After making his WWE main roster debut at Survivor Series 2012, “The Big Dog” went on to win almost everything there is to win in WWE over the next seven years, including the WWE Championship, Universal Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and United States Championship, as well as the 2015 Royal Rumble.
Along the way, Roman Reigns went head-to-head with a variety of opponents – from Brock Lesnar and Triple H to The Undertaker and John Cena – while he headlined four WrestleMania events in a row between 2015 and 2018.
In this article, let’s take a more in-depth look at some of Roman Reigns’ opponents by counting down three people who the former Shield member requested to work with, as well as two who he did not request to work with.
#5 Roman Reigns requested to work with Daniel Bryan
Roman Reigns’ first major one-on-one match with Daniel Bryan came in February 2015 when “The Big Dog” put his WrestleMania 31 main-event spot on the line at the Fastlane pay-per-view.
Large sections of the WWE Universe had already turned against Roman Reigns ahead of the match, which took place one month after his controversial Royal Rumble victory. Bryan, meanwhile, had only just returned from a lengthy absence and he quickly re-established himself as WWE’s top babyface.
Fastlane ended with Roman Reigns defeating Bryan in one of the best in-ring performances of his career, setting up his WrestleMania 31 match against Brock Lesnar.
Three years later, after WWE cleared Bryan to come out of retirement, Roman Reigns said he wanted to face “The Leader of the Yes Movement” again, regardless of their babyface/heel statuses.
WWE appeared to be building towards a Roman Reigns vs. Bryan match in 2019, but the SmackDown storyline took a twist and the two men ended up joining forces to defeat Erick Rowan and Luke Harper at Hell in a Cell.
#4 Roman Reigns did not request to work with John Cena
It seemed inevitable after The Shield split up in June 2014 that Roman Reigns and John Cena would face each other in a high-profile match one day, possibly in the main event of WrestleMania.
However, the long-awaited dream match between two of the company’s most polarizing Superstars surprisingly took place at No Mercy 2017 – an event which is considered a ‘B’ pay-per-view – and it did not even headline the show.
Speaking to The Mirror, Roman Reigns made it clear that he did not request to face Cena at that time, as he had hoped to take on the 16-time World Champion at WWE’s biggest event of the year instead.
The WWE Universe let their voices be heard by chanting “You both sk! You both sk!” when a match was teased between Cena and Roman Reigns on the episode of RAW after SummerSlam 2017.
Fortunately, the war of words between the two men in the weeks that followed turned out to be some of the best WWE segments of the year, and Roman Reigns’ clean victory at No Mercy helped cement his status as WWE’s next top guy.
#3 Roman Reigns requested to work with Bray Wyatt
Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt’s storied history goes all the way back to the days of WWE’s Florida Championship Wrestling developmental system, where they competed against each other in multi-man matches under their former personas, Leakee, and Husky Harris.
Nearly 10 years later, it looked as though the two men were set to face off in a huge match at WrestleMania 36, with Bray Wyatt’s “The Fiend” character taking on Roman Reigns for the first time.
Two months before the event, Roman Reigns even told the media on a promotional day for WrestleMania 37 that he wanted to face “The Fiend” at WrestleMania 36.
As it turned out, Roman Reigns ended up being booked against Goldberg in a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 36, while “The Fiend” faced John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match.
Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg did not come to fruition, however, as we’re about to elaborate on…
#2 Roman Reigns did not request to work with Goldberg
Roman Reigns was supposed to face Goldberg for the Universal Championship in one of the marquee matches at WrestleMania 36.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roman Reigns opted not to perform at the event, which meant Braun Strowman took his place and ended up winning the title from Goldberg instead.
Speaking to Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin at an event to promote WrestleMania 37, Roman Reigns reiterated that he favored a match with “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt over Goldberg.
As of the time of writing, Roman Reigns has not yet returned to WWE programming and it is unclear if the match with Goldberg will take place at a later date.
Goldberg’s match at WrestleMania 36 only lasted four minutes, with Strowman pinning him after a running powerslam, and the WWE Hall of Famer has not been seen on WWE television since.
#1 Roman Reigns requested to work with The Rock
A possible match between Roman Reigns and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been speculated for several years, with “The Big Dog” usually the one planting the seeds for the two men to finally go head-to-head.
In 2017, Roman Reigns spoke about the “money match” that he could have one day with The Rock, who has not competed in an advertised WWE match since he lost against John Cena at WrestleMania 29 in 2013.
Roman Reigns has mentioned The Rock in various other media interviews in recent years, while “The Great One” did not rule out facing the former Shield member when he answered some WWE-related questions on Instagram Live in 2020.
Roman Reigns’ most notable WWE appearance with The Rock came at the 2015 Royal Rumble when the WWE Superstar-turned-Hollywood movie star helped his cousin win the 30-man match.
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