Roman Reigns Beat Bray Wyatt For The Universal Title Exactly Three Years Ago

WWE’s World Title reign by Roman Reigns is unlike anything many fans have ever witnessed. The Tribal Chief added the WWE Title to his collection in the main event of WrestleMania last year, making him the Universal Champion for 1,090 days. He now holds the World Title for 1,090 days, making his reign the fifth-longest in WWE history. The Head of the Table recently surpassed Pedro Morales’s tenure to move up to the top five.

Three Years As Universal Champion

For Reigns and his tenure with the championships, it represents yet another significant date. Reigns won a triple threat match against Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman on August 30, 2020, to win the title of Universal Champion. After taking a lengthy vacation during the pandemic, Reigns rejoined WWE just one week later. At SummerSlam, the Undisputed Champion made an unexpected comeback and attacked Wyatt after the latter had defeated Strowman to win the championship.

Who would have imagined that three years later, Reigns would still have both the WWE Title and the Universal Championship in addition to continuing to hold both titles? A remarkable accomplishment that hasn’t been matched since Hulk Hogan held the WWE Championship for 1,474 days in the 1980s. Before he focuses on Hogan’s reign, Reigns still has one more reign to surpass. the 1,237-day second title reign of Bruno Sammartino. Reigns will in fact surpass that figure if he stays champion until WrestleMania 40.

An Anniversary With Added Meaning

Reigns always had a lot riding on today, but with Wyatt’s passing just six days ago, the celebration of the champion’s third victory over the Universal Championship has taken on much more significance. After Wyatt won the Universal Title at SummerSlam, Reigns interrupted the match, and Wyatt held the title for seven days before he passed away last week. This was the last time Wyatt ever held a title in the WWE.

Since Wyatt passed away, there have already been tributes to him on WWE programming and elsewhere. Seth Rollins, for example, replaced one of his own sideplates on his World Championship with a Wyatt one. The fact that Reigns beat Wyatt to begin his historic reign as Universal Champion and the likelihood of a tribute from John Cena, who will be back on SmackDown this Friday, ensure that Wyatt will continue to be remembered over the coming days.