WWE SummerSlam 2018: 5 Best Roman Reigns Moments In The PPV

#2 A Statement Win

Defeating Randy Orton in 2014 was huge for Reigns.

When Seth Rollins abruptly ended The Shield via steel chair on the June 2nd, 2014 edition of Raw, it was blatantly obvious who the chosen one was from that trio. Roman went on to wrestle in the WWE Championship Ladder Match at that same month’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view then competed in another WWE Championship 4-Way contest at June’s Battleground.

Roman was already in a top spot on the roster but had yet to truly earn it in the eyes of many fans. What he needed was a chance to show that he belonged in the main event. His first singles match at SummerSlam was that opportunity and it happened opposite of Randy Orton.

This was a fairly straightforward but solid match, captivating the crowd and building to an uproar by the time the finish arrived. That finish was a Roman Spear after deflecting a punt to the skull. The crowd erupted big time for Reigns, is the perfect climax to a spotlight bout.

If this had been the first of several months of singles wins in hard-fought matches for The Big Dog, he just might have proven himself definitively in the eyes of the WWE Universe. Sadly, Roman Reigns underwent hernia surgery just before the following month’s Night of Champions event. He didn’t return to action until a run-in in the WWE Championship Match at TLC in December, just in time to be re-inserted into the WrestleMania main event buildup that began in January.