Roman Reigns

[Prime Time]

Roman's a controversial figure. In the past week I've seen someone say that he's got nothing to offer, and someone else say he has all the tools but the way he's booked is terrible. Personally, I tend to come down somewhere between those two positions. Either way, I did see it pointed out by an older wrestler that in the territories, if someone hadn't gotten over by this point, there's no way they'd still be working - never mind featured as a top star.

But regardless, as long as he's featured prominently, he's going to be a major talking point. I'm a bit behind the times on RAW but I hear they're trying to put him with Mahal?

[Macho Mourn]

Yes. Mahal's getting better in ring. Sadly, any match Reigns has right now will get shit on, so well, won't matter.

Personally, I dunno anymore. I am at the point to where the character is close to beyond repair save they find a hot babyface for him to feud with. Everything's in a weird spot sans Rollins on RAW.

The preposterous promos about backstage politics are... well.. preposterous.

Just like him being an underdog.

I think I'm done for now.

Can Braun with the WWE title yet?

[Jerkmala]

I feel bad for him. The stank of being an office fave killed him. Doesn't help that he has a move set lamer than Diesel (Snake Eyes and the Power Bomb are light years better than Spear and Superman Punch).

At this point, I don't even know if a heel turn could save him.

[Oliver]

My only theory is that they're putting him in against Jinder because they know (or think they know) that everyone will boo Jinder against him.

Honestly, I'm very much on the side of 'he has all the tools, but the way he's booked is terrible'. And in all honesty, the booking goes back to when The Shield split and he just immediately moved on without looking over his shoulder while Dean and Seth were present and feuding as a constant reminder of the split. I'm not saying that feud should have involved Roman at all, but for him to move on just like that kind of blew the whole split into something he wasn't concerned with.

He might be the kind of guy who would benefit from some time away just to let the issues arounnd him die down a little bit.

But I think they're going to just build up to Roman/Brock IV. My hope is that it happens without the title at Summerslam, but I'm not sure that will be the case somehow.

[SirSam]

The problem with a feud with Jinder is that the whole thing will get shat on not just Jinder. I'd bet a significant ammount of money on a 'you both suck' chant when they meet.

In the lead up to Wrestlemania I actually thought if he finally took the title off Brock and had a run like he did last summer against Braun, putting on awesome matches and doing hard hitting segments week after week then maybe he could build something up.

Now, with the backstage politics stuff he is a hiding to nothing. He of all people just cannot believable pull the card that the powers that be aren't behind him, I don't like it but there are some wrestlers that can make it work because it is legitimately believable that the are being held back unfairly but not Roman not ever.

[Oliver_ix]

When he's in the Main Event Pay Per Views without even a title on the line, the 'backstage politics/being held down' story just won't wash.

I do believe there is something there, he's had good/great matches, and he has made moments where the fans have cared. I can see the WWE's logic in trying to push him. There in lies the problem though; I get trying to push him. I get trying to push him more than once, trying to in different ways, but in between attempts there need's to be something else and there just doesn't feel like there has been.

It just feels like it's been Roman or bust for the last few years without anything real substantial in between that matters or that has felt more important to the WWE than making Roman. It's a WWE problem at this point for not budging more than a Roman problem for being there.

[mizfan]

Ok, it's weirding me out that we now have two Olivers.

Anyway, the point about the territories is sort of interesting but also kind of moot, for a few reasons:

1. In the territories, they would have never booked him so stupidly in the first place. He would have beat Lesnar at 'Mania 31 and they would have let him sink or swim.

2. In the territories, if his face run wasn't working but the crowd was loud and he was selling merch, they'd have tried a heel turn by now.

3. This is all true not just of the territory era, but of any time the WWE had real competition. But the fact is, after the Monday Night Wars ended WWE shifted their entire structure from pushing people based on crowd reaction to pushing who they preferred to have in the spot, for whatever reason.

As for Roman himself, I know some people who think he is actually a great wrestler, and I can sort of see what they're getting at. I dislike some of his WWE-isms, like the fist cocking and the superman punch being presented as a major piece of offense, but I put that down more to WWE than to Roman, and I think outside of those things he can be pretty good. He does have a certain kind of charisma and a good look, though he obviously has no aptitude for overcoming bad promos if they're put in front of him.

His booking has definitely been a flat out disaster. From silent ass kicker to "suffering succotash", and now the latest batch where he mostly complains about being held down despite getting favorable positions on the card constantly. And of course his push being timed terribly to the detriment of Daniel Bryan when he was white hot was an enormous misstep. And now he's the guy who can't win the big matches, a guy who chokes when the chips are down. What a mess.

