This article/study suggests he is not, and may be a negative draw.
Sort of surprising.
https://www.fightful.com/is-roman-reigns-a-draw
Sort of surprising.
https://www.fightful.com/is-roman-reigns-a-draw
Is Roman Reigns A Draw?
- Thread starter Glacier
- Start date
Unless we get some actual document from an insider or wwe themselves, We won't be able to know if anyone is really a draw. I mean to me a draw is based off crowd response, merch sales, live event attendance crowd.
1) If we look at live events then attendance is down
2) I base merch on the number of different designs and merch a super stars has hence new day and Cena constantly having different merch. Reigns seems to have the same exact shirt for a year now so idk how well he is selling
3) we all know his crowd response
1) If we look at live events then attendance is down
2) I base merch on the number of different designs and merch a super stars has hence new day and Cena constantly having different merch. Reigns seems to have the same exact shirt for a year now so idk how well he is selling
3) we all know his crowd response
Snugglebites
Sufferin' Succotash.
Look at the RAW highlights posted on the WWE YouTube channel each week. The ones involving Reigns will usually have the most views.
EastCoastFan
Championship Contender
Forbes did a story a couple of years ago where they said none of the members of the Shield has been a draw. They recently did one about WWE using part-timers so much, saying Roman has not been a draw.
No Count Pup
Just call on me brother
Though an anecdotal rather than empirical point, I venture to guess that WWE wouldn't invest so much in Roman if they didn't like the return. WWE financials this quarter were high and stocks saw an uptick. Every WrestleMania in recent memory (three headlined by Roman) seems to top the last in key metrics such as gross earnings, host city revenue (which allows WWE to drive up costs to future host cities), live gates, and WWE Network subscriptions. In terms of WWE attendance, Smackdown may be pulling the attendance averages down a bit. That's not a knock on Smackdown, it's just reality.
I’ll just add one more point: Roman has kept Raw ratings afloat relatively well considering the TV industry’s drop in viewership across the board (including live sports). In addition, Roman hasn’t been world champion in close to a year and a half. Yes, Roman is the face of the company but the only Universal Champion to show up on TV on a weekly basis has been Kevin Owens. The world champions should be held to account too. All in all, the WWE brand itself draws more people in than any present-day wrestler can. WWE is an American institution, embedded in the pop culture.
I’ll just add one more point: Roman has kept Raw ratings afloat relatively well considering the TV industry’s drop in viewership across the board (including live sports). In addition, Roman hasn’t been world champion in close to a year and a half. Yes, Roman is the face of the company but the only Universal Champion to show up on TV on a weekly basis has been Kevin Owens. The world champions should be held to account too. All in all, the WWE brand itself draws more people in than any present-day wrestler can. WWE is an American institution, embedded in the pop culture.
Actually ratings have been at historic lows this year, but in saying that you can't blame Roman Reigns or anyone else. I blame the overall booking of RAW and also the fact that you have an absentee champion.
To the OP. It's not fair to include the Wrestlemania gate for any wrestler to be honest. Mania sells itself and it doesn't matter who is in the main event, people will buy tickets and show up. The rumour mill is stating that it will be Lesnar/Reigns in the main event next year and the event will sell out anyway. It could be a trained chimpanzee against a ferret, fans would still flock to it.
No one wrestler on the card right now is a draw. It is the roster as a whole that is selling tickets. Here in Toronto it doesn't matter whether it's a RAW or SD Live show, it will always sell. I think it depends more on the city, fans and how often the WWE shows up that drives the ticket sales. We get a house show every three months so they always do well. If we had one a month maybe not so much.
Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.
Kamehamehaaaaa!!
He's drawing more than the rest of the roster and only Styles actually can compete with him in that aspect, but he's definately drawing less than Cena, HHH, Lesnar, Taker etc.
So the answer is: it depends. He's the best draw they have. But is he the draw?
I don't think he is.
So the answer is: it depends. He's the best draw they have. But is he the draw?
I don't think he is.
stingray11214
Cena is no Bruno & Cole is no Solie
The WWE is like Ice Capades, Holiday on Ice, and Sesame Street LIVE!. When people buy the tickets, they are going to see WWE. It could be Lesnar, it could be Reigns, could be Ellsworth, hell, it could be Slyfox vs. Crocker in a Last Man Standing match. What I am trying to say that if WWE is in town, WWE is the draw. If your REALLY want to find out someone's drawing capabilities, you need to go to the Indies. There is where you will find out who draws well. Cody Rhodes is showing that he is a draw. So was Damien Sandow and the Hardy Boyz draws in the Indies. But, unless Reigns goes the Indy route, there is no way of telling if he is a draw. In the meantime, WWE, not the individuals, is the draw.
