Best Roman Reigns Matches During The “Tribal Chief Era”

Fans can debate how good Roman is. They can debate where he ranks on the list of all-time performers in wrestling. What no one will argue is that the run as “The Tribal Chief” has been historic. In fact, one could argue we have seen some of the best Roman Reigns matches of all time during this era. From his WrestleMania appearances to even the most random PLEs.

Since we”re headed into WrestleMania 40, counting down the best Roman Reigns matches during the Tribal Chief Era makes a lot of sense. This era could technically end then. There is a potential for Reigns to lose the Undisputed Universal Championship at the event to Cody Rhodes. Due to this being one of the best eras of any WWE Superstar in recent memory, we wanted to highlight some of his best work.

That said, let”s dive into the best Roman Reigns matches during his Tribal Chief run.

ROMAN REIGNS vs JEY USO

• Event: WWE Clash of Champions [2020]

We’re going all the way back to the beginning. This is where Roman became the Tribal Chief, technically. Due to being early in the run, fans were filled with a sense of intrigue. How would they build Roman? How he would be elevated by his new title and his heel persona? It was uncertain. What made things interesting is that this pre-dates the eventual Bloodline faction. This meant this version of Reigns was not beloved by his cousins, the Usos, who were still babyfaces at the time.

Jey Uso was starting to work singles matches more, as his brother Jimmy Uso was out with a legitimate leg injury. Eventually, Jey would get the opportunity to wrestle his cousin for his recently won WWE Universal Championship. We expected Jey to be a slight challenge for Reigns, but we did not expect to see his “will not die” attitude. In the match, Roman could not get a pin or submission. As hard as he tried, Jey kept kicking out.

Roman proceeded to destroy Jey until Jimmy came out to throw in the towel, literally. This is a universal sign that managers or trainers will do when they feel their client or trainee has had enough. Jimmy, in his attempt to save more harm to his brother, cost him the match.

This match, as well as the one that followed it, would elevate Jey to the right-hand man and a bonafide star in his own right. 

We considered the Hell in a Cell “I Quit” match that had him acknowledge Roman for the first time, but this match started it all. It planted the seeds of Roman’s dominance and was the beginning of him becoming the face of this era of WWE. 

ROMAN REIGNS vs DANIEL BRYAN

• Event: WWE Fastlane [2021]

A month after this match, Reigns would defeat both Bryan and Edge in the Main Event of WrestleMania. While that match was excellent this match was something special. It was so good, in fact, that we felt it belonged among the best Roman Reigns matches during the Tribal Chief Era.

Coming in at a clear 30 minutes in length, it was a great match top to bottom. 

WWE fans, like the rest of the wrestling world, were clear that Bryan is a next-level, generational talent. We were reminded just how excellent Bryan is, in this match. What these guys were able to do with time and space to create was outstanding. 

At the time, going into WrestleMania, it was supposed to just be Edge vs Roman Reigns, yet Daniel Bryan kept getting in the way of things. Bryan challenged Reigns and was quickly defeated by Roman at the Elimination Chamber PLE. He requested and was granted a rematch at the WWE Fastlane PLE. Edge had been named the Special Guest Enforcer. It was supposed to be to prevent potential outside attacks and ensure the match went fairly.

Edge had already earned his right to compete in the main event of WrestleMania. Therefore, it did not matter who won this match for him. Yet Edge was fed up with both men by this point and attacked each with a steel chair, leading to the WrestleMania Triple Threat the following month.

Before this, Bryan and Reigns were having an incredible match. We could have watched Roman and Bryan fight forever. 

ROMAN REIGNS vs MONTEZ FORD

• Event: WWE SmackDown [9/24/21]

This one only gets a brief mention because of how much we love Montez Ford. Despite our love of Ford, we also feel this was one of the best Roman Reigns matches of his Tribal Chief run too. Mostly because it combined two very different styles that blended together perfectly.

