Your opinion on Roman Reigns

[yesdanielbryan]

What do you think about Roman Reigns?

Is he a good worker?

Do you think that he is a good draw? Outside USA, do you think that he is a big star? For example in India, I think that a lot of people know him. According to google trends he appears to be also a bigger star than The Rock, McGregor and Mayweather in India.

Thank you very much 

[KawadaSmile]

He's one of WWE's best workers right now, if not THE best worker, manages to work on a multitude of settings and roles, improved on the mic enough to be considered a good promo, and carries himself like few others do.

While he isn't a mainstream star like Cena - and very few are - he is one of the most popular stars in the world.

One could consider him one of the wrestlers of the decade and wouldn't be wrong. Very few did so much in so little time, in terms of actual ring work.

[El-P]

Dull as fuck on all fronts (character, work, look, promos). Perfect guy to be The Man (but not really, but yes really) of the "Nothing matters anymore" era, I guess.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

I'm in the camp of not underrating or overrating him. He's a fine performer who's decent on the mic. I'm surprised that they've haven't done anything on the network in India to get over how big of a star he is based on the google trends.

[Makai Club #1]

I must admit, I'm not fond of him overall because his booking is toxic to him and everyone else, his promos are mind numbingly boring and he comes off as very generic and disingenuous but I've grown to appreciate what he brings to the ring. He is a very good wrestler and on his day, he can have a good match with a large part of the roster. Is he one of the best in the world? Not in my opinion but that's not a knock on him at all. Good wrestler 

[NickH]

He needs new entrance music. It's too slow and depressing for a "babyface". Get some rock music going.

His wrestling is fine but his promos need to be more intense and passionate aka Foley style.

[Frankensteiner]

18 hours ago, El-P said:

Dull as fuck on all fronts (character, work, look, promos). Perfect guy to be The Man (but not really, but yes really) of the "Nothing matters anymore" era, I guess.

Wow, that's pretty perfect.

He's not necessarily bad but there is nothing about him that seems natural, from the way he carries himself to his ring work. Just seems like the product of someone's imagination on the CAW feature in those early WWF Attitude era video games (complete with Big Bossman's unlockable ring gear, if there is a such thing).

I saw that brawl he had on Raw with Strowman and just couldn't help laughing at him starting it off with that Superman punch.

[sek69]

I think they split him away from the Shield too quickly the first time and he wasn't ready for the level he was pushed at that time. Remember that the nausea-inducing multi cut zoom cam that plagues WWE TV to this day was first introduced to cover for Roman's green-ness during the Shield beatdowns. That was the main fuel to the resentment fire: fans saw a guy not ready for prime time get pushed ahead of the guy they wanted to see in that role. 

Of course now Roman's vastly improved as a worker, he's more or less perfected WWE Main Event House Style. If that's not your cup of tea you probably won't like his matches much, but he usually can be called upon to have a good match with practically anyone. He's shown flashes of being a good promo when not given garbage to work with from the script writers, and can generally give off the air of being a badass that you would want in a top guy. He could probably use a refresh in the wardrobe department, but they seem content to keep his gimmick as "the guy who used to be and sometimes still is in the Shield. wasn't that cool?".

[joeg]

Great worker. Probably one of the 3 or 4 best workers in WWE right now. He can work from on top, he can fight back from underneath and gather sympathy, he's got legit elite athleticism which he translates to the ring, he's got a great look and the sort of size you want from your top guy.

 

With that said, I don't think I've ever seen a top babyface booked as poorly as Reigns ever. I mean ever, in any promotion. He started his title chase without ever really having a proper face turn, and in the middle of Daniel Bryan's feel good first comeback. There was no way the fan's were ever getting behind that. Then he lost to Brock which in an ordinary title chase would unite the fans behind the babyface but by this time the fans just didn't give a fuck. Then they reunited the Shield which was a heel group previous but now was a babyface group for reasons which were unexplained. Then he gets pushed down the card for reasons. Then they split up the Shield reunion which never worked (maybe because they pushed them down the card?) Then he gets pushed back in the main event. Then he wins the title. Then the fans start shitting on him again. Then he loses it a month later in the Royal Rumble for reasons. Then he loses to Lesnar again. Then he finally won the title from HHH, and loses the title a month later. Then he beats the shit out of the Undertaker which makes him look like a total asshole. Then he loses to Lesnar three more times before beating him. Then another Shield reunion for reunion.

 

Part of me thinks their goal with his booking is some sort of meta thing where they are actually trying to get heat on Reigns, but in a nonconvential way so that the fans don't realize that they are really pushing him as the top heel for the next decade.  The only two answers are they know exactly what they are doing and are aiming for him being the biggest heel ever or they don't know what they are doing. 

