Universal champion Roman Reigns beat WWE champion Drew McIntyre in a clash of the company's top two titleholders at Survivor Series on Sunday night.

McIntyre might have had the match won after delivering the Claymore Kick on Reigns, but The Tribal Chief took out the official while absorbing the impact from the move.

With the referee incapacitated on the outside, Jey Uso involved himself and hit a superkick on the Scot after he had been felled with a low blow from Reigns. That allowed the universal champion to lock in a guillotine choke, and McIntyre passed out.

This year's battle for brand supremacy used the tagline "best of the best," and both men set out to prove they are just that.

Both Reigns and McIntyre won their titles fairly recently, which set the stage for their first singles match against each other since Stomping Grounds in June 2019.

After taking several months off amid the COVID-19 pandemic, The Big Dog made a surprise return at SummerSlam on Aug. 23 when he speared "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. It was immediately clear he had a new attitude and character.

Reigns shocked the wrestling world by aligning himself with Paul Heyman and went on to beat The Fiend and Strowman in a Triple Threat match for the universal title at Payback a week after his return.

After that, Reigns began referring to himself as "The Tribal Chief" and entered into a rivalry with Uso. The titleholder won those matches at Clash of Champions and Hell in a Cell, resulting in Uso essentially becoming Reigns' right-hand man.

McIntyre has been feuding with Randy Orton for the past few months, and after dropping the WWE Championship to The Viper at Hell in a Cell, he recaptured it on the go-home episode of Raw before Survivor Series.

WWE had announced Orton vs. Reigns as the match for the pay-per-view, but McIntyre was so confident he would win the title back that he confronted Reigns on the Nov. 13 edition of SmackDown.

That set the stage for their encounter, and McIntyre made good on his promise by winning back the WWE Championship to set the match in stone.

While it wasn't long ago that McIntyre and Reigns last feuded, the vibe was much different Sunday since the former is now one of the biggest babyfaces in WWE and the latter is one of its biggest heels.

McIntyre vs. Reigns is about the biggest match the company can provide at the moment, and fans were treated to a special bout at Survivor Series.

The rivalry was renewed Sunday, and it was Reigns who prevailed to cement himself as the top guy in WWE.

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