Is roman reigns a draw? It depends on what the definition of a draw is. If you're thinking of guys like cena, flair, austin, hogan and rock, then he's no where near that level. But I do feel that for this era of wwe, he's pretty much the biggest full name beside aj styles they have right now.
When I think of what a draw is, it's the guy that brings fans of all ages to live events, it's about who selling tickets, who's selling the most merchandise. You can say that The brand is what attract fans to the shows but that's bullshit in my opinion. If you bring a wwe live event somewhere and all you have is the midcard and low midcard guys on the card, they would wrestle in front of less then 1000 peoples even if tey have a huge brand.
So they need name and reigns is a live event draw. By my experience, he always been the most over guys on the roster during live events and at tv tapings, he getting the biggest reaction, good or bad he's still getting the bigest reaction everywhere he goes so he's a draw that sense.
His merch sales seem to be going pretty well considering how much merchandise they are putting out so that way he a draw.
Considering, the landscape of cable tv right now, the ratigs seem to keep steady with him on top even if he's not the champion so again he's a draw. Same goes with the network number which stayed steady even without brock on every ppv. So he's a draw their. He helped strowman becoming a big name on aw with their feud, that's a draw does.
So in the end, he might not be a draw in the same way as austin or cena or even hogan, but for this era, he's a draw.
When I think of what a draw is, it's the guy that brings fans of all ages to live events, it's about who selling tickets, who's selling the most merchandise. You can say that The brand is what attract fans to the shows but that's bullshit in my opinion. If you bring a wwe live event somewhere and all you have is the midcard and low midcard guys on the card, they would wrestle in front of less then 1000 peoples even if tey have a huge brand.
So they need name and reigns is a live event draw. By my experience, he always been the most over guys on the roster during live events and at tv tapings, he getting the biggest reaction, good or bad he's still getting the bigest reaction everywhere he goes so he's a draw that sense.
His merch sales seem to be going pretty well considering how much merchandise they are putting out so that way he a draw.
Considering, the landscape of cable tv right now, the ratigs seem to keep steady with him on top even if he's not the champion so again he's a draw. Same goes with the network number which stayed steady even without brock on every ppv. So he's a draw their. He helped strowman becoming a big name on aw with their feud, that's a draw does.
So in the end, he might not be a draw in the same way as austin or cena or even hogan, but for this era, he's a draw.
It's not bullshit. There is a house show here in Toronto on December 30th and it is almost sold out. I don't think the announcement has been made yet as too whether it's a RAW or SD show. As soon a tickets went on sale they were very hard to get. I know as a friend of mine was trying, we are not going.
I doubt very highly that if it's a SD show, you know one that Reigns won't be appearing in, people will not show up. They always do. Listen everyone on the roster is a draw, the brand itself is a draw. So many times we've gone to a show and the main event match has had to be changed. Once it was Daniel Bryan, he took time off after his father died and once it was Reigns. No one left the arena, we all stayed and enjoyed the show anyway.
Anything can happen from the time tickets go on sale and the date of the actual event. I'm sure that certain wrestlers sell more tickets than other, but no one wrestler on the roster is a huge draw right now in the way that Hogan or Austin was. They are all part and parcel of the live tour, whether the wrestler in question shows up or not the fans will still be there.
tdmoon
Pre-Show Stalwart
I'll be honest and plead ignorance here--I really have no idea if Roman Reigns is a draw or not. Personally, he bores me but I concede my opinions are generally far from the norm. My question is, is attendance really that important anymore? The WWF is the largest and most well-known wrestling-er, sports entertainment-company in the world, making money hand over fist, while averaging less than seven thousand people a show. Regional promotions were drawing better than that at weekly house shows thirty-five years ago, I've seen more people show up to see the Fabs take on the Kiwi Sheepherders. It seems merchandise, tv and the network are where the money is at, live attendance is a smaller part of the equation. The WWF is probably a bit like the NFL now--with all the tv and merchandise money, they can turn a profit without selling a ticket.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
This is one of the areas in which I don't think anyone outside of Vince and the company's number crunchers can know for certain. Sure, you'll have some writers, even some from noted financial publications like Forbes, say that Reigns is or he isn't but when it's all said and done, they don't really know. They hear it from someone who maybe has some connections to someone who would know or their source claims to be someone who knows themselves but the writers don't really know anymore than we do.
