How I Would Have Ended Roman Reigns' Historic Title Reign

I'll say this up front.

I loved Roman Reigns' championship reign.

Do I prefer full-time champions? Absolutely. But there's no denying that Roman's 1,300-plus-day run, combined with The Bloodline storyline, became one of the greatest long-term stories WWE has ever told.

The problem wasn't the reign.

It was the ending.

For me, Cody Rhodes was never the right person to dethrone Roman.

Once Roman passed the 1,000-day mark, I already knew exactly how I wanted to see the story end.

And it would've created one of the biggest WrestleMania moments in history.

At the time, Randy Orton and Matt Riddle were one of WWE's most entertaining teams as RK-Bro.

Here's how I would've booked it.

Randy Orton wins the Royal Rumble and challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

Meanwhile, WWE makes one major change.

Instead of dedicating an entire premium live event to Money in the Bank, the ladder match returns to WrestleMania where it originally debuted. I've always loved the Money in the Bank concept, but I've never been a fan of building an entire show around a single gimmick match.

Matt Riddle wins the briefcase earlier in the night.

Then it's time for the main event.

Roman Reigns versus Randy Orton.

No Bloodline interference.

No distractions.

No excuses.

Roman defeats Randy clean, proving once again why he's been champion for more than three years.

As Roman celebrates...

"BRO..."

Matt Riddle's music hits.

The crowd immediately assumes he's cashing in for himself.

Riddle runs to the ring.

Roman turns his attention toward him.

Then...

RKO.

Not from Riddle.

From Randy Orton.

Randy wasn't finished after all.

Riddle enters the ring, looks at Randy, smiles...

...and hands him the Money in the Bank briefcase.

"Happy birthday, Bro."

(For those who don't know, Randy's birthday is April 1.)

Randy stares at the briefcase for a second before handing it to the referee.

The cash-in is official.

Roman slowly struggles back to his feet after the RKO.

He turns around...

PUNT.

One.

Two.

Three.

Randy Orton becomes a 15-time World Champion.

Roman's historic reign ends.

The stadium erupts.

Roman isn't made to look weak because he had already defeated Randy clean.

Riddle becomes the ultimate friend by sacrificing his own guaranteed championship opportunity to help his mentor accomplish history.

Randy ties Triple H's record of 15 world championships and moves one step closer to Ric Flair and John Cena.

Most importantly...

Roman's legendary title reign ends with a WrestleMania moment that fans would be talking about for decades.

That's how I would've ended one of the greatest championship reigns in WWE history.