Roman Reigns vs Kerry Von Erich

[Loss]

Who would you rank higher?

[Tetsujin]

This is a fun one because KVE finished #98 last time, he'll have to fight for his place in the top 100 against newer guys that are building their case as time goes on. And Reigns might be the biggest case of all these current great wrestlers.

[Boss Rock]

I haven't really seen enough Kerry to say with confidence, but I agree that Reigns is likely one of the folks who could push Kerry out of the top 100.

[Cap]

I am lower on Kerry than most I think. I still like him a great deal, but he is a long shot to make my list to be honest.  Reigns is also a long shot, but I am really high on him. I'd say right this second I'd probably rank Kerry higher, but I'd be pretty shocked if Reigns didn't pass him by some distance sooner rather than later.

[Kadaveri]

I don't know what Kerry Von Erich is clearly better at than Roman Reigns other than he drew more/stuff outside his control? I guess the Von Erichs as a group were better than The Shield (though that's not a big gap for me). Even in terms of longevity Roman's probably been a great wrestler as long as Kerry had by now, and Roman shows no signs of slowing down. Better top end matches. More volume, his 2017 is one of the best WWE runs ever for just really good matches week-to-week with a variety of opponents. Better athlete, Roman has some of the best timing of any wrestler going, he can pull off big spots clincically like superpunching AJ Styles mid-Phenomenal Forearm which others just can't do properly. Roman easily.

[ethantyler]

Before the Reigns heel turn, you could've made the case that this was failure vs failure.

From Kerry's perspective it's more of a "what could've been" story - yes, he and the rest of the Von Erichs were a big deal for a while but he really should've been so much more and, for reasons that we're all aware of, he wasn't. From Reigns' perspective, if you end his career with that babyface run then he has a strong case for being the biggest flop in pro wrestling history. No one comes close to that level of sustained failure on such a big stage in this business. But, the heel run is good and might save him - ongoing, tbd, etc. 

For now, I'd go with Reigns. Reserving the right to change my mind if he flops when they turn him face again. 

[NotJayTabb]

On 6/27/2021 at 12:56 AM, Kadaveri said:

I don't know what Kerry Von Erich is clearly better at than Roman Reigns other than he drew more/stuff outside his control? I guess the Von Erichs as a group were better than The Shield (though that's not a big gap for me). Even in terms of longevity Roman's probably been a great wrestler as long as Kerry had by now, and Roman shows no signs of slowing down. Better top end matches. More volume, his 2017 is one of the best WWE runs ever for just really good matches week-to-week with a variety of opponents. Better athlete, Roman has some of the best timing of any wrestler going, he can pull off big spots clincically like superpunching AJ Styles mid-Phenomenal Forearm which others just can't do properly. Roman easily.

Agree that the Von Erichs/Shield comparison is tight, but I'd say that even within that, Reigns is more pivotal to the Shield than Kerry is to the von Erichs. I've been rewatching the original Shield run, and by mid 2013 Reigns is looking comfortably the best of the trio. Better offense, better presence, he's even a remarkably good seller for the monster of the group. Also, whereas the Shield run feels like the career highpoint for both Rollins and Ambrose, Reigns went on to do better work as a solo. I'm not even convinced Kerry was as good a worker as Kevin within the von Erichs.

[Rah]

You could point to a little earlier than that and I'd have no qualms. Even by the great Elimination Chamber tag, Reigns was the best of the bunch. He was doing so many little things in that feud and really carried his character over the build and to the eventual payoff. He's been excellent for so long (8 years) but the booking surrounding his work has really soured those memories for most, it seems.