Here's how I look at it: I don't see Vince McMahon pushing someone for as long as he's pushed Roman Reigns if that someone isn't making a lot of money for the company. To one degree or another, nearly all of us posters bash Vince for one thing or another. Sometimes the bashing is justified, sometimes it isn't, sometimes it's us talking out of our asses because we think we know what's what about everything just because we read the dirt sheets. On the surface, you wouldn't think John Cena is a draw based on all the boos he's gotten over the last decade+ but you'd be wrong as the boos don't truly represent Cena's level of popularity and, in my opinion, I'd say there's a very strong likelihood the same is true for Reigns. As with Cena, look at how the boos disappear and are replaced with enthusiastic applause, "this is awesome" or "holy shit" chants during his matches.
We sometimes groan over decisions Vince makes on who to push, some of it's justified and some of it's not. Most of us have been ready to lynch him for Jinder Mahal's push, which is understandable, in my opinion, to some degree because, again, in my opinion, the guy's just not remotely interesting, but he's also someone that I think Vince is counting on in the long run. By the time WrestleMania comes around next year, if Jinder being champion is shown to be responsible for a strong uptick in the number of WWE Network subscriptions and viewership for SmackDown Live in India, then Vince will be the one laughing all the way to the bank while all we'll be able to do is grumble about it and resentfully stick to our guns.
Here's how I look at it: I don't see Vince McMahon pushing someone for as long as he's pushed Roman Reigns if that someone isn't making a lot of money for the company. To one degree or another, nearly all of us posters bash Vince for one thing or another. Sometimes the bashing is justified, sometimes it isn't, sometimes it's us talking out of our asses because we think we know what's what about everything just because we read the dirt sheets. On the surface, you wouldn't think John Cena is a draw based on all the boos he's gotten over the last decade+ but you'd be wrong as the boos don't truly represent Cena's level of popularity and, in my opinion, I'd say there's a very strong likelihood the same is true for Reigns. As with Cena, look at how the boos disappear and are replaced with enthusiastic applause, "this is awesome" or "holy shit" chants during his matches.
We sometimes groan over decisions Vince makes on who to push, some of it's justified and some of it's not. Most of us have been ready to lynch him for Jinder Mahal's push, which is understandable, in my opinion, to some degree because, again, in my opinion, the guy's just not remotely interesting, but he's also someone that I think Vince is counting on in the long run. By the time WrestleMania comes around next year, if Jinder being champion is shown to be responsible for a strong uptick in the number of WWE Network subscriptions and viewership for SmackDown Live in India, then Vince will be the one laughing all the way to the bank while all we'll be able to do is grumble about it and resentfully stick to our guns.
If i remember correctly when they first announce that show for toronto on sportsnet, they said it was a raw show and that Reigns was on the card., so i guess that'S probably why the show sold out quickly especially since it's a holiday show and normally does then to sell out quicker so that might have something to do with it.
So what you're saying is, if let's say, you take all the major players off the card and you put on a card with only the main event crew, you know guys like apollo crews, heath slater, curt hawkins, etc... that fans would go and sell out a live event anyway because all thoses guy are draws. I doubt it, if you take a guy like reigns, ambrose, balor, rollins just to name a few off the card, nobody is coming to the show. Reigns is a draw because he attract a certain group off people, just like rollins does or Balor does. They are the guys on raw that put butts in the seat like the old saying goes but they are still draws and if you takes those guys off the card then pretty much have nothing left.
Right now off the top off my head, i think they got maybe 12 guys on the raw roster that i could probably say that they are draws and Reigns is probably on top mostly because of his merch sell number which seem to be really good since they continue to release new stuff for him and if you know how business works, you don't release new stuff for a product that doesn't sell. So yes i agree with you that You don't have a hogan or austin level draw right now. In fact, with today'S wrestling landscape i don'T see anybody being able to get to that level anymore but when you go ask fans from different demographic who they're who are they coming to see, a lot will say Reigns so in this day and age, that makes him a draw.
