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Rebuilding Roman Reigns


Blehschmidt

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So I was just having a conversation with my Dad who still occasionally turns on the random episode of Raw, despite growing up in the Bruno era and not really giving a shit since the Hulkamania era. (He pretty much thinks most of the modern product sucks, though he enjoys Cena, Cesaro, and Lillian Garcia!)

 

Anyway, we got to discussing how Roman Reigns was supposed to be the next great babyface, but is now getting mixed reactions at best, and being boo'ed pretty heavily most of the time. He brought up Wyatt getting cheers and Reigns getting boo's as they exchanged punches on Monday night, and I was telling him how they pretty much started his doom at the Rumble by doing that half assed elimination of Bryan, and then having Reigns win.

 

He then said it was a shame cause Reigns has a good look, and you can tell he is working hard. I agreed and pointed out the ass beating he took from Lesnar, and how hard he has been working since the Rumble incident, but that it just seems that boo'ing him is the cool thing to do now.

 

Then he asked me the question that got me thinking, and the question I am now posing to you PWO......

 

What can they do to turn it around and get Reigns back on track to be the next top guy?

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I think freshening up the Wyatts with Braun Stowman (which also was badly needed after a poor year for Bray) and this feud will in turn help Roman. Roman Reigns v Big Show was somehow the best match at Extreme Rules, now obviously they shouldn't job this huge guy out immediately, but a sympathy angle with Stowman could open up a cracking programme.

It hasn't proved the magic fix so far but keep him glued to Ambrose, Ambrose is gold. I was glad to see them enter from the crowd together again in this latest episode of SmackDown. Keep them together, keep them big, now the tag division looks like it could pick up steam, maybe have them doing something there. If Roman's still not over after a while and PPV fans still get on his back, just bite the bullet and turn him heel for a while. Ambrose really should be rocketing to the WWE title within the year anyway. Roman Reigns as a heel winning his first title could be awesome heat too, though I'm not 100% certain he'd be able to pull it off, he seems too chill. We'll see, I dislike Reigns boos (also dislike Cena boos, in fairness) but do think he does need some overall work/paying dues/improvement until I can deal with the guy in a Cena-esque fit, which I don't think they necessarily need a replacement for.

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Plant a bunch of stories the company is down on him and they want Braun Stroman to be the next big thing and that he's gonna beat Reigns in a program. Also, convince everyone he's dating Sasha Banks and Cena/Nikki feels threatened by the new couple.

 

Meta-booking for the win.

This made me laugh. Pretty much the easiest way to get certain segments of the crowd behind a guy is for there to be stories about how the company is holding them down. Look at how over Ziggler is despite not being very good at anything except being a Billy Gunn tribute act.

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Plant a bunch of stories the company is down on him and they want Braun Stroman to be the next big thing and that he's gonna beat Reigns in a program. Also, convince everyone he's dating Sasha Banks and Cena/Nikki feels threatened by the new couple.

 

Meta-booking for the win.

This made me laugh. Pretty much the easiest way to get certain segments of the crowd behind a guy is for there to be stories about how the company is holding them down. Look at how over Ziggler is despite not being very good at anything except being a Billy Gunn tribute act.

 

 

And I was only half-joking. It seems to be the most sure-fire way to get some support for a guy these days. Reality Era!

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He sells too much and they have worked way too hard to make him seem vulnerable. He's very good at it, but he isn't aggressive enough as a result. He's being booked to overcome obstacles after an extended struggle instead of plowing through anyone who dares step in his way. The way they're booking him now, a Rollins-Reigns match might work on the right day, but a Brock-Reigns rematch would just be a repeat of the first one in terms of winning over the people. It's time for him to stop working 50-50 with guys like Bray Wyatt and start kicking some ass. It would help if his opponents showed at least a little fear of him too.

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Heel turn. Make him a laughing, mocking, insincere, sarcastic piece of shit. Let him pummel the living hell out of a bunch of smaller opponents on a regular basis, make him look like a tough guy. Wait until the crowd finally starts cheering for him organically. Basically, do what they did with The Rock in 1997 once all the "Die, Rocky, die!" chants became overwhelming.

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I think they might have ruined him. The crowd has dug their heels in and a lot of people are booing him as a matter of principal. They really needed to give him another year.

