WWE World Heavyweight Champion (2015–2016)

Reigns as WWE World Heavyweight Champion in April 2016

On the October 26 episode of Raw, Reigns won a fatal four-way match (also involving Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens) to become the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

However, then champion Seth Rollins legitimately injured his knee on November 4 and vacated the title the following day, which led to a tournament to crown a new champion.[Following this, Triple H attempted to persuade Reigns into joining The Authority by offering him a bye into the tournament finals which he declined.

 Reigns then defeated Big Show in the first round, Cesaro in the quarterfinals, Alberto Del Rio in the semifinals and Dean Ambrose in the finals at Survivor Series on November 22 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.Triple H attempted to offer congratulations, but Reigns attacked him with a spear and Sheamus then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns, thus ending Reigns's reign at only 5 minutes.

 On December 13, Reigns failed to regain the title from Sheamus in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs following interference on Sheamus's behalf by fellow League of Nations members Alberto Del Rio and Rusev, but subsequently Reigns would attack the trio and also Triple H, who came out to stop him.

The next night on Raw, Mr. McMahon granted Reigns a title rematch against Sheamus (with Reigns's career on the line), which Reigns won after overcoming McMahon, Del Rio and Rusev's interferences to regain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Cesaro in the quarterfinals

 On the January 4, 2016 episode of Raw, Reigns successfully defended his title against Sheamus, despite McMahon acting as the special guest referee. Reigns was then slated to defend his title in the Royal Rumble match on January 24, where Reigns scored a total of five eliminations after entering first, heading backstage for much of the match after an attack by The League of Nations and was eliminated upon his return by eventual winner Triple H, thus losing the world title and lasting nearly an hour (the longest out of everyone in the match).

At Fastlane on February 22, Reigns pinned Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match also involving Brock Lesnar to receive a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 on April 3, where he defeated Triple H in the main event to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for a third time.

Earlier in March 2016, Reigns changed his ring entrance to the entrance ramp (a default like other wrestlers) instead of coming out through the crowd.For this third world title reign, Reigns had two successful televised title defenses in May against AJ Styles, first at Payback and then Extreme Rules. Right after the Extreme Rules match against Styles on May 22, Reigns was attacked by a returning Seth Rollins.

Near the end of his reign, the 2.03 TV rating for the June 13 episode of Raw which he appeared in was the lowest since March 3, 1997. At Money in the Bank on June 19, Reigns was defeated cleanly by Rollins marking his first clean loss on the main roster, ending his title reign at 77 days.

On June 21, Anoaʻi was suspended for 30 days for his first violation of WWE's Wellness Program and, in response, he apologized on Twitter. WWE's Wellness Program uses drug testing to detect substance abuse.Pro Wrestling Torch and TheWrap reported that WWE knew of Anoaʻi's violation before Money in the Bank, leading to Reigns being scripted to lose his world title at the event.