the two had one of the strongest matches of Reigns’ early career. Roman would earn the win, but they would reignite their feud in 2021. Reigns battled Bryan and Edge in the main event of WrestleMania 37, stacking both of them for the pinfall win. He’d have Bryan’s final match in WWE later that month, a 27-minute Smackdown classic.

13. The Undertaker

There’s no bigger endorsement than that of The Undertaker, and Roman Reigns got it in a big way at WrestleMania 33.

The event was intended to be Undertaker’s retirement match, and Reigns was chosen as his final opponent. Taker’s body was beaten up badly, and the two struggled to put on a WrestleMania classic because of it. Nonetheless, Reigns beat Taker clean, becoming one of just two men to have earned a victory over him at WrestleMania. They would eventually team up together in a No Holds Barred tag team match at Extreme Rules in 2019, defeating Drew Mcintyre and Shane McMahon in Undertaker’s last full in-ring match.