Every Roman Reigns WWE Universal Title Defence Ranked In Order Of Greatness
1. Vs Cody Rhodes (WrestleMania 40)
A Sports Entertainment masterpiece on the night WWE began an era that seemingly resolved to remove the term, the closing moments of Roman Reigns' four year story were so incredibly powerful that they ensured Cody Rhodes could finish his.
A chaotic masterpiece thanks to the stipulations set one night prior, this was equal parts statement of intent from booker Triple H to trust his process as it was a virtuoso performance from the wrestlers themselves. Managing to meet the standards set by their first effort at WrestleMania 39, the contest was in reality made by the glorious second half. Bloodline villains being met head on by WWE's top babyfaces was delirious fan service as if to celebrate the true departure of the man that never sanctioned such a thing, but Reigns feeding his historic beef with Seth Rollins by choosing him for a chair attack of Cody marked the earnestly artistic beginning of his end.
'The American Nightmare' was always going to be a made man, but to ascend to the throne in this manner could have only happened thanks to a list of defences this long and - thankfully more often than not - epic. In playing facilitator by looking at the lights in such an end-of-the-world manner, he reminded everybody just why he was the true Final Boss long before The Rock took the name.