When 2014 began, Roman Reigns was 1/3 of The Shield, WWE’s most bulletproof faction of future stars. He was a handsome prince having match of the year candidates every other week, breaking the Royal Rumble eliminations record and impressing everyone with eyeballs.
As it turns out, a lot of that magic was The Shield. When they split (RIP my innocence), Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins became new characters. Roman didn’t. He kept The Shield music and The Shield entrance, and still wrestled matches like he was 1/3 of an otherwise invisible trio. Lots of standing still, followed by howling and jumping and punching, and not a lot else.
By the end of 2014 he was an injured guy connecting to crowds via satellite, trying desperately to remember his lines. He’s wrestling in a laser tag vest and Matt Hardy pants. All of his upside and potential are still there, but it’s become increasingly impossible to see it over all the manufactured pomp.
That means WWE’s going to alter its plans to push Roman Reigns as the new face of the company, right?
NOPE. Everyone’s still living in February 2014, because plans to strap Roman to a rocket and shoot him to the moon are reportedly still in place. The interesting part? Nobody seems to care that his brain is greener than gooseshit and he’s been violently exposed since losing his swat pals.
The Observer via WrestleZone, the only zone designated specifically for wrestling:
Critics worry Reigns still needs a lot of work before he can be consider ready for that type of push, including working on his promo skills, as well as working better in lengthy singles matches. Even with this skepticism, WWE needs a new top babyface and it’s considered to be Reigns’ spot. Other names, such as Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan were involved in early plans, but Orton isn’t a new star, and Bryan is nowhere near ready to come back, not to mention he isn’t WWE’s “type”, no matter how fans react.
Dean Ambrose is the next in line after Reigns, and while he is a better in-ring worker and can cut a better promo, he doesn’t fit the “WWE mold” for their top guy. Both Reigns and Ambrose are doing well with merchandise sales, including Ambrose’s new hooded sweatshirt being #1 over Thanksgiving, but Reigns will still be considered as the new top babyface.
From Jim Ross:
“Was asked today by Jason Powell for Pro Wrestling.net audio if I thought Roman Reigns was ready to be the man in WWE and become WWE World Champion. I don’t think Reigns is ready today but it’s not game day just yet but I do applaud WWE for attempting to add more ‘new’ into the upper card mix and taking a calculated risk on Reigns to be one of their centerpieces. Time will tell and I assure one and all that no one knows today. I’m optimistic.”
The answer, much like Triple H’s explanation of why Charlotte lost her Raw debut, is “we’ll do what we want because it’s what we want to do, and that’s that.” Fan reactions don’t matter. Nobody’s paying attention. We’re telling stories, and if you don’t like the story we’re telling, that’s on you. ROMAN REIGNS IS THE NEW RACHEL, SHUT UP.
WWE’s a crazy thing, though. By April of 2015 Roman’s critics could be singing a different tune, and we could be welcoming the next true WWE Superstar. He’s certainly got the look, so maybe things will work out. Or maybe “the look” is all you’ve ever needed and everything else is just farting in a wind tunnel.