Just turn the poor guy heel, it's not like Cena where the company hinges on him being a face.

[LibSuperstar]

WWE doesn't wanna give up those merch sales. Being heel fits Reigns naturally though.

[Prime Time]

Presumably if he's not exactly popular then you're going to be able to make up for a lot of it by plugging someone else into the role?

[LK3185]

WWE doesn't wanna give up those merch sales. Being heel fits Reigns naturally though.

i highly doubt Reigns merch sales are at Cena's level though. The way the brands are now, its designed to sell the merch from the most people and not just one guy.

WWE as a business has been very smart getting away from relying on one guy. Which makes pushing Roman this way even more frustrating. if he got better booking it might help... but how can an authority be against him if he keeps getting title matches? lol

Just none of this makes sense... and even Mahal gets booed, that doesn't mean that the crowd will be glued to seeing Roman overcome the odds of Mahal.

[Prime Time]

I've just now seen the video that's out there about Reigns really 'losing' the GRR match because his right foot was on the ring apron, not on the floor, before Lesnar rolled off.

And it's pretty clear to me that although his foot is caught in the ring apron, his heel (and therefore his foot) is quite obviously down first. People do like to fucking reach with this guy, don't they?

[LibSuperstar]

i highly doubt Reigns merch sales are at Cena's level though. The way the brands are now, its designed to sell the merch from the most people and not just one guy.

WWE as a business has been very smart getting away from relying on one guy. Which makes pushing Roman this way even more frustrating. if he got better booking it might help... but how can an authority be against him if he keeps getting title matches? lol

Just none of this makes sense... and even Mahal gets booed, that doesn't mean that the crowd will be glued to seeing Roman overcome the odds of Mahal.

He and Styles are #2 under Cena. I'm beginning to believe the WWE promoting the brand over individual talents is only to an extent b/c as you pointed to, how do you justify pushing one guy over others?

[SirSam]

He and Styles are #2 under Cena. I'm beginning to believe the WWE promoting the brand over individual talents is only to an extent b/c as you pointed to, how do you justify pushing one guy over others?

How in the world do you know what their merch sales are? I have never seen even a dodgy looking leaked set of figures.

[Cult Icon]

How in the world do you know what their merch sales are? I have never seen even a dodgy looking leaked set of figures.

Meltzer will occasionally talk about merch sales and he's pretty consistently said Roman is third behind Cena and one other guy (generally Brock or AJ). The issue with that is that WWE has been pushing Reigns harder than anyone over the past four years...and he's still nowhere close to selling as much merch as Cena. That's telling.

At the end of the day the dude just isn't the guy. I was saying that way back when he was still in The Shield and it was perfectly clear that Rollins and Ambrose were both significantly better than him in every department minus the look. It still holds true today. Has he improved in the ring? Absolutely. Has he been booked badly? Absolutely. Here's the problem; there's plenty of workers just as as good, if not better, than Roman in the WWE who haven't gotten his push and are used just as bad. On top of that he has shown a complete inability to improvise and improve his situation. aAm I really supposed to believe, given how Vince and HHH (who gets a pass for this despite being the guy who made the call to make Roman the guy to begin with) value the guy that Roman would be too hard on him if he told them to give him better material or if he went off script on a promo or in a match like that Joe one? John Cena has made a career out of improvising and turning things around; he wouldn't have let that Samoa Joe match go off the chinlock rails. Roman does not have that quality. He's basically a poor man's Cesaro with more hair and a better look. And I'm not sure why we're still wasting so much time figuring out what's wrong when the guy when it's clear WWE has no clue what is role is and he just doesn't have it as the top guy. Simple as that.

[Team Farrell]

There was a moment where Roman could have been that top guy, but I'm siding with Cult here in that I don't think it's something that can happen at this point. Maybe by not telling everyone that he's the top guy and just booking him well over the next few years he can get naturally over (remember, there was a point not too long ago where people were saying that Miz should just be cut and WWE should move on), but as of now it's not doable.

WWE needs to go with Braun. The wheels will probably come off that eventually, so why the hell would they not throw everything that they have behind a guy that a) has the look and size that they want, b) is actually naturally over with the audience, and c) is a proven ratings draw? Get everything you can out of that before people move on and change their mind on who they love.

Let Braun rule Raw, let Bryan rule Smackdown and, hey, you might actually see business and ratings increase.