Roman Reigns has become the true leader in WWE. Since he regained the WWE Universal Championship, The Head of the Table has been unstoppable.

He has run through every challenger and earned the longest reign in modern WWE history. However, something has gone wrong since WWE WrestleMania 38.

Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to become the WWE undisputed universal champion, making him the only world champion in the company. Instead of representing both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, though, he has disappeared from both shows most weeks.

What went wrong along the way to turn the definitive reign of the modern era into a cautionary tale of putting too many eggs in one basket? The answer is multifaceted, including Brock Lesnar, a changing contract and WWE's struggles to build fresh talent.

Reason No. 1: Long Reigns Are Difficult in the Modern Era of Weekly TV

Long reigns in professional wrestling are always tricky because there is no guarantee that anything will change. It becomes an endless loop.

Roman Reigns has been champion in WWE longer than anyone since 1988, and there is a reason for that.

Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino and other early WWE champions had the benefit of a much looser schedule. They competed on an infrequent basis. These days, champions must appear every week, continuing to tell fresh stories.

Reigns is on an all-time roll, but even his stories have lost their luster. No matter who steps up, Reigns is going through the motions with those not on his level. This does not make for good weekly television.

Reason No. 2: WWE Has Struggled on Repeat to Create Stars That Last

In the first year of Roman Reigns' championship reign, he put together a series of great matches with Jey Uso, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, Edge and Cesaro.

It did not matter that none felt like they could genuinely defeat The Head of the Table. It was about the story. Reigns was creating his legacy, and each man provided a fresh challenge.

By the end of that year, The Head of the Table had formed The Bloodline and taken over WWE completely. It was the time to begin creating fresh challenges, but that has not come about.

Cody Rhodes has been on the rise, but an injury stopped his momentum. Riddle was set up and knocked down just as quickly. Seth Rollins does not have the credibility at the moment.

There is plenty of talent, but no one is set up to dethrone Reigns. WWE has not told a convincing enough story with anyone and barely given a chance to most..

Reason No. 3: Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar Have Fought Too Many Times

The only man to truly challenge Roman Reigns lately has been Brock Lesnar. This is because both are larger-than-life talents, and The Beast Incarnate has credibility in the bank to convince people he beat anyone at any time.

This duo's match at WWE WrestleMania 38 was the final straw in what has become a stale rivalry, though. Everything was put behind it, and when The Head of the Table won, he became champion of both Raw and SmackDown.

That result should have forced WWE's hand in putting Reigns up against the best and brightest from both brands.

Instead, Riddle is the only man to receive a shot at Reigns since WrestleMania, and his next defense will be at WWE SummerSlam against Lesnar again.

There is no meaning behind Reigns vs. Lesnar left, and the quality of the matches are waning. Months have been wasted without building credible challengers to Reigns, and the result is a match that was once one of the biggest potential pairings for WWE feeling like a disappointment.

Reason No. 4: Roman Reigns Has Worked Far Fewer Dates Since WrestleMania

When a man become the undisputed champion of two shows, the expectation would be that he would work both regularly. Instead, Roman Reigns has barely appeared since April.

The Head of the Table appears more at house shows lately than on WWE television, and he very rarely wrestles when he works TV. He is not though to be injured, so his work is intentionally limited by other factors.

The most likely answer is that he has agreed to more limited dates in WWE. He has taken on a contractual role similar to Brock Lesnar, taking off weeks or even whole months possibly in the near future.

This is a fine role for a top star without gold, but Reigns has the top prizes in wrestling. Weekly programming should revolve around the championships The Head of the Table holds. Each week he does not appear, the relevance of his title reign wanes.

What Can Be Done to Save This Run?

Roman Reigns has established a legacy that will never falter. He is the face of the company with or without gold. The problem is what impact his current run is having on the company.

When he is around, The Head of the Table has made WWE more relevant than most times in the past decade. When he is not, the company has suffered to the point of feeling irrelevant.

It is time to get back to the basics. Raw and SmackDown need a champion. If no one is ready to dethrone him, Reigns needs to at least successfully defend his gold once a month.

If he needs more time away, he needs to at least relinquish the WWE Championship. That way, there will be a regular world champion on Raw.

Until Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Big E are back from injury, WWE must work with the talent available. Trust the established stars to work good matches until someone steps up who can credibly dethrone Reigns.