5 Times WWE Tried To Pass The Torch To Roman Reigns
2. Triple H At WrestleMania 32
If TLC and Raw the next night managed to repair the damage
between Roman Reigns and the fans, Royal Rumble 2016 completely unraveled
things.
Reigns’ title was put on the line in the Rumble match, with Roman entering at #1. That was the first ominous moment. But then you had several things go wrong, such as AJ Styles making his long-awaited debut (at #3) and immediately overshadowing Reigns. Then the League of Nations put Roman through an announce table and knocked him out of the match for a half-hour.
So you had the world champion, who was supposedly defending his title, knocked out of half of the match, taking a nap in the back. Naturally, Roman returned at the very end, in time to eliminate three men before being tossed by a returning Triple H, who went on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
And that set up a WrestleMania main event no one wanted to see anymore. Reigns versus Triple H was DOA, and their match, which went for “epic,” landed with a thud. The idea clearly was that Reigns would finally triumph over a force of evil at Mania and be crowned the champion, kicking off a new era of prosperity for WWE.
However, Raw ratings plummeted and Roman’s title reign ended after less than three months to a returning Seth Rollins.