Why Roman Reigns Was A Good Choice To End 'Taker

[SSJPhenom]

The enigma that is Roman Reigns. For some reason, the fans can't stand him. Why though? I mean, he has the look, he has some charisma, and his matches aren't terrible. So why do the fans hate him so? It's because the WWE has made it painfully obvious that he's the guy they're going with for the future. Reigns is the one chosen by the "Man" not by the fans and that's why he gets such a bad rap. When it comes right down to it, Reigns really isn't all that bad. Yea his booking could be a hell of a lot better, however, the matches and programs that he does have aren't really that awful. I'm consistently entertained by Reigns.

Those are topics and thoughts for another discussion, though. I'm going to tell you why Reigns was a great choice to end the Undertaker's career. It's because Reigns is believable. If it was going to be somebody, it had to be someone who the fans would BELIEVE could beat the Undertaker. Like it or not, Reigns was that guy. Also, like it or not, Reigns is the future of the WWE. Sure he's been getting rub after rub at Wrestlemania after Wrestlemania, but that's how stars are born. Look at the run that Lesnar went on after he defeated the Undertaker's undefeated streak. His very next match he dominated Cena and won the title. Then continued dominating everyone in his path for the next year. The problem that a lot of people have with Reigns booking is that they don't make him out to be the bad ass that he looks to be and that he should be. Well he looked like that bad ass beating 'Taker at 'Mania. Hopefully, they start making Reigns more serious and vicious after his 'Taker match.

Like it or not, though, Reigns was a great choice to be the one to beat and end the Undertaker.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Reigns sells. That's the only thing that matters. Reports say that he's the #1 merch seller and nobody comes close to him. And how can they? Besides Cena, Styles, Orton, Triple H, Reigns and Lesnar the rest of the roster seems like an upper midcard pool.

Out of all these guys only Reigns is the future.

If it wasn't Reigns, it was going to be somebody else anyways. Reigns just happened to be the most popular superstar at the moment. And the thing is that Reigns hasn't reached his peak yet. He just keeps growing and growing, in the ring, in popularity and in every other aspect.

Very few people are doing this in the WWE. Reigns and Styles are doing it fast. Rollins and Owens are doing it slower. Wyatt has stayed the same ever since WM 30. Ambrose also stayed steady after WM 32.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Yeah, Roman Reigns was the best and the only choice for it.

I'm glad the WWE has chosen Reigns as their Guy. I wouldn't mind if they built Seth Rollins up as an equal, albeit as a smaller-sized more athletic guy. Sort of like how Rock and Austin were the top two megastars. Or Bret and Shawn.

It's ironic how over the years I used to read people here and in the comments section discard Roman Reigns as "the least talented" of the Shield members, when in reality, he had perhaps the most potential(or Seth Rollins, or both), and Dean Ambrose was the least talented.

Some people still say that. But look at Dean Ambrose. He generates mild pops wrapped up in indifference as to his feuds, matches and career. Ambrose-Jericho wasn't awesome, and Ambrose-Lesnar sucked. No Dean Ambrose threads pop up either.

With that being said, Reigns is going to be a huge success in the WWE for years to come. The monday night Raw opening segment is evidence for that.

If anything, Seth Rollins seems to be two steps down to Roman Reigns.

I'm a huge Seth Rollins fan so I want both of them to succeed and be huge stars, even on the same show for the major part of their careers, considering there are two brands now.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't really have any problems with it being Reigns that ultimately retired Taker. Much like the ending of the streak, however, I do think it was a missed opportunity in some ways because I don't think that Reigns will get as much out of it in the eyes of fans as Vince seems to hope he does. After all, it's been obvious for a long while that Vince is in love with the guy and pushed him hard almost from the beginning of the end of the Shield and he's already been a 3 time WWE Champion, Tag Team Champion and United States Champion. If Reigns hadn't been given such dominant pushes, or so many, I think his win over Taker would've registered more in the eyes of fans as Reigns being "the future" because we've already known that for a few years now.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Believability? Meh. Taker is 52 and looks pretty shitty. There are many guys on the roster who could reasonably beat him. I think Charlotte and Nia could reasonably beat him.

The right guy to retire him is the guy who will make the most of it. Paul Heyman made the most out of Lesnar breaking The Streak. WWE did an entertaining and interesting thing with Reigns on Monday. Hopefully they will continue that progression. That being said, there are other guys that could make this work. It didn't and doesn't have to be Reigns. He may turn out to be a good choice or the even the best choice but it all depends on what WWE does going forward.