to correct the first part of my comment, i'm not sure if they announce it are not on sportstnet or not but if it was a raw show, reigns is one of the main draw, if it's smackdown then let's face it, Owens is the main draw in canada anyway because he'S pretty much becoming the next Bret Hart as far as a canadian hero is concern. I can believe how over the guy is in canada especially since he'S from quebec and normally, the rest of canada really hates us quebecers which i never truly understood why.
swallop
Occasional Pre-Show
Judging by the all time low ratings id say no. Its not all his fault, But there is no doubt he is one of the most promoted guys on the show. If he really was a draw wouldnt the ratings be at least a bit higher? Maybe him being a part of the shield is better for him and the overall show, Because now the focus has shifted more towards other guys. But how much you wanna bet vince is begging cena to go back full time. Because thats what they always do when the ratings struggle, put the championship on john cena.
d_henderson1810
Mid-Card Championship Winner
So, if the main event at WM doesn't matter, than WM11 was one of the most popular ever, given that the main event was Bam Bam Bigelow versus Lawrence Taylor?
Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.
Kamehamehaaaaa!!
Roman Reigns is just one of the best draws they have right now. But he's not a John Cena or Lesnar type of draw. The draws in the WWE right now are:
=> part-timers (Cena, Lesnar, Triple H, Undertaker) > Reigns > AJ Styles > Orton, Jericho > rest of the roster
Don't believe me? Just think of different match combinations and see which pair of wrestlers squaring off excites you the most and makes you want to pay more money to see.
Reigns is a draw, but not a DRAW, if that even makes any sense to you. It all depends to what you define as a draw actually. If you think Styles is a draw then Reigns is too. If your definition of a draw are the likes of Lesnar, Cena, Triple H or Undertaker, then Reigns is not a draw.
WWE wouldn't survive at is current state without the first 4 names I mentioned, solely on Reigns, that's what seperates Reigns from the big 4 names, but Reigns is the guy you want to see most face those big 4 names and that's what seperates Reigns from the rest of the roster.
For example, everybody was talking about Reigns vs Cena or Triple H, long before they took place and they talked about these matches more than they talked about any other wrestler vs these two guys.
=> part-timers (Cena, Lesnar, Triple H, Undertaker) > Reigns > AJ Styles > Orton, Jericho > rest of the roster
Don't believe me? Just think of different match combinations and see which pair of wrestlers squaring off excites you the most and makes you want to pay more money to see.
Reigns is a draw, but not a DRAW, if that even makes any sense to you. It all depends to what you define as a draw actually. If you think Styles is a draw then Reigns is too. If your definition of a draw are the likes of Lesnar, Cena, Triple H or Undertaker, then Reigns is not a draw.
WWE wouldn't survive at is current state without the first 4 names I mentioned, solely on Reigns, that's what seperates Reigns from the big 4 names, but Reigns is the guy you want to see most face those big 4 names and that's what seperates Reigns from the rest of the roster.
For example, everybody was talking about Reigns vs Cena or Triple H, long before they took place and they talked about these matches more than they talked about any other wrestler vs these two guys.
Spencesc11
Getting Noticed By Management
WWE is clearly in transition just like back in the day. HHH is pretty much done, Jericho comes by for short stints, and Cena is working a far reduced schedule. The next generation has to take over (Reigns, Rollins, Ambrose, Balor, Owens, etc..) The big problem with Reigns is the booking. So easy fix WWE rebuild him as a less talking bad ass like he was originally with THE SHIELD. WWE took a great tweener faction and made all of them weak babyfaces. Book them all strong again and The Crowd will be much more behind Reigns.
A well-known columnist on another wrestling site did a statistical analysis of the ratings of all the Shield members and found that none of them are draws as champion and all hurt the ratings to different degrees. Ambrose is the most inoffensive to the ratings, Rollins hurt them a bit but Reigns as champion actually saw a whole point shaved off on average (so 3.8 would become a 2.8 over time).
ComeOnVince
Pre-Show Stalwart
I tend to agree on this point right here. At some level (beyond Vince's hard-on for Reigns), it's paying off. Vince is a businessman. Yes, he has made some awful decisions in the past, but all things considered if Reigns as the money/ratings black hole we think he is... I have to think they would have ditched him by now.