Plus, this match also showed you how good Reigns is. In 2021, we were starting to get a version of Roman Reigns who was a star but now more deserving of it. His in-ring work had improved dramatically. On top of this, his acting within matches improved as well. Which meant that he could have great matches with various workers, and even help them get over, win or lose.

He gave the rub to Ford who hadn’t seen much action as a singles star. He also hadn’t seen himself in a high-profile singles match and Montez had Reigns on the ropes. This was a 16-minute match, but the two were able to get every second out of it. Well done, Montez. Also, well done Tribal Chief.

ROMAN REIGNS vs SETH ROLLINS

• Event: WWE Royal Rumble [2022]

This was a match that needed to happen. Seth Rollins was the guy in the shadows who could always lay claim to knowing how to get the better of Roman. Also, Reigns had never defeated Seth before this, something Rollins would remind him of every chance he could.

Rollins immediately tried to play mind games with Reigns, as he entered their match at the 2022 Royal Rumble PLE in classic Shield riot gear. He even had the music to go along with it. This was done for two reasons. First, it offered a bit of fun nostalgia for the fans but second, it stood as a statement. Rollins ended The Shield when he smashed a chair over the back of Reigns many years ago. He was basically trying to remind Reigns that he was and still is in total control. 

This match was under 15 minutes but it still ranks as one of the best Roman Reigns matches during this era. They also did the right thing in making Seth win, but only by disqualification. It keeps Seth protected and gives them a story to tell down the road. You’d be foolish to think that these two guys are done with each other. It might take one of them losing their title to link back up again but it’s going to happen. Actually, we could see the two in some form as soon as WrestleMania 40 season.

This is a feud that needs another spotlight. For now, we’ll have to settle for that Royal Rumble match to hold us over. 

ROMAN REIGNS vs DREW McINTYRE

• Event: WWE Clash At The Castle [2022]

This match was spectacular and easily ranks as one of the best Roman Reigns matches of all time. Not just during the Tribal Chief run. At WWE Clash at the Castle, Drew McIntyre had a home-field advantage in Cardiff, Wales.

Reigns knows how to let a moment breathe. That staredown to start the match felt overwhelming, with the UK audience nearly unglued. Reigns played to the crowd perfectly. Constantly feeling annoyed by their loud support of Drew. 

Reigns and McIntyre traded offensive blows with Reigns always a step ahead. He’d never let the beating go on too long before mounting a stop or a comeback of some sort. Reigns has become a master of pace in the ring. Knowing how to work his opponent methodically. Even when he’s on the ropes he knows how to buy himself time. 

McIntyre hit multiple Claymores on Reigns. Each time either the ref didn’t count it or Reigns would kick out at 2.999999 (which he”s mastered). In a script all too familiar, this time they added a new wrinkle, with the rescue coming from Solo Sikoa. 

To call this a shock for the casual fan would be an understatement. For months we saw The Usos save Reigns often. Solo was down at NXT and hadn’t had a single second of contact with The Bloodline. It was the beginning of the Solo Sikoa chapter in the Bloodline. The first of many saves he’d make for the Tribal Chief. 

Reigns has sent so many home empty handed but this one felt the most crushing. There was a thought that he’d lose the title that night to Drew. However, it was not meant to be. This was a thirty-minute banger that deserves watching again.

KEVIN OWENS vs ROMAN REIGNS 

• Event: WWE Royal Rumble [2023]

This match wasn’t their best in-ring work. Yet to be fair, Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns have such good chemistry in the ring that it’s pretty hard to find a bad match. However, this match helped to move a major storyline forward that had been about a year in the making. 

After the match where Roman defeated Owens, Reigns makes Sami make a choice between The Bloodline and his best friend. While Sami had turned his back on KO before this, he never outright beat him down or anything. He simply told Roman he was on his side and even proved it throughout this match by never helping Owens.

Yet Reigns is nothing if not a jealous Tribal Chief.

Owens was helpless in the ring, with the bloodline giving him a vicious beating. Roman offered Sami the chair to take to KO’s head. Sami drew the moment out and then at the last second, swung that same chair to the back of Reigns. If you know anything about the history of Roman Reigns, you know that this isn’t the first time he was “chaired” in the back. 