[Coffey]

He's a great worker, not just good, one of the better workers going in WWE right now. His promos aren't strong but they have improved. He does better when he's an ass-kicker, not trying to be funny or make witty remarks. He would have been a better top guy had WWE not been so weird in their booking & finally pulling the trigger on him. I agree with Sek in that they broke up the Shield the first time too soon & tried to rocket Roman a bit before he was ready. That being said, he has a physical charisma about him that you can't teach. 

The fans turning on Roman, well, I genuinely believe the fans eventually turn on everyone when they're on top, regardless of who they are. Even more so if they're babyface. They would have turned on Daniel Bryan too, eventually. His next feud before getting hurt was against Kane, so it's not like after his big Wrestlemania crowning they had great plans for him. 

Roman is better than Cena. Crowd shit on Cena too but Cena is fine. So, it's whatever. Fans wanna seem smart so they boo the guy on top. I genuinely believe that. WWE will pretty much always be a top babyface promotion though. Remember the pop when Cena got drafted to RAW on Jericho's in-ring show? Crowd turned on Cena. Remember the pop when Dolph cashed in MITB? Fans turned on Dolph. Remember the pop when Batista turned on HHH/Flair? Fans turned on Batista. If you're a top babyface, the crowd loses interest.

WWE is poorly written & doesn't have great television direction but it's not the fault of the wrestling talent. None of the problems with Roman are really faults of his. Look at Becky Lynch. Great babyface that is super over that the crowd is begging to win. So she loses and turns heel. That's what WWE does.

[flyonthewall2983]

From my limited perspective I feel kind of sorry for him. He's good in the ring and not as bad on the mic as some guys who were in his same spot. 

Fans do turn on everyone when they're on top, and it's always kind of been that way but it seems like it happens WAY quicker than it used to. 

[sek69]

I would love to see Roman in literally any other promotion in the world where he would be able to take advantage of the charisma and promo abiliity that seems to be there but gets run over by WWE scripting. I would love to see him be able to work a match free of WWE tropes like spamming Superman punches and spears like a little kid playing a video game who only knows two buttons. 

It probably won't happen since he seems pretty Ride or Die with WWE, but I get the feeling he would be a much bigger star outside the company. 

[KawadaSmile]

Well, I'm sure NJPW would kill to have a guy of his caliber as the top heel.

 

[sek69]

Tama Tonga thinks so, he was trying to troll him on Twitter a while back before the company told their guys to knock that shit off. 

[Alucard]

1 hour ago, Coffey said:

Remember the pop when Batista turned on HHH/Flair? Fans turned on Batista. If you're a top babyface, the crowd loses interest.

I may be misremembering, but I actually don't remember fans ever really turning on Batista during his initial 05-09 babyface run which I thought was a credit to him and the booking of the time almost always keeping his badass babyface aura in tact. He always seemed to get cheered during that run and massive pops when he'd make returns from injury. The heel turn got a lot of love and of course the years later return was all ill advised and filled with bad timing.

[Microstatistics]

Really good worker (though not quite great, IMO). Strong offense, very good selling, good aura. Carries himself like an ace. Usually extremely consistent too. His garbage performances vs. Brock in April were the exception, not the rule. Also, agree with Coffey, he is better than Cena. 

 

 

[sek69]

In the defense of all the folks mentioned prior, the crowd turns on babyfaces these days because WWE is very bad at booking babyfaces and has been for a while. 

Crowds never turned on Bruno, only turned on Hogan when he was still doing his super 1980s babyface schtick in the 90s, never turned on Austin or Rock.  It's only been in the last decade plus that suddenly babyfaces are wearing out their welcomes at a record pace. 

When you don't book your heroes to be dipshits who always lose in the end, they tend to stay heroes. Funny how that works out. 

[Microstatistics]

45 minutes ago, sek69 said:

In the defense of all the folks mentioned prior, the crowd turns on babyfaces these days because WWE is very bad at booking babyfaces and has been for a while. 

Crowds never turned on Bruno, only turned on Hogan when he was still doing his super 1980s babyface schtick in the 90s, never turned on Austin or Rock.  It's only been in the last decade plus that suddenly babyfaces are wearing out their welcomes at a record pace. 

When you don't book your heroes to be dipshits who always lose in the end, they tend to stay heroes. Funny how that works out. 

 

They did turn on the Rock actually. Summerslam 2002, booed him for being the Hollywood guy who was leaving. That's what sparked his 2003 return heel run.

[joeg]

The thing about Reigns though is fans turned on Reigns within two months after he got a main event push. Fans turning on Hogan in the mid 90s, or Bret in 96, or Rock in 2003, or Cena in 2011, that came after they had spent years on top, had gotten stale or were on their way out,  and is to be expected. A guy has a good showing at the Royal Rumble in 2014, turns face in fall 2014 and is instantly one of the hottest babyfaces and by Royal Rumble 2015 is being booed out of the building. Something is wrong there.