Aeon Mathix
Has Ascended
Anyone with half a brain running a wrestling promotion would push someone like Roman Reigns to the moon and back. Historically, the big tough looking guys have always been the draw and garnered the most interest. Me for example, I look much more forward to matches such as Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe/Strowman than I would say Hideo Itami vs Daniel Bryan or something along those lines. There is just something about 2 behemoths clashing horns that makes wrestling awesome. I can't speak on behalf of the general audience but just look at who the top draws in the industry have been:
Hulk Hogan
Stone Cold
The Rock
John Cena
All physically imposing badass looking guys straight out of a comic book. Roman Reigns has the look and despite the IWC's consensus, can put on some hard hitting matches. He's the guy you want on the late shows and being interviewed on the red carpet representing your company. Would people who don't watch WWE be more impressed with someone who looks like Roman Reigns or one of the cruiserweight/smaller guys? In ring ability, despite Reigns having some of the best matches over the last few years out of anyone, doesn't define you as a professional wrestler. If you think that's all that matters you have no idea how professional wrestling works.
Hulk Hogan
Stone Cold
The Rock
John Cena
All physically imposing badass looking guys straight out of a comic book. Roman Reigns has the look and despite the IWC's consensus, can put on some hard hitting matches. He's the guy you want on the late shows and being interviewed on the red carpet representing your company. Would people who don't watch WWE be more impressed with someone who looks like Roman Reigns or one of the cruiserweight/smaller guys? In ring ability, despite Reigns having some of the best matches over the last few years out of anyone, doesn't define you as a professional wrestler. If you think that's all that matters you have no idea how professional wrestling works.
Roman Reigns is not a draw.
If Vince is smart, he can definitely make from Gzim Selmani (aka Rezar) the next big thing of WWE. This guy is very young (23 years old, it is billed as 6'4 and 330 lbs (even in recent photos he looks to have much more muscles and to have around 300-310 lbs). He was a MMA guy which record is 4 wins and 2 defeats. He also defeated a former UFC heavyweight fighter named Oli Thompson in 16 seconds. So Rezar is definitely legit as a big fighter.
My opinion is that Rezar needs to be pushed as Lesnar was in 2002. Disband AOP, move him to RAW and make his debut by destroying a ring full of superstars.
Put Paul Heyman next to him and make his promos very interesting. Book him very powerful as Lesnar is right now, give him a good moveset and give him MMA attire.
Also WWE can make him the youngest WWE champion.
What do you think?
If Vince is smart, he can definitely make from Gzim Selmani (aka Rezar) the next big thing of WWE. This guy is very young (23 years old, it is billed as 6'4 and 330 lbs (even in recent photos he looks to have much more muscles and to have around 300-310 lbs). He was a MMA guy which record is 4 wins and 2 defeats. He also defeated a former UFC heavyweight fighter named Oli Thompson in 16 seconds. So Rezar is definitely legit as a big fighter.
My opinion is that Rezar needs to be pushed as Lesnar was in 2002. Disband AOP, move him to RAW and make his debut by destroying a ring full of superstars.
Put Paul Heyman next to him and make his promos very interesting. Book him very powerful as Lesnar is right now, give him a good moveset and give him MMA attire.
Also WWE can make him the youngest WWE champion.
What do you think?
Totally agree he has the look. As a matter of fact he probably has the best look on the roster today. However the problem with Reigns isn't his look or what he does in the ring, it's the fact that he is kind of boring.
All of the people you named in your post have one thing in common, they are charismatic and can talk. They can make you believe that they are the best at what they do and no one can touch them. That is an ability that Reigns doesn't have and it's too his determent.
If Reigns could talk like the Miz or Jericho or any number of others, he'd be gold and no one could touch him, problem is he can't and he's been given a lot of time to learn. It's just not something that comes natural to him, that isn't necessarily his fault. Not everyone is comfortable speaking in front of a crowd and some never will be.
I think the problem isn't that he doesn't have charisma or he's not good at promo's, it's that he's not good at scripted promo's. He a guy that if he was left to his own device and just given bullet point could cut a really good promo. I'very seen him on interviews outside the WWE setting and the guy as tremendous charisma when left to his own device. The problem like many others on the roster is that they can make a scripted promo feel réel because it's not what they would say in real life
What all the great draws had in common was that they we're all able to be themselves. That why their charisma showed thru. If they want him to be the next big draw for them, they really need to unchained him and just let him loose without restrained and scripted promo's. The guy will deliver if he's able to cut his own promo instead of the dumb down Bulls shit they give him every week.
Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.
Kamehamehaaaaa!!
Yeah... we'll talk about in 5 years from now. He's perfect in the position he's in right now.
He'll be alright if he manages to never get into the bodyguard role and just be his own man.
