Every Roman Reigns WWE Universal Title Defence Ranked In Order Of Greatness

30. Vs Finn Bálor (Extreme Rules 2021)

Roman Reigns ranked
WWE.com

WWE didn't want to beat 'The Demon' back in 2021, but after Finn Bálor had already lost conclusively to Roman Reigns before their Extreme Rules battle, the decision to put Bálor in the paint for their rematch was deemed necessary.

It was probably best just not booked at all.

A decent brawl never threatened to get all that exciting before the former Universal Champion appeared to have the win sewn up with a Coup De Grace. That drew The Usos in for their increasingly typical interference stuff, but mere ringside attacks weren't enough to decimate a demon. Especially not one recovered by a sound-and-light show!

Making fish-out-of-water movements to show his recovery, Bálor magically kicked *ss again for a minute or two, but a second Coup De Grace was hijacked by the top rope mysteriously collapsing before he could hit it. Suddenly, the magical and terrifying Demon was nursing a bum knee, and Reigns capitalised with a single spear to get the win.

The whole thing reeked of desperation, foreshadowing the next several months of a run that - for a time - felt like it was really running out of juice.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett