5 WWE Superstars destined to defeat Roman Reigns clean one day

While Roman Reigns’ pay-per-view win ratio is nowhere near as high as many people might expect (50.88 percent), it’s fair to say that he wins more high-profile matches than most WWE Superstars.

Within the last two years, “The Big Dog” has defeated Triple H, The Undertaker and John Cena, while he is expected to add to those milestone victories by beating Brock Lesnar clean at WrestleMania 34.

As for defeats, Reigns recently lost in consecutive weeks against The Miz on Raw, both times due to interference and/or cheating, and only three men (Seth Rollins, Finn Balor and Braun Strowman) have ever defeated him clean in one-on-one WWE matches.

In this article, we take a look at five Superstars who could join that elite list next.

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#5 John Cena

Roman Reigns defeated John Cena at No Mercy 2017

The only one-on-one televised match between John Cena and Roman Reigns came at No Mercy 2017, where two of the most polarizing characters in WWE history squared off in a WrestleMania-worthy encounter.

As expected, Reigns emerged with a torch-passing win – or "torch-taking" win, as Cena later said – over the 16-time World champion and the heated rivalry was over just a month after it started.

Something tells us that their match at the No Mercy pay-per-view, which had no title up for grabs and didn’t even headline the show, wasn’t the last time that the two will meet in a high-profile WWE match.

If the rivalry is ever revisited, Cena will surely get a clean win back on Reigns, even if it means “The Big Dog” defeats him again to win the overall feud.

#4 Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe has defeated Roman Reigns before, but never clean

Samoa Joe had one of the best first 12 months on WWE's main roster out of anybody who has been called up from NXT in recent years, which is remarkable considering he didn’t get a spot on the WrestleMania 33 card and that he has struggled with injuries of late.

One of Joe’s best main-roster rivalries so far has been with Roman Reigns – a man he has attacked and defeated on numerous occasions but never with a clean victory.

No matter how many times they’ve met in the past, it seems like the two men always have unfinished business with each other and, providing they remain on the same brand, they are bound to cross paths again over the next year or two.

If WWE continues to portray “The Destroyer” as they did during his debut year on Monday Night Raw, then it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him finally defeat his nemesis clean.

#3 Dean Ambrose

Will Dean Ambrose turn heel in 2018?

While Seth Rollins has been fortunate enough to pick up a clean victory over Roman Reigns before (Money In The Bank 2016 and, if Triple Threat matches count, also at WrestleMania 31), Dean Ambrose is yet to defeat his fellow Shield member fair and square in a one-on-one match.

The two have met in singles matches in the past, most notably in the main event of Survivor Series 2015 with the WWE Championship at stake, but “The Big Dog” always seems to pick up the win over his best buddy.

We think that might finally change after Ambrose returns from his triceps injury in mid-to-late 2018, with the three Shield members bound to collide at some point when they’re all fit and healthy.

“The Lunatic Fringe” has been a babyface for over four years and if, as widely reported before his injury, he is going to turn heel, there would be no better immediate opponent for him than Reigns.

#2 Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura eliminated Roman Reigns to win the 2018 Royal Rumble

From Dolph Ziggler to Baron Corbin to Jinder Mahal, nobody can deny that Shinsuke Nakamura was booked poorly in his first eight months on SmackDown Live.

But, in fairness to WWE, they have now given fans what they wanted and “The King of Strong Style” has been transformed from a character who lost clean against Jinder to someone who was able to outlast 29 other men to win the Royal Rumble.

Despite his underwhelming pay-per-view storylines prior to the Rumble, Nakamura still recorded a few statement victories in his first few months on SmackDown Live, including against Kevin Owens, John Cena and Randy Orton.

The one man he hasn’t defeated, discounting Rumble eliminations, is Roman Reigns, as the two men have never been on the same brand during Nakamura’s time in WWE. But, with a Superstar Shake-Up surely on the horizon in 2018, don’t count it out happening one day!

#1 AJ Styles

Roman Reigns and AJ Styles feuded in 2016

Roman Reigns and AJ Styles main-evented back-to-back pay-per-views in May 2016, Payback and Extreme Rules, with Reigns retaining his title on both occasions after The Usos helped counter interference from The Club.

At the time, Styles was still relatively new to the company while Reigns had only just won the WWE Championship a month earlier from Triple H, so it was no surprise that “The Phenomenal One” was unable to bring a swift end to his rival’s title reign.

Fast forward to 2018 and one imagines that a match between the two would result in a different outcome. Styles is now a two-time WWE champion and he is the only full-time roster member whose crowd reactions are consistently as loud as “The Big Dog”.

When you also consider that Styles is undoubtedly the best in-ring performer in modern-day WWE and that a battle between the two would probably be a contender for Match of the Year, then he’s the obvious candidate to defeat Reigns clean one day.