 |
| source// www.robertpfd.com |
Much like hating on John Cena became the cool thing to do from around 2004 onwards, loudly booing and rejecting Roman Reigns has been in vogue for the past 15-months, ever since it was revealed that he had been hand-picked as Vince McMahon’s number one babyface for the foreseeable future.
Fans did not like that. They wanted Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn or any number of “internet darlings” who had busted their guts on the independent scene for years. Fans did not want this entitled ex-footballer who hadn’t paid his dues leading the WWE into the 2020s.
Or at least, that is the perception of him, but is it even really true? Is Roman Reigns pushed purely because of who his family are? Is he just another meathead from the NFL who doesn’t know the difference between a wristwatch and a wristlock? Is he really as bad as everyone has decided he is?
In a word, no. As with any craze, be it positive or negative, many fans have been swept up in the hype and are going along for the anti-Roman ride, in many cases without even realising why they hate him. They just know that they do because everyone else does. But the truth is, Roman Reigns is not all that bad. In fact, in many ways he is actually pretty damn good.
Here are seven reasons why the bile hurled Roman’s way may not be entirely justified after all…
7. His Promos Skills Don’t Actually Suck
Like everyone else in WWE, Roman Reigns suffers from the curse of bad writing. Script writers who don’t know wrestling pen half-baked verbiage for men who have backstories and experiences they cannot possibly hope to relate to. Is it any wonder they end up all sounding like one-track drones with no flavour? That’s what happens when everyone is cast with the same voice. Nobody has gotten over in recent years based on their promos, WWE’s overly-scripted method of doing things ensures that. That’s why nobody had broken out of the pack and grabbed one of Vince McMahon’s mythical brass rings. The system makes it impossible to do so.
When we hear Roman Reigns speak on WWE television that is not him, that is not his voice, it is the hurriedly-penned words of one of the myriad failed comedy writers on the WWE staff, or even worse, the 70-year old out of touch Vince McMahon. How can he possibly relate to a 30-year old, especially given the WWE bubble he has lived in for over three decades? Evidence of that came in the build up to WrestleMania XXX when Reigns was forced to deliver the immortally bad, McMahon-penned line, “Sufferin’ succotash” like a humanoid Sylvester the Cat. A cartoon character which made its official debut in 1945, coincidentally enough, the same year as McMahon was born.
However, when he is not shackled by naff writing, Roman Reigns is actually a fine speaker. Witty, verbose, intelligent and able to react on the fly, Reigns has the potential to be one of the best talkers in the business if WWE would trust him enough to give him the chance. He proved this at the 2014 SummerSlam Panel, holding his own with Steve Austin and looking entirely comfortable in the presence of far more experienced stars. Trading barbs with ‘Stone Cold’, one of the greatest talkers the wrestling business has ever known, is no mean feat. Given that what they write for him is universally panned, that WWE constantly refuse to allow Roman to at least try and succeed without the aid of the writers is inexplicable.
6. He Has A Compelling Backstory
They say that with the greatest wrestling characters the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they are merely an extension of the personalities of those playing them. The real-life story of Joe Anoa’i is an interesting one, far more compelling than that of the emotionless Roman Reigns character he portrays.
Growing up as a child of the business meant a nomadic life for the youngster, who would be forced to change cities, schools and friendship circles almost every year due to his father moving territories. That’s a hard life for a child. Growing up a fan of Bret Hart, Anoa’i learned to wrestle in a crudely-made 16×16 ring in his backyard, trained by various wrestling family members who would stop by. Before he broke into the professional ranks, Anoa’i tried his hand at football, and he was pretty damn good at it too, signed by the Minnesota Vikings and coming inches away from making the team. He decided to refocus on the family business and full immersed himself in pro wrestling. By all accounts he was a model student, dedicated to learning the craft and determined to be as good as he possibly could be in order to live up to his family’s impressive legacy.
More importantly, he wanted to do something that would help him give his daughter the best life possible. Above all, he is a family man, dedicated to his daughter. It’s hard to hate a man with that sort of motivation as the determining factor behind everything he does. Reigns is not in wrestling to seek out personal glory, he simply wants financial stability.
5. He Is Young And Fresh
One of the biggest criticisms of WWE in general is about how samey the product has become. It’s been the same guys on top for years because WWE doesn’t create new stars, which is proven every WrestleMania when the part-timers are wheeled out to run through their routines and pop a buyrate. If WWE could truly build new talent then there would be no need to desperately turn to guest appearances from The Rock or one-off matches from a 46-year old non-wrestler to save the show.
WWE should be commended for recognising that the top of their card is in need of a boost and that they are trying to do something about it. While Reigns might not be everyone’s first choice, consider the other options. I am not talking favourites of hardcore fans like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn or AJ Styles, all of whom WWE will always see as indie darlings and will refuse to push because of that stigma. No, I am talking about the other options from a WWE perspective. If they weren’t pushing Reigns, who would they push? Who would Vince McMahon turn to?
History would suggest that if he didn’t go back to the long-dry Big Show and Kane well, he would turn to his monster fascination of the week, someone like Braun Strowman or Sheamus. Vince likes big guys, he will push big guys exclusively above all others. Reigns is the best of the beef, so to speak, by some distance. We should be thankful he is the man in the spot ahead of some of the other, frankly terrifying, prospects.
4. His Push Has Nothing To Do With His Family Tree
One accusation Reigns constantly has to face is that his push only comes about due to nepotism, because his family tree happens to include the likes of Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga and The Rock. While those family connections undoubtedly played a role in him being hired in the first place, it would be unfair to pin his whole push based on that. If that was the case, would the same not apply to every second or third generation star? Was Bret Hart pushed because his father was Stu Hart? Hardly. Perhaps Terry Funk only became NWA Champion because his father was the great Dory Funk? Nonsense. Did Curt Hennig have the Hall of Fame career he had because his dad was Larry ‘The Axe’ Hennig? No way.
