5 Roman Reigns matches that exceeded expectations

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman (Fastlane 2017)

Braun Strowman’s rise to super stardom at the onset of 2017 came out of nowhere. Within a matter of months, he went from squashing local athletes to facing Raw’s most notable names including Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins.

By that point, though, he had yet to have that one truly noteworthy performance, not to mention fans couldn’t get a grasp of how skilled he was between the ropes. That was why most fans were skeptical when he kicked off his feud with Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble 2017, especially after the clunker they contested when Strowman initially arrived on the main roster two years earlier.

The build-up to their match at Fastlane was brilliantly executed with Strowman annihilating Reigns almost every week, but the jury was still out on how much in-ring chemistry they would have. Sure enough, they ended up having one of the best bouts of the night with Strowman proving he was in fact on Reigns’ level.

Admittedly, Reigns defeating Strowman in clean fashion was a bit of a bummer, considering it marked Strowman’s first pinfall loss in singles competition. That aside, their better-than-expected encounter paved the way for them to have more matches through the remainder of the year with each one being more remarkable than the last.