The pop from that crowd when Sami did it could have torn the roof off most buildings. It was deafening even watching at home. Owens was the perfect divider for the Bloodline. He would play a crucial role in the fracture that happened over the following months. 

This match was intense overall. While it might be the last time these two men go one-on-one for some time, that ending was glorious.

ROMAN REIGNS vs SAMI ZAYN

• Event: WWE Elimination Chamber [2023]

This gets the nod for the most intense and excited crowd Reigns has wrestled against. Hostile would be putting it lightly, because no one inside the stadium in Montreal was going to cheer for anyone except Sami Zayn. After all, this was Zayn’s hometown. Heck, the place came unglued during his entrance alone. They carried it through the entire match.

Reigns and Zayn were smart to let that moment hang in the air for as long as possible before locking up. While Reigns has always been the villain, he did his best job here playing it up. He jawed at Zayn’s family and laid into Zayn wanting to punish him for his betrayal. 

Of course, like most Roman matches we’ve witnessed over the past three years, this was a familiar script. Sami mounted the comeback, hit his finisher, and had the Tribal Chief dead to rights. In the end, he found himself on the losing end thanks to several ref bumps and interference from Jimmy Uso. 

The script gets tired at times, and if there was ever an opponent for Roman to win clear over, it was Zayn. That’s not what happened. The Bloodline pulled out all the stops, and Roman retained. 

Regardless of the script, the crowd more than made up for this. Zayn and Reigns showed up big with their storytelling and the well-crafted layout of the match. There were several moments where we really thought Zayn might pull this off. Which just proves how incredible these men are.

To us, this is an easy addition to the best Roman Reigns matches of his Tribal Chief run.

CODY RHODES vs ROMAN REIGNS 

• Event: WrestleMania 39 [2023]

From a match construction and performance standpoint, it is by far the best match of the Tribal Chief run for Reigns.

Let”s start with the obvious: what made this match fun was the suspense. For all Roman does right in his reign, the suspense often isn’t there.

No one thought he was losing to Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble PLE. Very few thought he was losing to Sami Zayn at the Elimination Chamber PLE.  The one issue with his run is that the script of the matches has become all too predictable. Yet the match with Cody Rhodes was different because it took place in the main event of WrestleMania 39. It would have been the perfect time to see Reigns lose.

Knowing Cody had a legitimate shot to take the championship was all the more reason to watch this match. While he came short as those before him did, he seemed to have given Reigns the biggest scare. Without Solo Sikoa, a new champ would have been crowned that night. Without a doubt.

This match was everything you could want and more. It had false finishes, big spots, and run-ins galore. It was a potluck of every wrestling gimmick we know that adds to the excitement and intensity. Beyond that, we had two wrestlers (who are masters at storytelling) put on the match of the weekend—the best in Roman’s Tribal Chief era. 

We”d go as far as to say this was one of the best Roman Reigns matches of all time too. By far, his best WrestleMania match.

THE USOS vs THE BLOODLINE 

• Event: WWE Money in the Bank [2023]

Is this match the best match Roman has had? No. You have to put it on the list because Jey Uso did something that no one had managed to do (in front of a referee) in three years. He pinned the Tribal Chief 1-2-3. 

This match is important too, as it added another chapter in the fracturing of the Bloodline. However, it seems to make little sense how Jimmy goes from this place to screwing his brother over pretty soon after this. We still have to acknowledge how big this moment was. 

The Usos are one of the greatest tag teams of any generation, and they showed us why in this match. We have to give an honorable mention to Reigns and Sikoa, who worked seamlessly together. 

They put on a show for over 30 minutes and ended with Jey getting the pinfall over his cousin. As of this writing, it is still the only pinfall Reigns has taken in about 3 years and the last one he suffered. This match also helped further the cause for Jey Uso. He’s remained the breakout star of The Bloodline (outside of Reigns himself) and showed that he should firmly be on his way to more main events.