Getting noticed because of family connections is one thing, it is a foot in the door, sure, but that’s where the favours stop. Vince McMahon does not run his business based on keeping relics from the past happy, even if one of them is Dwayne Johnson. Is it feasible to consider that McMahon is building the entire future of his company around Roman Reigns purely to keep The Rock sweet so he will turn up to cut a promo at WrestleMania every year? Of course not. It’s absurd to even think that. If being second or third generation meant anything then the likes of Curtis Axel, Manu (another relation of Reigns who was also related to The Rock), Ted DiBiase Jr, Cody Rhodes, Primo, Bo Dallas and Jesse (Ray Gordy) would have all had been treated far better over the years.
3. He Is A Good Worker
If Roman Reigns was a horrible wrestler then a lot of the criticism levelled at him might be justified, but he isn’t. Reigns is often viewed as a bad wrestler because fans see him as the modern-day equivalent of immobile lunks from a different era, which really is not the case. Reigns is a neo-monster, a new breed of tall, muscular wrestler who can move around the ring at speed and has the endurance to wrestle a near 30-minute match. He has an explosive, exciting move set and is capable of changing things around and varying his work when needs be. It’s not like he is Sycho Sid or The Great Khali, guys pushed entirely based on their look who couldn’t back it up in the ring. Reigns has proven countless times that he is capable of putting in a memorable shift between the ropes.
Right from his first WWE match alongside Shield brethren Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins against Team Hell No and Ryback at TLC ’12, Reigns has been involved in quality matches. His various bouts as part of the Shield against the Wyatts were sensational, as were his solo efforts with Daniel Bryan (Fast Lane ’15), Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania 31) and Bray Wyatt (Hell in a Cell ’15). They were all excellent outings, featuring the kind of quality fans expect from their main events. It could be argued he was in there with superior workers, but then the same could be said for any number of top talent over the years who have been made to look better than they are by their opponents.
The perception of Reigns as a bad wrestler comes from the booking. Countless outings against his worst opponent The Big Show significantly hurt him, as did matches against similarly-useless sloths like Braun Strowman and Kane, not to mention the snooze-inducing and stale Randy Orton. Reigns needs to be booked with opponents that accentuate his strengths, the old Paul Heyman/ECW method of getting someone over, not forced to wrestle stale acts and immovable giants because that is what Vince McMahon thinks gets a babyface over. This is not the Hulk Hogan era anymore.
2. He Is Actually Pretty Cool
When Roman Reigns was one third of the Shield fans loved him, despite the fact he was a heel. He carried himself with an aura, he had a cool guy presence about him that made him stand out. Fans liked the long-haired, goatee wearing, tattooed sh*t-kicker that he portrayed. So much so that they rallied behind him hard at the 2014 Royal Rumble, begging for him to be the man to eliminate Batista and go on to WrestleMania XXX to compete for the title. The difference was, he remained unheralded then. Word had not yet got out that WWE wanted to push Reigns to the moon, so he remained an underdog who fans were willing to root for.
Turning Reigns babyface and scripting him to be a carbon copy of John Cena – a poor blueprint for how to book a popular babyface if ever there was one – was the thing that killed him. If Reigns was allowed more freedom and given a heel turn, he could quickly rebuild that aloof, cocky, badass persona that fans previously enjoyed.
WWE should learn from their own experiences with Roman’s relative The Rock, who prior to become a global megastar was the much-maligned Rocky Maivia, a babyface forced down fans’ throats who was reviled by the Attitude Era audience. A heel turn saved his job, and soon made him arguably the most popular performer in the company once he turned back babyface, so the precedent is there. That is the model WWE should be following.
1. He Is Only Hated Because It Is In Vogue
As the classic line goes, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Roman Reigns is not the problem, WWE in general is the problem. We are in an era where fan backlash against the company is the most vociferous it has ever been. For a couple of years there has been a WWE versus the world (or rather, Universe, if you prefer) vibe, with hardcore fans opposed to everything the company tries that is not exactly what they want at that given moment.
WWE does not – and never has – booked to the whims of the fans. Even when they pushed Daniel Bryan to the main event of WrestleMania XXX and allowed him his big moment, it took C.M. Punk walking out and ruining the ‘Mania card, and a number of fan sabotages of live events too big to ignore before they changed their minds. If things had gone WWE’s way, Bryan would have been a heel member of the Wyatt Family, a reimagining of Spike Dudley in his ill-fated run as the “mastermind” of the Dudley Boyz, working with Sheamus in Santa Clara. They do what they want to do, they are frustratingly stubborn, and Roman Reigns has become the embodiment of that mentality through no fault of his own.
It stems from him winning the Royal Rumble last year instead of Daniel Bryan, a decision which caused fans to views Reigns as the hand-picked assassin of a corporation that ignores their wants and needs. The attitude became that if Reigns is who WWE have picked, then he immediately represents everything that they do not want. Every time anyone on the roster whom the vocal minority approve of gets beat or is denied a key spot, Reigns takes the brunt. All he is really guilty of is being popular with Vince McMahon, and of not being Daniel Bryan. Yes, the perception that he is being forced down fans’ throats is accurate, but that is not his fault. He deserves his opportunity as much as anyone else.
Would it really be any different if it was someone the fans approved of in that spot instead, getting booked in such an obvious and drab manner? They would engender resentment too. Hell, it happened with Hulk Hogan back in the early-90s. It was the same with John Cena, and believe it or not, there was a time when everyone loved John Cena. Fans are finicky.
No comments:
Post a Comment