 

[ilapierre]

Roman Reigns was a good choice because had James Ellsworth retired Undertaker then he would generate 20 times more heat..and everyone would realize WWE-prized investment Roman Reigns can't draw shit..

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Reigns is the future of WWE so i get why vince convince Taker the let Reigns face him and ultimately beat him in his last match at mania. The fun thing with this was that because of it, Reigns pretty much became the most over guy in the company just by how much heat he got with the fans the following night. I was watching that segment and you finally saw what Vince saw in him 2 years ago when he started to get behind him. The guy pretty much played that crowd like a fiddle and milked that heat until it was the perfect time to deliver his line. I even saw him mouth the words, ''i got them eaten out of my hand'' at one point during the segment.

That victory did more for him then any other things they did before and if they continue like that, by mania next year, they got their next super megastar.

 

[legendkiller1979]

Well I'll be damned. People actually being objective about the Reigns situation. The whole setup and match with Undertaker and Reigns played out perfectly. Hats off the taker for "passing the torch". What better way to solidify Reigns as "the guy"than having him defeat taker at Wrestlemania. It's already been said that Reigns is a money machine. The fact that he gets booed out of nearly every building is irrelevant. He is making money, that's the end game in any business. People bitch and moan about Reigns, but as long as they keep spending money to get into the arena to boo, then it doesn't matter. It's the young fans that the WWE needs to be aware of. And the young fans like Roman Reigns. The other fans who boo and complain on various forums should be of no concern to anyone at WWE. They aren't going anywhere. I00t's been said before, as long as you are getting a reaction form the people, you are doing something right. Good or bad, Reigns gets a reaction. People can either like it or move on. People aren't gonig to move on because then they would have nothing to complain about.

 

[Radical]

Reigns beating Undertaker at Mania will have been a good choice if this massive heat Reigns now has means fans still tune in because they want to see Reigns be defeated (probably way down the road) by somebody they actually like (and 'picked').

The downside will be is if Reigns beating Undertaker causes a significant amount of viewers to tune out, not be subscribed to the Network, not buy merchandise and not go do shows. That's where a decision like this would hurt WWE, in their financial statement, because that's ultimately what their measuring stick is.

I don't know what the WWE Network subscription count is at right now. Last time I heard it's hovering around 1.5 - 2 million subscribers. It would be interesting to know where it is at now and where it will be at, say, by SummerSlam.

I don't think Vince really cares all too much about TV ratings these days as they have stayed pretty much the same for the last 5 years or so. Unless they drop off drastically it won't change how the show is written or presented.

 

[Bruno's Sanctimony]

The enigma that is Roman Reigns. For some reason, the fans can't stand him. Why though? I mean, he has the look, he has some charisma, and his matches aren't terrible. So why do the fans hate him so? It's because the WWE has made it painfully obvious that he's the guy they're going with for the future. Reigns is the one chosen by the "Man" not by the fans and that's why he gets such a bad rap. When it comes right down to it, Reigns really isn't all that bad. Yea his booking could be a hell of a lot better, however, the matches and programs that he does have aren't really that awful. I'm consistently entertained by Reigns.

Those are topics and thoughts for another discussion, though. I'm going to tell you why Reigns was a great choice to end the Undertaker's career. It's because Reigns is believable. If it was going to be somebody, it had to be someone who the fans would BELIEVE could beat the Undertaker. Like it or not, Reigns was that guy. Also, like it or not, Reigns is the future of the WWE. Sure he's been getting rub after rub at Wrestlemania after Wrestlemania, but that's how stars are born. Look at the run that Lesnar went on after he defeated the Undertaker's undefeated streak. His very next match he dominated Cena and won the title. Then continued dominating everyone in his path for the next year. The problem that a lot of people have with Reigns booking is that they don't make him out to be the bad ass that he looks to be and that he should be. Well he looked like that bad ass beating 'Taker at 'Mania. Hopefully, they start making Reigns more serious and vicious after his 'Taker match.

Like it or not, though, Reigns was a great choice to be the one to beat and end the Undertaker.

