The recent return of Roman Reigns added a great interest in WWE moving forward. Reigns has been one of the most protected and popular wrestlers on the WWE roster. Any performer beating Roman is scoring a huge victory in their careers. So, a clean victory is even more impressive based on how rare it happens over him.

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WWE is very selective about which wrestlers defeat their top star positioned in the role as the face of the company. Names like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and John Cena would almost always have some interference involved in their defeats. Reigns had the same story, but WWE eventually did trust some wrestlers to get the victories. There were also the instances of the wrestlers who should have scored a clean victory over him never getting it.

10 Beat him clean: Seth Rollins

The return of Seth Rollins from an injury in 2016 coincided with the timing of Roman Reigns getting suspended for violating the wellness policy. Rollins won their WWE Championship match cleanly at Money in the Bank 2016.

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The suspension of Roman changed WWE’s plans and they decided it was worth having him lose clean if he was going to be out of the title picture for a while. Rollins won the title, but Dean Ambrose cashed in MITB right after to pin Rollins, leaving the night as the WWE Champion.

9 Should have: Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens is still the only full-time wrestler to have a Universal Championship reign without some sort of drastic change. Despite having one of the better reigns with the belt, Owens didn’t get booked to his full potential.

The feud with Roman Reigns saw Roman often getting the better of him. Owens could have had his title reign remembered more strongly if he scored a clean victory over Reigns. The biggest victory for KO over Roman featured Braun Strowman’s interference in a Last Man Standing match.

8 Beat him clean: Braun Strowman

WWE viewed Braun Strowman as their most protected wrestler after Roman Reigns in 2017. Both names were booked strongly at the expense of everyone else on the Raw roster heading into their singles feud.

Strowman was a rare wrestler to get the better of Roman in a few segments. The PPV matches saw them trading victories with Braun scoring two clean wins over Reigns. One of the two was an Ambulance match that ended with Strowman dodging a Roman spear to lock the door on him without any cheating involved in the creative finish.

7 Should have: John Cena

The rivalry between John Cena and Roman Reigns created must-see television with personal promo battles bringing up quite a few insults. WWE went with the odd timing of having their biggest money match at No Mercy 2017.

The match was lackluster, and the feud ended way too quickly. Reigns didn’t even benefit from beating Cena since the match felt off. WWE would have been better off having Cena get the win here before losing to Roman on a bigger stage like WrestleMania.

6 Beat him clean: Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar has been the most dominant heel during Roman Reigns’ rise to the top leading to them having many matches. Reigns couldn’t get the big victory over Brock in any of their WrestleMania matches due to late changes.

WrestleMania 34 saw Lesnar winning cleanly after the audience heckled the match. The two had a steel cage bout in Saudi Arabia that Brock technically won clean even though Roman speared him through the cage side, helping him unintentionally escape.

5 Should have: AJ Styles

The series of matches between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles helped Roman’s best WWE Championship reign have some classics. Styles was only in his second WWE feud after he worked with Chris Jericho for a few months.

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The PPV matches ended with Roman successfully defending the WWE Championship. Styles could have used a clean victory over Reigns even if in a non-title match. The heel turn on John Cena in his next program helped AJ rebound after the losing efforts.

4 Beat him clean: Bobby Lashley

One of the more surprising instances of someone beating Roman Reigns cleanly was Bobby Lashley. WWE wanted to give Lashley a big push when returning to WWE after a long absence made him a bigger star in TNA and MMA.

The big match between Reigns and Lashley featured both faces duking it out ending with Lashley scoring the huge win. Roman got his win back the next night on Raw to not lose much momentum while still elevating Lashley a little.

3 Should have: Daniel Bryan

WWE hurt Roman Reigns in early 2015 by trying to elevate him over Daniel Bryan into the top face spot. Fans turned on Reigns at the Royal Rumble event that saw him dominating the match as they booed louder with each elimination.

The reaction by WWE was to place Bryan and Reigns into a singles feud with the title shot on the line. Roman beating Bryan just made the audience turn on him even more. Bryan getting the win over Reigns and that WM spot could have saved Reigns from losing many supporters.

2 Beat him cleanly: Finn Balor

The return from his suspension in the summer of 2016 saw Roman Reigns moving down to the mid-card for the first time in years. WWE wanted Finn Balor to become the face of Raw in the first few weeks into the brand split after his call-up from NXT.

Balor’s first night on Raw featured a triple threat victory and then a single victory over Roman to move into the first-ever Universal Championship match vs Seth Rollins. WWE wanted to make a statement by having Finn beat Roman cleanly to get established. Balor’s injury ended his title reign early and Reigns was once again the face of Raw when Finn returned.

1 Should have: Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt was one of Roman Reigns’ top rivals both in their Shield vs Wyatt Family feud along with their singles feud in 2015. WWE wanted Bray to become the top heel and Roman as the top face for the next chapter of their careers.

Reigns scored all the big victories with Wyatt’s rare wins coming with help from others. WWE could have elevated Bray with one clean victory. Roman’s recent return attacking Wyatt at SummerSlam 2020 will see if Bray ever gets the win without interference.

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