8 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Make The Roman Reigns Experiment Work
7. Defeating Daniel Bryan (And Earning His Respect)
Daniel Bryan may have been WWE's fairytale champion in 2014, but the company was determined to make Roman Reigns their 2015 Cinderella story. What better way to do that than by having him defeat the fan-favourite Bryan in a terrific match in an attempt to prove that he wasn't that limited in the ring and was, in fact, worthy of his main event spot. The handshake he shared with Daniel Bryan was another attempt to get him over because if the leader of the Yes Movement respects Reigns, surely the WWE Universe will too, right? Wrong.
Though there's no denying that this was undoubtedly one of Reigns' best performances, having him go over the person that the WWE Universe wanted to see in the main event of WrestleMania 31 instead was not going to sit well with fans. This ultimately led to Reigns' main event match against Lesnar at the Showcase of The Immortals in which Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ending Reigns' initial ascension to the top. However, the year wasn't over yet...