[KawadaSmile]

3 minutes ago, joeg said:

The thing about Reigns though is fans turned on Reigns within two months after he got a main event push. Fans turning on Hogan in the mid 90s, or Bret in 96, or Rock in 2003, or Cena in 2011, that came after they had spent years on top, had gotten stale or were on their way out,  and is to be expected. A guy has a good showing at the Royal Rumble in 2014, turns face in fall 2014 and is instantly one of the hottest babyfaces and by Royal Rumble 2015 is being booed out of the building. Something is wrong there.

Bryan being eliminated early, as well as other, more over wrestlers being systematically taken out, like Wyatt at his most over and Dean Ambrose, by Corporate Kane and Big Show at his coldest of all people, made the crowd snap. Things were never the same afterwards.

[NintendoLogic]

Faithless fools. When your time on earth is done, enjoy nothing.

But seriously, there has to be something inherently unlikable about him for him to receive such intense negative reactions for such a long time. He's developed into a fine worker, but he's never going to be The Guy and trying to force him into that position is dragging the whole product down.

[joeg]

I feel like he still could be the top babyface, however it would require a dramatic heel turn (Michaels throwing Jannety through the window level heel turn) followed by a long run as the top heel. After a year or two as the top heel, fans will start cheering him because its just cool to cheer the bad guy then they can turn him babyface again but with the fans behind him. Problem is though that none of the babyfaces other than Daniel Bryan are really that popular. So its hard to run a memorable angle where he turns heel and fucks over a babyface because none of the babyfaces are all that memorable. 

[Big Pete]

The biggest hang-up I have with Roman Reigns is his move-set. The spear at this point has become so synonymous with over-pushed WWE talent (Lashley, Edge, Charlotte early on etc.) that it knocks Roman down a peg or two. Roman has two moves that are distinct to him. The first is the Superman Punch, a move that plays against his bad-ass persona and the other is the Drive By a move that requires too much of a set-up to be commonplace. Outside of that he'll reference his Polynesian background by hitting a Samoan Drop or he'll bust out a Sit-Out Powerbomb for a predictible near-fall.

When Roman is in the ring with the right opponent, he can certainly hold up his end of the bargain. All the classic Shield tags, Bryan '15, Brock '15, Show '15, Styles '16, Strowman '17, Balor '18 etc. demonstrate this. However there's been big matches where he's just looked so lost and what should have been a defining moment just turned out to be a fart in the wind. The Wyatt Hell in a Cell, Cena '17, Brock '18, Joe '18 come straight to mind. He's similar to DDP in the sense that he really has to map his stuff out beforehand, instead of being able to adjust and bring the intensity up a notch.

In terms of being a 'WWE character' he's the worst written top guy in history. The backlash was inevitable, even from the Shield's debut, Meltzer made it clear that the WWE saw him as 'the' guy despite being green. The Shield run went better than what anyone could have anticipated, but as soon as Reigns got injured and they started running Roman Reigns health-updates, you knew they messed up. The segments were very similar to the RNN updates Orton did before going heel. Very conceited promos that made Reigns come off as a smug douche than as the alpha male on the roster. As soon as they started trying to make him into Rock 3.0, it was over and there was just a perfect shit-storm leading into the Rumble.

[SirEdger]

1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said:

Faithless fools. When your time on earth is done, enjoy nothing.

But seriously, there has to be something inherently unlikable about him for him to receive such intense negative reactions for such a long time. He's developed into a fine worker, but he's never going to be The Guy and trying to force him into that position is dragging the whole product down.

I tend to incline with @KawadaSmile that a lot of this had to do with the booking of the 2015 Royal Rumble Match when Bryan was eliminated early and the fans realized that Vince had chosen to push Roman over Bryan. To me, it would've been almost any other guy than Roman and he would've gotten the same reaction; the fans wanted Bryan to win really bad. From that moment forward, Vince didn't give the audience any reason to believe that he wasn't pushing Roman at the expense of other top babyfaces. It's not even Roman's fault; he's doing his job and while his promos can be generic when poorly scripted, he virtually delivers in almost every big match he's in. It's now a case of Roman having the stigma of being Vince's favorite.

[El-P]

The whole "fans turn on whoever is on top" is a bullshit argument to try to defend WWE's tone deaf, inept booking. Because it happens only in WWE. Sure, Hogan got booed in WCW, but that was from him getting down to the NWA territory, crashing the product and after 10 years on top already. And then he turned heel and became the biggest star in the business for a while. NJ fans refused Naito's push at first. Went down to Mexico, came back as a super heel, became the hottest business card of the company and arguably still is now that the fans are behind him. See a pattern here ?

But Roman :

7 hours ago, Big Pete said:

In terms of being a 'WWE character' he's the worst written top guy in history.

By a huge margin. And it doesn't matter, because booking doesn't matter anymore for WWE. The money they got has nothing to do with their actual day-to-day pro-wrestling product, which is not hot, as Hogan would point out. It's because they made WWE a successful brand of whatever they are.

WWE is the Starbuck of pro-wrestling. Roman Reigns is a Grand Latte.