Quote from Segun Ite on April 2, 2022, 4:38 PM

On April 3, 2022, Day 2 of the 2-night Wrestlemania 38 event, Universal Champion and The Head of The Table, Roman Reigns will square off against The Beast, Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All Unification match for both the Red and Blue brand's most coveted prizes in what WWE has billed as a big one.

 Traditionally every year, during the January-bound Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WWE features a 30-man Royal Rumble match as the main event as well as a correspondent for the women roster with both male and female winners going on to earn a world championship match at Wrestlemania.

However, there are certain superstars who still manage to make it to the biggest match of the biggest show without necessarily being the sole survivor of a 30-contestant, over the toprope match.

Reigns has benefited well from alternative routes to the 'most highlighting moment' of the Showcase of the Immortals as even though the Samoan is set to main-event for the sixth time, he has only won the Rumble once. This means his other five times as a main-card performer have come via the unconventional paths.

As Reigns is set to do it for the sixth time on Sunday at Texas, we look at his Wrestlemania main-events so far.

2015: Wrestlemania 31

Looking down the memory lane, Reigns was one of the new faces just recruited by Vince's company in late 2012, and the then 'Big Dog' debuted on the main roster in November, alongside his former 'The Shield' teammates, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose(now known as Jon Moxley in AEW), attacking Ryback and registering themselves as an heel faction. The Shield remained villains till 2014, post-wrestlemania, when they got into a feud with The Evolution(Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista).

After defeating the latter at Payback 2014, Triple H broke up The Shield faction, influencing Rollins to turn on his teammates. With The Shield broken up, Reigns and Ambrose teamed up briefly for some time before all three men turned their attention to singles. During this period(or probably before), WWE had devised plans to push Reigns to the top of the ladder and package him as the face of the company, a decision that was met with heavy criticism and disapproval from the sports entertainment universe, once it had begun to materialize. This was evident as heel-Reigns who competed in the 2014 Royal Rumble, scoring a record 12 eliminations was cheered, while face-Reigns(who was meant to be cheered) who was made look pitiable(as WWE normally did for their heroic or would-be heroic talents) and won the 2015 Royal Rumble was heavily booed(this was partly due to fan favourite, Daniel Bryan, not getting the 'deserved treatment'). WWE teased a return of Daniel Bryan to the main card at Fastlane when they made him face Reigns for the #1 contendership, with Reigns successfully defending.

At Wrestlemania 31, Reigns unsuccessfully challenged Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after the man who had betrayed their stable almost a year ago, Seth Rollins, cashed in his 2014 Money in the Bank Contract to win the title contended for whilst the match was in progress. It was noticeable how Reigns was booed during the main event at Santa Clara, California and the crowd cheered at Rollins' smart move as this angle was one that sat well with them.

2016: Wrestlemania 32

WWE were not going to relent in their ambitions to establish Reigns(who was awarded most hated wrestler of 2015 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated thanks to Vince's desperation) as the top babyface and hero of the company. They were trying to make him the next Cena and the fans didn't hesitate at any point to show how displeased they were with this plot. Storylines upon storylines, twists upon twists, angles upon angles kept revealing that Vince and co were just pushing the widely hated superstar up the ladder, garnering more disinterest. As Rollins had to vacate the championship following an ACL injury in November, a tournament was scheduled to crown a new champion which Reigns won at Survivor Series by defeating his former brother, Dean Ambrose in the finals. Post-match, as Triple H attempted to shake Reigns, the latter attacked the former with a spear and then got attacked with a Brogue Kick by Sheamus who cashed in the 2015 Money in the Bank Contract to win the championship. Weeks after weeks, on the road to Wrestlemania, WWE's creatives tried to put numerous obstacles in front of this man(and obviously, make him crush them ultimately). Whether that involved the entire league of Nations faction(Del Rio, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Rusev, Cesaro), Vince had just one goal; to make Reigns the next Cena. Reigns won the title back and was forced to defend it in the 2016 Royal Rumble match(again, another seemingly unsurmountable challenge). Being eliminated after making it to the final three, Triple H would go on to win the title. With an Authority member now the champion, it looked so impossible for Reigns to pull this off(of course it wasn't, remember WWE called the shots here). After weeks and weeks of promos and segments, Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in his first Wrestlemania main-event win, a match that was heavily criticized by WWE fans.