If you remember the 2014 Royal Rumble; that's where Reigns really began building his bonafides as a solo "player" for the future.
Had 'E let that momentum continue to build naturally, Reigns could have been Austin/Rock level "white hot" by now.
Instead, in 2015, they tried to transparently shotgun him past a returning, and "white hot" at the time, Daniel Bryan and his unresolved WWE Championship storyline.
'E blew their load pushing Reigns ahead of his pay grade, and past the fan's choice of 'they guy', because they weren't sure if Lesnar was going to re-sign after WM 31.
So, there are several factors at play. But it comes down to pushing Reigns and stepping on Bryan to do it.

That's why Reigns has the heat he does.

(Edited to complete butchered sentence)

 

[Bruno's Sanctimony]

Incidentally, I think Reigns is where he should be in 2017. It was his unfortunate booking in early 2015, however, that leads to the heat he's getting now, though.

 

[OYDK]

Reigns was a good choice to retire Taker because he's going to be pushed as the future no matter what. Anybody that's going to be pushed as the 1A guy going forward should probably get that rub because there's nothing that anyone can do right now that's bigger than retiring the Undertaker, other than maybe beating Lesnar clean. Of course, Reigns is also going to beat Brock clean eventually, people will boo, and Reigns fans will say "look at the reaction! Nobody generates a reaction like that!"

Roman Reigns has been much better this past year than he was when they first started pushing him as the next face of the company. They're playing to his strengths, mostly that means letting him come off as an arrogant douchebag instead of trying to portray him as the John Cena everyman. As long as he can continue to work the crowd, he'll come off looking like gold like he did on Monday.

 

[Punk_Aries_Daniels_Bryan]

Here's my two cents on the matter:

Firstly,
Undertaker is, and always has been an extremely loyal employee for Vince and the WWE. So we can thank the fact that he didn't have a massive ego like Nash, Hogan and Goldberg to play politics and choose who to lose to. Granted, he was given a huge payoff (career-wise) for his loyalty and that he paid his dues, but nonetheless, he had no problem having the streak broken in the first place by Lesnar.

Here's the difference between Lesnar and Reigns: Regardless of the fact that Lesnar is a more believable and established SUPERSTAR than Reigns, Lesnar went into the match as a loved heel. Yes, granted that crowds nowadays like to cheer for heels, but Lesnar was booed going OUT of the match. Reigns was booed going INTO the match and booed going OUT of the match. Had he done this as a heel (be it a cheating, cowardly heel or a brash, cocky and bully-like heel) it would have made more sense. However, Reigns is still being billed as a face. AND NO, it doesn't matter that he is already a heel to the fans; he is still a character involved in a story, and must play a part of either a hero or villain.

Undertaker most likely has wrestled his last match, and it won't be iconic. It'll be against a man who is currently the most hated on the roster. YES, I can see how WWE is in desperate need of big stars as part-timers are unreliable and Cena is most likely in his final years in WWE, but truth be told, Reigns didn't need the win against Undertaker. In fact, he'd be booked as the top guy regardless of his victory, and unless an injury holds him back, will be holding a singles title around or directly after SummerSlam (in my opinion, it'll be Reigns vs Lesnar for the title, and Lesnar is dropping the strap).

I don't believe the streak should have ever been broken. If I had to choose from his past opponents, it would have been CM Punk, only due to the fact that it would have been a great way to wrap up his phenomenal WWE year (by which I mean the WWE story year starts the RAW after Mania and ends at the next Mania) and would have truly been the biggest heel in WWE. My second choice would have been Bray Wyatt.

However, if we are looking at current stars he didn't face, the list would look something like this (not in particular order or rank):

AJ Styles - hottest star of this past year; what better way to establish him as the new Face that runs the place?

Finn Balor - Yes, Finn can make it look believable too. Gimmick wise, it would sell.

Braun Strowman - A legitimate monster heel (but he might accidentally kill Old Taker in a match)

It's hard to believe reports stating that Reigns sells the most in merchandise considering the hate he gets, but whatever. He isn't all that. He really isn't.

 

[JoeMallard]

Roman Reigns is the only star Vince and his beaver friend gives two shits about.

 

[TDFG]

It was a good choice.

Roman Reigns is effectively the man who retired The Undertaker. That is huge and something he'll have stick to him for the rest of his career.

So what if he goes heel for a while, it's done many others no harm down the years and keeps their careers and characters fresh and interesting.

A heel Reigns vs Rollins, Zayn etc. is fine, somewhere down the line they will turn him face again for him to be the poster boy of the company for many years to come.