 

And this is where their booking really hurts them. A red hot heel for Reigns to take out would be the way to get the crowd behind him.

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I think you definitely have something there Loss. I think they have gone too far to try and disprove the "Roman Reigns is green and can't work!" crowd and that's why we have him wrestling the way he is now.

 

I just think there are people who have made up their mind they are going to hate him regardless of what he does in the ring and you aren't going to get them back with Reigns putting on good matches OR by dominating people (as a babyface). Those people would immediately be Reigns fans if he turned heel though so as much as I personally don't want him to turn I almost think it might be the best thing for him long term. Let him have a Brock like run of destroying people as a heel and I think he might eventually organically be turned back babyface.

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Pull him back from the main event and mix him up with some of the upper mid card guys. Put him in something with Owens and Cesaro and let him learn a bit from them. Also for the love of christ update his fricking look. Unless they are going to go back to the shield. Give him his own identity and a normal entrance so he's not hey hes the shield guy without a personality.

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Plant a bunch of stories the company is down on him and they want Braun Stroman to be the next big thing and that he's gonna beat Reigns in a program. Also, convince everyone he's dating Sasha Banks and Cena/Nikki feels threatened by the new couple.

 

Meta-booking for the win.

This made me laugh. Pretty much the easiest way to get certain segments of the crowd behind a guy is for there to be stories about how the company is holding them down. Look at how over Ziggler is despite not being very good at anything except being a Billy Gunn tribute act.

 

 

And I was only half-joking. It seems to be the most sure-fire way to get some support for a guy these days. Reality Era!

 

 

 

There's the political hit! The political friggin' hit! It's there. It really needs to spread.

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Plant a bunch of stories the company is down on him and they want Braun Stroman to be the next big thing and that he's gonna beat Reigns in a program. Also, convince everyone he's dating Sasha Banks and Cena/Nikki feels threatened by the new couple.

 

Meta-booking for the win.

 

That's awesome.

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Plant a bunch of stories the company is down on him and they want Braun Stroman to be the next big thing and that he's gonna beat Reigns in a program. Also, convince everyone he's dating Sasha Banks and Cena/Nikki feels threatened by the new couple.

 

Meta-booking for the win.

I can't support any make believe scenario where Sasha Banks is dating anyone other than me.

 

I think the best thing for him would be for him to go heel and take advantage of the boos he's getting already. There really isn't any good reason they've kept him babyface this long. He has been working his ass off and putting on good matches, but the fans still don't like him. His work isn't going to get his current babyface character over, he's going to have to change his character to have any chance at winning over the crowd.

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Planting stories about Braun Stroman being Vince's new favorite and souring on the idea of making a Samoan his next top guy wouldn't be the worst way to go. Add in Dylan's theory that someone (Kevin Dunn) put out a political hit on him because he's an NXT product and you've really got something.

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The backstage tidbits won't work IMO. I suspect plenty of people think that Reigns was mishandled and I am pretty sure they also recognize that the vitriol for him isn't really about him. They boo because they hate that the company discarded Bryan like yesterday's trash the minute he returned. They hate that the company insists on telling people what to think. Until the WWE regains some trust from the fans by giving them what they want sometimes then they will go along with a renewed focused push for him. But as long as 1. The Authority exists, 2. they don't push guys like Ambrose or Ziggler or whoever they like with conviction, 3. keep booking Reigns in poorly conceived and poorly constructed storylines and against opponents that doesn't spark interest-it will never change.

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The backstage tidbits won't work IMO. I suspect plenty of people think that Reigns was mishandled and I am pretty sure they also recognize that the vitriol for him isn't really about him. They boo because they hate that the company discarded Bryan like yesterday's trash the minute he returned. They hate that the company insists on telling people what to think. Until the WWE regains some trust from the fans by giving them what they want sometimes then they will go along with a renewed focused push for him. But as long as 1. The Authority exists, 2. they don't push guys like Ambrose or Ziggler or whoever they like with conviction, 3. keep booking Reigns in poorly conceived and poorly constructed storylines and against opponents that doesn't spark interest-it will never change.

 

I completely agree with this. They've spent the last 15 years telling fans that they're wrong for not liking the right wrestlers and now Reigns has become the poster child for everyone's frustration with the WWE.

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