On night two of WrestleMania 37 in the main event, Roman Reigns managed to successfully defend his Universal Championship over Daniel Bryan and Edge. This by no means was Reigns’ first major win at WrestleMania, but perhaps it was his most important of his career. For years it has felt there was a feeling of force in the sense that Reigns needed all these WrestleMania moments to show he was officially WWE‘s top star. And for the most part, fans would agree that none of those main events really established him as they should have. Most of the time, Reigns was booed out of the building. And rather than WWE pivoting to having him embrace the boos, he would try and make people like him instead.
However, following WrestleMania 33, there was a turn of sorts in the way Reigns handled himself. While he was still recognized as the top babyface, he showed confidence that you would more see in a heel. It was his “yard” now that The Undertaker was behind him and no one could reasonably step up to him without knowing that he was the top guy, with or without the title. This is all to say that with the win at WrestleMania 37, it was a culmination of many moments for Reigns. “The Head of the Table” used all those failures and successes, even if they weren’t always treated as so, to get the moment he had long deserved. Reigns captured the major win in the main event, achieving the natural WrestleMania moment that every top star in WWE history has in their career.
And he did that as the best version of himself. The one where he could finally be true to who he was and have full control.
Roman Reigns’ work since returning at SummerSlam in 2020 has been nothing short of spectacular. His ability to craft a new persona while keeping the important factors that have made him who he has been for years is the reason that “The Tribal Chief” works so well. With the Universal Championship on the line in a triple threat, it seemed that the spot on the top he had been succeeding in for almost a year now would be gone. Yet, the value of Reigns in his current iteration is nearly unmatchable which is why the win in the main event was right.
Whether it be the way he made his entrance to the ring, being able to embrace the boos of the WWE Universe for the first time really since the Raw after WrestleMania 33, or the sheer dominance he displayed in his match, it was the WrestleMania moment that his career was waiting for and that he earned. A natural feel in professional wrestling is something that any wrestler hopes for. Daniel Bryan’s main event win at WrestleMania 30, Becky Lynch‘s rise to being “The Man” of WWE, and Kofi Kingston becoming WWE champion after 11 years all have that natural feel and become those incredible moments in WWE history. The only difference here is that Reigns is not the underdog, not the babyface, not the favorite amongst fans, nor even the challenger for a title.
Roman Reigns is the champion. Reigns was facing two of the most likely to be cheered babyfaces in the company in Daniel Bryan and Edge. He was no underdog or fan favorite, but his work over the past year has set him up to have earned this win. Sometimes, the bad guy, the top guy has to win. And this was a case that not only should he have walked out victorious, but looked dominant in doing so. The final scene of the magnificent match was brilliant. Not only did Reigns pin one of his two opponents, but he pinned both. Reigns had the look of a king, showing that no one could touch him or take his moment from him that he had worked so hard for. That’s what made it feel so natural, so right, and finally so deserving for “The Tribal Chief.”
And consider everything he has gone through since the last time he main evented WrestleMania in 2018. He finally won the Universal Championship and had to relinquish that at the end of 2018 as he entered his battle with leukemia. Reigns made it through that battle, coming out of the other side stronger than ever. It took nearly a year for him to get back into the world title picture for WrestleMania 36 and when COVID-19 hit, he was forced out once again as he decided to not compete and take care of his family. Now, three years later, he finally had his long-awaited true WrestleMania moment.
Roman Reigns deserves your respect. The work from his promos to his matches continues to be the most consistently best thing on WWE television. Reigns has made magic with Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, and now Edge and Daniel Bryan. The future and what could come makes what he is doing the most must-see run WWE has had in nearly two years. He has become everything his potential said he could be. It’s time that the world acknowledges him — he not only should be recognized as the best men’s wrestler in WWE right now, but he should be recognized as one of the absolute best in the world.
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