Up to the WrestleMania season, fans were very skeptical of what was going on within the WWE. Superstars were looking far less promising and predictable while brands were looking like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel to find decent performances. Superstars, like Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt, who were once on fire lost so much of their appeal. Bray Wyatt, once dubbed the “Eater of Worlds”, was now resorting to rubbing that good ole Lake County soil on his face and body.
Most fans who were believers in top talents like Bray Wyatt and A.J Styles couldn’t help but feel robbed of having a well-deserved WrestleMania card. Fans still cannot believe that this is the fourth year of Wyatt being schooled at a WrestleMania event. Besides the lack of investment in the Bray Wyatt brand, there was the rise of the WWE Universe’s favorite superstar, Roman Reigns.
“I can’t think of anybody who would be against the Roman Reigns brand. Reigns is easily the most fan-favorite-ous big dog to ever step foot in the squared-circle”, said fans in 2014. The case is kind of depressing in 2017 however. Some individuals – such as myself – avoid wishing bad on anyone trying to improve themselves. The strides that Roman Reigns is taking to improve his craft is appreciable, but not enough. The Roman Reigns problem cannot be fixed, it needs to be killed – not the man himself, but hear me out. Thinking of ways to get Roman Reigns over is impossible to think of because he is the most hated man in the WWE today. There is no hated man that Roman Reigns can defeat to make the atmosphere in the WWE better. The truth is that Roman Reigns is the main source of pollution in the WWE Universe, and there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with being the poison or the main adversary to the world, Roman’s confidence needs to speak to being the problem and the problem is that Roman Reigns is the toughest superstar in the WWE.
Roman Reigns is an incredible athlete, but putting him in matches with the WWE Universe’s fan favorites are not helping anyone in the process. If Roman Reigns beats Kevin Owens, fans will say “Roman sucks, he’s ruining real wrestling” and on the other side of the spectrum, Roman Reigns would, and should, never lose, honestly, to Kevin Owens. So the question is: “How can a hated man, who is meant to be the people’s champion – no pun intended –, become a tolerated man?” How can an atomic bomb be less nuclear and how can broken glass cut a little less?
For the Rock, the company had to let him be his own man. For Steve Austin, a drastic makeover was needed. For Roman Reigns, however, there needs to be a slight tweak in personality. Reigns CANNOT be in the position to be a fan favorite, he needs to be the harsh reality of what happens when a bug hits the windshield. (That’s right, Barry Bee Benson should have died when he hit that windshield. He should have been flattened real quick because no windshield takes that long to move from side to side.) He needs to be the reality of what happens when fire meets gasoline. Roman Reign needs to be seen as the ultimate competitive juggernaut. Reigns needs to be seen as a true five-star athlete who isn’t concerned about cameras or the opinions of the crowd. He truly needs to stand alone. Roman Reigns needs to be the quickest equalizer and the clearest catalyst for a formula. Reigns needs to be seen as an unstoppable force who will destroy any, and every, opponent with very little compassion or mercy; he doesn’t need to be brutal or a great inflictor of pain, but he needs to keep coming back off of the mat. Roman Reigns needs to be the man who is willing to spear both Triple H and Shane McMahon within the minute.
A man like Roman Reigns needs to be kept away from friends like Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, who are on his nice side, and he needs to be the absolute definition of domination. A man like Roman Reigns needs to lose some sense of mannerism. He needs to be a cage fighter who respect his opponent after he beats them into submission, and Reigns needs to have that slight sense of sportsmanship. He doesn’t need to say “You did well” or “I respect you”, but he needs to be able to beat his opponent and not have the need to celebrate too much. The question of whether Roman Reigns is a good guy or a bad guy (I hate that phrase too, believe me) never needs to be answered in regards to one side of the spectrum. The question of “Is Roman Reigns face or heel?” deserves a critical response. Does Roman Reigns show any mercy with who he chooses to spear and why? Well, it depends. Does Roman Reigns need to be the people’s champion? He probably will never be the people’s champion. Roman Reigns needs to be the juggernaut of his brand, and the world needs to know that the “Uuuurraaaaahhhhh” is not for them.
I really love the way I ended the paragraph above, but I need to add something else to this. I remember being in WingHouse with my homies while watching WrestleMania 33, and it upset me with how everyone was booing Roman Reigns. I’m not exactly a fan of the man, but he is the man who should represent the company. He isn’t the best talent, or wrestler, or superstar on the roster, but his natural charisma is what many talents lack on the roster. Getting the crowd behind him is something that shouldn’t be a short time goal for the WWE creative team. The short-time goal that the WWE creative team should focus on is making a producing a confident character in Roman Reigns. I want to be able to look forward to Roman Reigns as many fans did in 2014, and I think he has the ability to be less of Superman and more of the Juggernaut.
