WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin has transitioned nicely from violent, drunken hellraiser to podcasting voice of reason, and is now a solid go-to for how wrestling fans should feel about the sport’s important news. He’s explained what went wrong with the main event of WrestleMania 32 and what AJ Styles did right in the main event of Payback, so as the Roman Reigns performance oracle he had to weigh on in Reigns’ recent wellness policy violation and suspension.
From Austin’s appearance on ESPN’s Russillo & Kanell show:
“He got popped, and that’s just the way it is. He owned it, and he’ll live to come back another day. He owned it, so I think the kid did the right thing. Sometimes these things happen.”
I think the most shocking aspect of this is that Roman Reigns got a pop. (I’ll see myself out.)
At the risk of not being wackily sensational enough, this is the only way you can look at the suspension. Roman (and/or the way Roman Reigns the Character has been booked) has put himself in this position where any of his stumbles or failures are ammo for the portion of the crowd that’s already decided they hate him to hate on him more, so what can he do? All he can do is say, “Yeah, that was a mistake, sorry,” and move on with his life. His life that includes being 1/3 of a WWE pay-per-view main-event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with no assumption that a first-offense Wellness Policy violation is going to affect his future.
Or, he catches a stunner at WrestleMania 33. Either-or.