2017: Wrestlemania 33

With Reigns made to lose the title to Ambrose at Money in The Bank(this was a match between Rollins and Reigns but Ambrose cashed in and was successful in winning), WWE built up yet again for the WWE universe to love Reigns(despite their firmness not to). This time around they used The Greatest Performer at Wrestlemania by records and a GrandDaddy of professional wrestling, The Undertaker, to push Reigns. In the 2017 Royal Rumble, Reigns entered at #30 and had a stare-down with The Deadman as he would later go on to eliminate him. This plot wasn't welcome by the fans. As Reigns progressed, he was booed by the fans(you can't blame them, WWE was trying to force this guy down their throats) and they were happy and heavily relieved when he was the last man eliminated by Randy Orton to win the Royal Rumble match. It however , was so ironic that WWE made the Rumble winner wrestle on the mid-card while they made Reigns, yes, Roman, main-event Wrestlemania again. The Undertaker was used as a jobber for this match in order to push Reigns esteem and value in the company(they were so lucky the streak didn't end at his hands, had it Reigns would have suffered greater boos and hate than Lesnar did when he infamously ended The Phenom's 21 match-winning streak at Wrestlemania 30). Later that year, they had John Cena do the same thing, 'passing the torch' to Reigns after he defeated the sixteen-time world Champion in a couple of matches.

2018: Wrestlemania 34

It looked as though WWE were still not done(I mean, he had defeated The Greatest Man in Wrestlemania history and WWE's greatest fan favourite, what more did they want)

In the 2018 Royal Rumble, they had Nakamura win by last eliminating the same Roman Reigns(who was by now, a three time runner up). Nakamura didn't however fight in the main-event as the Elimination Chamber decided instead of the Royal Rumble(which is no doubt greater than the February-bound PPV). Reigns once again won this match and was unsuccessful in defeating Lesnar for the Universal Championship, though he later won at Summerslam.

(Wrestlemania 35): 2019

We don't know for sure whether Vince planned to give Reigns the fifth consecutive main event at Wrestlemania 35 as Reigns' longtime struggles with leukaemia found its way waltzing back into his life in October 2018. With the Big Dog vacating the title, WWE prepared for other storylines during this period. Reigns returned to screen in February 2019, informing the live crowd that his sickness was in remission(By then, even if WWE wanted him at the main-event, it was a bit too late). Reigns would then go on to wrestle Drew McIntyre, in a winning effort.

2020: Wrestlemania 36

Reigns was again in the 2020 Royal Rumble and was the last person(now a four-time Rumble runner up) eliminated by the eventual winner, Drew McIntyre. Reigns was set to face Goldberg for the Universal Championship at Wrestlemania(I can almost bet he was booked to win) but was removed from the match after he opted out due to concerns over his immunocompromised state(he was vulnerable to the new coronavirus disease due to his previous battles with leukaemia.)

2021: Wrestlemania 37

With Reigns crowned as Universal champion upon his return from hiatus in 2020, WWE took a new turn to their favorite superstar by rebranding him, this time as a heel, one who was tribally obsessed with power and making Paul Heyman(Lesnar's former advocate)his manager.

Over the months, Reigns successfully defended the title and did so again at Wrestlemania 37 in 2021(the first WWE event to be attended by fans in over a year as at the time)against 2021 Royal Rumble winner, Edge, and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match.

2022: Wrestlemania 38

With Lesnar returning in the summer of 2021 to confront Reigns, The Tribal Chief fired Heyman as he believed he still had significant ties with his arch-rival. In early 2022, Lesnar won the WWE Championship and at the Royal Rumble event a few weeks later, got double-crossed by Heyman and Reigns which ultimately led to his loss. The former UFC superstar was able to shake the loss and shock off himself as he regained the championship a month later in the main event of The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The feud continued to heighten on the road to Wrestlemania and WWE have labelled the match 'The Biggest Wrestlemania match of all time'

Could Reigns walk out as a double-champion in what appears to be his greatest Wrestlemania moment. Guess we'd have to find out on Sunday night.