Roman Reigns has been the WWE Universal Champion for 1,073 days and counting, with 492 of those days coming as a double-champion with the OG WWE Championship also around his waist.

How many times, you may wonder, has Reigns defended his title since securing the strap at Payback in August of 2020? 30, or once every 35.76 days.

Now to some, this isn't the biggest deal, as Reigns is WWE's marquee attraction, and as a result, when he puts that strap on the line, it's supposed to feel important. And yet, some people, including some of his co-workers, take issue with how (in)frequently he gets into the ring, with ex-WWE World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus noting that not only did no one care about Reigns before he won debuted the “Tribal Chief” character, but there are plenty of WWE Superstars who would be just as over with the same time committed to their storylines.

“Yeah, I mean he has a luxury of wrestling five times a year. You know what I mean? That makes a big star… let’s be honest, before he went away with Covid, people didn’t give a s**t about him. He was the big baby face who was wrestling Goldberg and nobody really cared. I think in the same way it benefited me to come back and wrestle in that empty arena at Thunderdome where people got to see how physical I really can be and allowed me to have that more freedom and settle into my own skin and just say: ‘screw it, I’m going to go out there and have fun, do what i’m gonna do.’ In the same sense it benefitted him, because he was at a point where it was forced down people’s throats and he got to go away and come back in this different character,” Sheamus told the Daily Mail.

“Obviously there's the luxury of getting all the storyline time and everything. I feel like he’s made the most of the opportunity he’s had, but I feel like there’s guys on the roster begging for that amount of time to tell their own stories and that’s one of the only things that’s going. The rest of the roster needs story time too. With MSG [Madison Square Garden] a couple of weeks ago, they went 20 minutes over. So me and Theory had two segs which ended up turning into three small segs on the floor, you know, so that’s tough as well to go out and do that. It’s definitely benefited him a lot and Heyman and the story they have to tell, all within that family and stuff, but as I said there’s plenty of other people on the roster that could do with story time as well. I’m not taking anything away from him, I’m just saying.”

Is Sheamus correct? Debatable, Paul Heyman has explained ad nauseam how he feels Reigns has changed the professional wrestling game, comparing his style of storytelling as radically different like when Marlon Brando's “method” hit the acting scene. Still, it is worth wondering how other performers, be it Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, or someone else, would be greeted in a similar situation, as Reigns has been afforded far more screen time over his current run than seemingly every performer in this era.

Sheamus further clarifies his unhappiness with his WWE booking.

Speaking of Sheamus' disapproval with creative, the “Celtic Warrior” discussed that very topic in an interview with the Daily Star ahead of SummerSlam and noted that, while he appreciated being a featured performer on Clash at the Castle, the match didn't ultimately lead to a bigger storyline, which he feels has been a common problem for the Brawling Brutes as of late.

“I'm not upset about that at all. I felt it was great, it was just the type of character Sheamus is, all fists and elbows. What I was upset about and what really bothered me was the creative after that. I came out of that with so much organic momentum, and it was just wasted. It didn't go anywhere,” Sheamus told the Daily Star via Fightful. “It was a dead end, just like with WrestleMania. Drew went away because he was injured, but I was ready to go and then just nothing. There were no avenues and nowhere to go and that's frustrating. I did the War Games thing [after Clash at the Castle] but that was s*** – that's how I felt, though others might have felt differently. I'm not much of a politician, to be honest with you. I just roll my sleeves up, get in there and get stuck in. The journey is just as important, that story of me trying to get my hands on the title as it's the one title I haven't got. It's still a fresh story. Even with Gunther and Drew's match at SummerSlam, people are still mentioning me because it's still my story. I'd definitely like to retire with [the title], but that stuff is out of my control. I can just do what I can do.”

After coming out of the gate hot, the Brawling Brutes have fallen off to a pretty incredible degree in 2023, with Butch arguably getting the biggest push of the trio despite Sheamus consistently getting – and losing – title opportunities for whichever mid-card strap is on his brand at the time. Will that change in the future? Maybe yes, maybe no, but in the end, he has no control over the situation either way.