For two years, Roman Reigns didn't just hold a WWE Championship — he held both of them. From April 2022 to April 2024, "The Tribal Chief" carried the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, a title that physically unified the company's two biggest belts into one and turned Reigns into the centerpiece of the most dominant title reign wrestling had seen in decades.
Here's the full timeline of how it started, how long it lasted, and how it ended.
The Setup: Two Champions, One Match
Going into WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns wasn't chasing a title — he already had one. He'd been Universal Champion since 2020, built around the "Tribal Chief" persona that turned him from a polarizing top guy into arguably the best heel act WWE had produced in years.
Standing across the ring from him was Brock Lesnar, the reigning WWE Champion. WWE billed the match as a "winner takes all" main event — the first time in company history the top titles from both brands would be unified under one champion.
April 3, 2022 — WrestleMania 38: The Unification
Reigns beat Lesnar to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, merging the WWE Championship and Universal Championship lineages into a single title while technically maintaining both belts' individual histories. From that night on, Reigns walked to the ring carrying two championships at once — a visual that became as much a part of his character as the Tribal Chief entrance itself.
The Reign: Two Years of Defenses
Over the next 24 months, Reigns defended the unified title against a rotating cast of top-tier opponents, including:
- Jey Uso
- Kevin Owens
- Sami Zayn
- Logan Paul
- LA Knight
- AJ Styles
- Randy Orton
The most significant of these came at WrestleMania 39, where Reigns retained against Cody Rhodes in a match built around Rhodes' "finish the story" arc — a rematch that would matter a lot more a year later.
By April 2024, Reigns had held the Universal Championship lineage for 1,316 days, making it the fourth-longest reign in WWE history, behind only:
- Bruno Sammartino — 2,803 days
- Bob Backlund — 2,135 days
- Hulk Hogan — 1,474 days
He'd also held the WWE Championship side of the title for 731 days — the sixth-longest reign for that specific belt on its own.
April 7, 2024 — WrestleMania 40: The Fall
Cody Rhodes got his rematch — and this time, he finished the story. Rhodes defeated Reigns at WrestleMania 40, ending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship reign and, with it, the title itself. WWE officially retired the Universal Championship that same day, folding its lineage into what's now called the Undisputed WWE Championship — a direct continuation of the original title dating back to 1963.
It closed the book on one of the most talked-about eras in modern WWE — a run built almost entirely on the idea that Reigns wasn't just a champion, he was the champion, undisputed in every sense of the word.
Why This Reign Still Matters
Most title reigns get remembered for how long they lasted. This one gets remembered for what it represented — a full-scale, multi-year storyline that turned Roman Reigns from a champion into an institution, and turned "Undisputed" from a wrestling term into an entire era of WWE programming.
For collectors, this run also marked the last time the WWE Universal Championship design existed as an active title — which is part of why replicas of the Undisputed-era belt have stayed in high demand even after the title's retirement.
Bring the Era Home
Whether you were watching every Tribal Chief promo live or you're catching up on the era after the fact, the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship remains one of the most requested designs in our collection. Check out our replica of the belt Reigns carried through this historic run, and see the design that defined two years of WWE's main event scene up close.
