Roman Reigns Crosses Another Milestone as He Moves Into His 5th Year as WWE Universal Champion

In 2020, Reigns made a surprise return to WWE to not only turn heads but also tables by turning heel and starting a memorable run as The Tribal Chief. After becoming the WWE Champion, he has brought prestige not only to the title but also to WWE and himself. On the path to becoming the greatest WWE Champion of all time, he has surpassed many milestones as we head into the 5th year of his title run.

Roman Reigns inches closer to another milestone en route to greatness

Wrestle Ops posted a picture of WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns on X on January 20th with a tweet reminding fans about The Tribal Chief’s seemingly ever-lasting title run. The tweet read, “At 1,238 days, Roman Reigns has now surpassed Bruno Sammartino’s 2nd longest reign to now hold the 4th longest World Championship reign in @WWE history.”

Roman Reigns began his Universal Championship reign on August 30, 2020, by defeating late Bray Wyatt. As of January 20, 2024, it has lasted 1,238 days, ranking as the fourth-longest in WWE history. Reigns has defended it against over 20 top-tier superstars, unified it with the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38, and led The Bloodline faction.

His reign has elevated the titles’ prestige, drawn mixed audience reactions, and solidified his legacy as one of WWE’s greatest champions. Along with memorable matches and a memorable heel run, the title reign has also given us an all-time favorite The Bloodline saga with Reigns at the helm of it.

He has surpassed former WWE Champion Bruno Sammartino’s 2nd longest championship streak which stands at 1237 days. Sammartino’s reign started on December 10th, 1973 after defeating Stan Stasiak and ended on April 30th, 1977.

Read more: 2 Reasons Why Roman Reigns Could Face Another Betrayal at Royal Rumble 2024 Just Like Last Time

He is now only behind three more streaks that include WWE legend, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino’s longest streak.

One down, three more to go

Wrestle Ops further tweeted, “In order to reach 3rd & surpass Hulk Hogan’s reign of 1,474 days, Reigns will need to hold it till mid-September 2024.” Reigns now will have to hold the title for another 236 days to surpass the icon Hulk Hogan’s record of 1474 days. Once that is achieved, only Bob Backlund’s reign at 2,135 days and Bruno Sammartino’s reign at 2,803 days will stand ahead of him.

However, Reigns will have to go through major challenges before he can even surpass Hulk Hogan’s record. He will have to first go through AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight at Royal Rumble in a Fatal-4-Way match. After that, he will face The Rock at WrestleMania, if he can successfully defend his title at Rumble.

Will Roman Reigns ever lose his title? Who will dethrone Roman Reigns?

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