As I watch Raw and Smackdown every week, I get this tiresome feeling every time I hear the old Shield theme music, because I know it’s just Roman Reigns again. I’m not sure how anyone can say Reigns is popular with the fans, but apparently he is .. so let’s push him! Right?
No, he’s not ready. Look at John Cena, he was kinda popular back in 2004, still green as grass, but the guy was selling merchandise, and getting major reactions whether they were positive or negative. He remains a cash cow, and a controversial figure, so whether you love or hate John Cena, he gets reactions, and that’s all Vince cares about. Granted, Cena only became controversial because he was shoved so far down our throats he’s never coming back, but at least the guy had a large fanbase before his major push.
It was the same with Ryback, the powerhouse look, could work a match a reasonable match. Perhaps, in another generation, Ryback would have been an unstoppable wrecking ball … but he was never “over” (people use the term too loosely; when you’re over, you’re getting reactions like Hogan, Austin, and The Rock) the only reactions he received initially was “GOOOLLDBERG”, and not much else.
So how do the fans react to Reigns? Well, they don’t. He might get an initial pop from younger/female fans when his entrance hits, but I’ve never heard a crowd go INSANE for a Roman Reigns match; unless he happened to be the third cog in The Shield. Aside from his Shield days, Roman Reigns, as an individual, isn’t that entertaining, popular, or athletic.
His limited move set sticks out like a sore thumb to any “wrestling” fan who appreciates good wrestling. I strongly urge you to watch this weeks episode of NXT, and please, for the love of god, tell me that Roman Reigns could “wrestle” the likes of Chad Gable, Jason Jordan, Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. He can’t! Reigns would have to be carried by those guys, he would never be able to go hold-for-hold, spot-for-spot; he just isn’t that good.
He has one thing which makes him stand out, and that’s his movie star physique. Sometimes, that look will give a wrestler the edge over other wrestlers, but in this instance, it only shows that it doesn’t matter how photogenic you are, if you do not have the total package, if you are unable to back up how badass you look by also being electric in the ring and on the microphone, then all you are is another Barbie Ken doll; plastic, fake, looks good, but overall doesn’t do much unless you’re a young child who enjoys playing with dolls.
And here’s where Seth Rollins finally gets the credit he deserves. He has proven a worthy WWE World Heavyweight Champion on reactions, and his overall match quality speaks for itself. Rollins is so good at being bad, you have fans desperately wanting someone worse (like Reigns) to beat him, simply because he annoys them. Isn’t that beautiful? In this internet age, with the destruction of kayfabe, Rollins still manages to piss the majority off in various ways.
But I feel like Rollins has struggled at times as well, he’s had to take a back seat to other matches on the card which were deemed main event material over him. Firstly, despite the shocking nature of his victory at Wrestlemania 31, his title defense at Extreme Rules was really forgettable on an even more forgettable PPV. He redeemed himself at Payback, by defeating Reigns, Ambrose and Orton in a Fatal 4-Way. Rollins garnered heel heat at Elimination Chamber by getting himself disqualified against Dean Ambrose. Rollins redeemed himself once again by defeating Ambrose in a 35-minute Ladder match.
Rollins proved he had no answer for Brock Lesnar at Battleground. After being on the receiving end of Suplex City, The Undertaker returned, and Rollins kept his title through disqualification. This was bad for Rollins, as it showed the World Champion had to take a backseat to these two monsters. Even as a heel champion, Rollins should be able to defend his title against Lesnar without The Undertaker interfering, but sadly for Rollins, he had to make do and accept it.
A trend I noticed following Battleground was Rollins being bumped down the card. Yes, he was still facing John Cena over the WWE and United States Championships, but the match was scheduled before a Kevin Owens match, and of course, Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker at Summerslam; once again, “The Man” was relegated, so WWE had to make up for it by giving Rollins the United States title, just so he didn’t lose credibility.
A turn for the worse at Night of Champions, with John Cena going over on Rollins, and a win over Sting because of injury. Despite beating Sting, it was a hollow victory following a clean loss to Cena, so it didn’t do much for his credibility. Rollins failed to regain the US title against Cena in a cage match at WWE Live from Madison Square Garden.
And to make things worse, Rollins was placed in a “filler” feud with Kane, giving them something to do while The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar fought in the main event (once again), but this time at Hell in a Cell. Instead of Rollins getting the luxury, Reigns and Wyatt worked the other Hell in a Cell match (the longest match on the card), while Rollins defeated Kane in the most forgetful WWE title match this year, and again, Rollins’ match was placed before the Kevin Owens (see the trend) vs Ryback IC title match, and the main event.
So I’m going to draw up some final conclusions here, and say that Rollins needs to defeat Reigns at Survivor Series, otherwise it shows the decision made to put the title on him at Wrestlemania 31 was a waste of time. Rollins needs to beat Reigns so the fans can get behind Reigns more in the future. Keep having Reigns almost win the gold, only to fail, and that way, eventually, the majority of wrestling fans will want to see him win. At the moment, Seth Rollins has the most to lose, as his championship reign has been underwhelming at times, not because of anything he’s done, but because of booking and Lesnar/Undertaker.
Also, by having Rollins win, it continues to fill the bubble. Eric Bischoff said this before, you need to build something up, and up, and up, and up, until it’s at bursting point, to the point the fans really want someone to come along and burst the bubble. Rollins has not reached his bursting point yet, he needs more victories, more heat, and when he does eventually lose it, whoever wins the gold from him will become a star.
I don’t really know if Reigns deserves it over other guys, there’s many other wrestlers on the roster who fans could say deserve that spot more than him, but at the end of the day, it’s whether Vince believes Reigns is marketable, as long as he can sell Reigns as a viable WWE Champion and make money from him, that’s all that matters.
I’m not a hater, I’m just not at the point where I would love to see Reigns win the title. It would be really underwhelming for me to see Reigns win at Survivor Series, and not because I hate Reigns, but because WWE, and Reigns, hasn’t given me enough reason to like, or care for him. I’m sure there are many vocal old school wrestling fans who feel the same way, or maybe not? Perhaps I am just being cynical and prefer my wrestlers to … be able to wrestle? To be able to entertain? Big E is x1000 more entertaining than Reigns at the moment, so why doesn’t he get a shot?
To be honest, I know why, Vince wants to push certain guys at certain times so he can market them in the right way. I understand that, from a business standpoint, but I also understand that if you’re going to crown someone like Rollins and label him as “The Man”, then you have to get behind him and ensure his reign is long, and remembered.
I hope I’m right on this one, but Reigns is just another challenge for Rollins to overcome, and I can’t see Rollins losing the belt til Wrestlemania 32. That’s the place for Roman Reigns, or Ambrose (as the natural nemesis to Rollins, I would prefer him to be next WWE Champion) to defeat Rollins and cement their futures.
Perhaps I will get some backlash for this from some Reigns fans, but I’m just calling it as I see it. He’s not cooked yet, he’s got plenty of time to be ready, but in my eyes, and I assume in the eyes of many other fans, if he’s not cooked and brought out of the oven at the right moment, the fans WILL turn on him, and they will boo him the same way they did at the Royal Rumble last year. He will become the new John Cena, and I’m sure the next generation of fans want a WWE Champion everyone can love, not just half of the audience. With that said, you can BOOlieve that. Happy Halloween.
