Roman Reigns has been champion for so long, it’s hard to believe he ever used to lose at all. Forget the Bloodline — the real story of Roman’s title reign has been the excuses given as to why he can’t lose, no matter how hot his challenger.
“Roman can’t lose to Drew in the UK — he’s got to pay off the Bloodline story!”
“Roman can’t lose to Sami in Montreal — he’s got to make it to WrestleMania!”
“Roman can’t lose to Cody at WrestleMania — he’s got to make it to 1000 days as champion!”
“Roman can’t lose to Jey at SummerSlam — he’s got to make it to three years as champion! Plus it’s Jey Uso, and the match sucks.”
But back in 2019, WWE had no such qualms. In fact, Roman lost to Baron Corbin —
— twice —
— in a feud that revolved around dog food.
See, before he was the Tribal Chief and the Head of the Table, Roman Reigns was the Big Dog…
…and that nickname alone was enough to get King Corbin on his case.
The way Corbin saw it, the Big Dog was more of a chihuahua. And if you didn’t believe him, he had the footage to prove it.
Well, not so much “footage” as a loop of Roman’s CGI pit bull yipping like a toy dog.
Roman’s problem was, well, I’ll let Corbin explain it. His Highness was far more eloquent than I could ever be:
You heard the man: not just itsy-bitsy, not just tiny, but tiny!
King Corbin then vowed to beat the crap out of Roman Reigns, then pulled out (what else?) “little doggie poop bags”.
The fans in England, galled at having to call an utter twit their king, were not happy…
…especially when, after heavy interference, Corbin pinned the Big Dog.
The following week, the dog jokes continued, as King Corbin tried to speak to Roman Reigns…
…who showed up on screen as a cartoon chihuahua.
He then welcomed “Roman Reigns” to the ring, but it was just a guy in a bulldog suit. Hey, wasn’t he a chihuahua a minute ago?
The literal Big Dog walked to the ring accompanied by a remix of Roman’s music…
…which replaced the heavy guitars with dog barks. And if you think this clip is annoying, imagine having to hear it in a loop like the Smackdown viewers.
In the ring, King Corbin started making the dog do tricks. Extending his hand, Corbin told him to “shake”, as in shake his hand.
Misunderstanding the basic command, the guy in the suit sat down and… kinda shook himself, I guess? “Yeahhhh!” said the gracious King.
Roman Reigns just felt embarrassed for Corbin, and not just because of the stupid pet tricks. Here was a guy who was, and I quote, “Six-six, almost six-eight”…
…and he still needed henchmen to help him win. You didn’t need to be a mathematician to see the problem.
A month later, Corbin promised to “humiliate” Roman Reigns. Sure enough, he and Dolph Ziggler ambushed Reigns, handcuffed him to a ring post, and humiliated him doggy-style…
…pouring cans of dog food over his head.
Altogether, they emptied six, almost eight cans of Ol’ Roy Chicken Dinner on the Big Dog.
These degenerates even mashed the stuff into Roman’s magnificent mane. They were lucky to avoid jail time.
The next week, Corbin and Ziggler tried the same thing with Kofi Kingston…
…but Reigns intervened.
At TLCDF (Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Dog Food), Corbin again pinned Roman Reigns…
…again with outside interference.
Having beaten Roman Reigns twice, it was time for King Corbin to vie for a title shot. As Corbin covered Daniel Bryan…
…Reigns showed up and pulled the King out of the ring. Roman, said Michael Cole, “just cost the King an opportunity to win this match”. Or, put more succinctly, he cost him the match.
The bad guys later tried once more cuffed Reigns and tried to shower him in Ol’ Roy’s, which they must have bought in bulk.
This time, the Usos returned to TV to make the save.
Roman and Corbin would square off at the Royal Rumble, but Reigns would choose the stipulation. Against the advice of the Usos…
…Roman made the contest falls-count-anywhere.
Roman beat Corbin at the Rumble and instantly regretted not making the King eat dog poop…
…but he’d do the next best thing on Smackdown.
There, after calling out the King’s food-play kink…
…he and the Usos challenged Corbin’s men to a loser-eats-dog-food match. And what is dog food, if not dog poop undigested?
After Corbin accepted, stagehands brought ought vats full of off-brand doggie chow to an incredulous King and his court.
Insightfully, one Uce noted that somebody would be eating DOG FOOOOD!
Well, that would certainly explain all the dog food.
Sure enough, Reigns rolled up Corbin for the 1-2-3.
“Let him eat cake I mean, dog food!” said Michael Cole, whose rushed delivery didn’t come close to matching his immortal call from 1999.
Roman and his cousins then chained Corbin to the ring post…
…and dumped two big bowls of snouts and entrails on him.
As if this feud weren’t ridiculous enough, it was actually, somehow, part of Roman’s road to WrestleMania and the Universal Title.
By beating Corbin a month later, Roman earned a shot against Goldberg at WrestleMania 36…
…in a match where all pet food was banned from ring side.
Of course, Reigns pulled out of the event when the pandemic hit, then returned as a heel to win the Universal Title…
…which means that the dog food feud was Roman’s complete storyline as a babyface.
As of this writing, Roman Reigns has gone over four years without getting pinned one-on-one.
But that’s nothing compared to Hulk Hogan, who went unbeaten between April 1981 (when he was pinned by Tony Atlas) and February 1988 (when he was “pinned” by Andre the Giant”).
So as much as it seems like Cody Rhodes should beat Roman at WrestleMania 40, Reigns has got to make it until at least June 2027 to surpass Hulk Hogan’s unbeaten streak. Then he can lose…
…but only at WrestleMania…
…and not at the very nextWrestleMania, when he’s just a month shy of beating Bruno’s record.
Anyway, when someone finally beats Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 45, remember that it was Baron Corbin and his dog food that last got the job done.