Regardless of his polarizing reaction from the WWE Universe, Roman Reigns has become one of the biggest stars in recent history. Since making his main roster debut with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) in 2012 at the Survivor Series, Reigns became a major WWE superstar on both WWE Raw and SmackDown.
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In 2014, The Shield trio split when Rollins aligned with Triple H. Since then, Reigns blossomed into a main event star, winning the 2015 Royal Rumble and headlining WrestleMania in 2015 (vs. Brock Lesnar), 2016 (vs. Triple H), 2017 (vs. The Undertaker), and 2018 (vs. Brock Lesnar). He also had competed (and won) marquee matches against names such as John Cena, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, The Big Show, and AJ Styles.
Reigns Continues to Improve Despite Fan Reaction
Fans criticized Vince McMahon for "shoving Roman Reigns down our throats," but Reigns continued to improve both in the ring, as well as on the mic. During his feud with Cena, which culminated at the 2017 No Mercy PPV, Reigns was able to be more of himself on the mic, instead of being relegated to follow a script. His promos during this time also brought out some personality from Reigns, which many stated that was an area he lacked.
Reigns also engaged in feuds that helped boost the main event status of others, namely Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens. While earning his stripes as a wrestler, Reigns proved himself to have good matches against anyone. In addition, Reigns held the WWE Universal Championship, WWE Championship, United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and Tag Team Championship in just seven years on the main roster from starting his career with FCW — this later became NXT — in 2010.
Roman Reigns' Career Takes Unfortunate Turn
Sadly, it took an announcement of his leukemia diagnosis for fans to positively react to him. Despite no longer being heavily pushed, his reaction started to turn during his WrestleMania 35 feud with Drew McIntyre. However, during his storyline with Shane McMahon, which led to a match at Crown Jewel — and later a tag team match with The Undertaker against Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre — fans started to change their reaction towards "The Big Dog."
Roman Reigns is definitely one of the only people who has the ability to transcend professional wrestling like names such as The Rock, Batista, and John Cena. After being featured in the Hobbs & Shaw movie with The Rock, an acting career would not be a surprise once Reigns leaves the pro wrestling ring.
Is Roman Reigns a First-Ballot WWE Hall of Famer?
With his impressive resume and capturing every major championship he is eligible for, Reigns certainly deserves to be a WWE Hall of Famer. Of course, he would not be an immediate inductee, but he has already built a portfolio that merits a future Hall of Fame induction. Even more than just an induction, Reigns has the credentials to headline a future Hall of Fame.
Until then, Reigns will continue to carve his legacy, and earn more achievements, with one of them recently being on the cover of the WWE 2K20 video game with Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch.