Out of the roster, Reigns was the best selection.

 

[ShinChan]

Something I want to point out.

Some said that except for Cena, Reigns, Undertaker, Styles, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, all feel like upper midcard talents?

Can you tell why Reigns is the only one out of new talent with exception being Styles? Because he has been getting bigger and bigger wins. Just see Styles. In just one year, he went from where to where? How? He got three wins over John Cena in just an year. That's how you build it.

You can't expect Dean Ambrose to be like Cena or Reigns when he's getting squashed by Brock Lesnar. It's just like WWE or rather Vince is hell bent on giving every possible rub to Roman Reigns. Like John Cena v2.0?

Don't just keep giving every rub to a single person or you'll suffer the most. He wasn't the right choice, that's it.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I am not sure this is the end of the Undertaker. I mean, the retirement Match for the Undertaker at a WM is a huge event. It should surely have a build up and hype that will push a buy rate up for WM or the subscription to the network. If this was Takers last ever match - I hope that Reigns comes good. He has been pushed too hard too fast and the fans rejected him. Turning him heel now could be a good thing. If that goes well, and RR becomes a huge face one day, then yes he was the right guy for Takers last match.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I don't really have any problems with it being Reigns that ultimately retired Taker. Much like the ending of the streak, however, I do think it was a missed opportunity in some ways because I don't think that Reigns will get as much out of it in the eyes of fans as Vince seems to hope he does. After all, it's been obvious for a long while that Vince is in love with the guy and pushed him hard almost from the beginning of the end of the Shield and he's already been a 3 time WWE Champion, Tag Team Champion and United States Champion. If Reigns hadn't been given such dominant pushes, or so many, I think his win over Taker would've registered more in the eyes of fans as Reigns being "the future" because we've already known that for a few years now.

You make a good point here.

I would have preferred if Taker still had the Streak, and not lost it at WMXXX. I have always thought that the Streak should be ended by someone who can be elevated because of it, and become a "star". Having Brock end it didn't elevate anyone.

I think Roman would have more become "the Man" if it had been him who ended the Streak on Sunday. I know people would have hated that, but at least he would get a mega-push out of it.

The only drawback was if the Streak was ended last Sunday, rather than WMXXX, it would have become a bigger deal and taken away from Undertaker saying goodbye.

 

[d_henderson1810]

If you remember the 2014 Royal Rumble; that's where Reigns really began building his bonafides as a solo "player" for the future.
Had 'E let that momentum continue to build naturally, Reigns could have been Austin/Rock level "white hot" by now.
Instead, in 2015, they tried to transparently shotgun him past a returning, and "white hot" at the time, Daniel Bryan and his unresolved WWE Championship storyline.
'E blew their load pushing Reigns ahead of his pay grade, and past the fan's choice of 'they guy', because they weren't sure if Lesnar was going to re-sign after WM 31.
So, there are several factors at play. But it comes down to pushing Reigns and stepping on Bryan to do it.

That's why Reigns has the heat he does.

(Edited to complete butchered sentence)

I think you have this wrong here.

Roman didn't win the Rumble until 2015, one year after Daniel Bryan's run.

In 2014 Rumble, Reigns went out last to Batista. Fans actually wanted Reigns to win, rather than Batista.

WWE pushed Batista past Bryan, and the fans rebelled. At WMXXX, Roman was still with the Shield, and they beat Kane and The New Age Outlaws, so the Shield guys hadn't even go their solo pushes yet.

The next year, Roman won the Rumble, and headlined WM31. Bryan won the IC belt in a multi-man ladder match. Look it up. So, Roman's push HAD NOTHING to do with stepping on Bryan's toes, as Bryan got injured, and didn't win the belt again even before the Shield broke up.

However, don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I think you have this wrong here.

Roman didn't win the Rumble until 2015, one year after Daniel Bryan's run.

In 2014 Rumble, Reigns went out last to Batista. Fans actually wanted Reigns to win, rather than Batista.

WWE pushed Batista past Bryan, and the fans rebelled. At WMXXX, Roman was still with the Shield, and they beat Kane and The New Age Outlaws, so the Shield guys hadn't even go their solo pushes yet.

The next year, Roman won the Rumble, and headlined WM31. Bryan won the IC belt in a multi-man ladder match. Look it up. So, Roman's push HAD NOTHING to do with stepping on Bryan's toes, as Bryan got injured, and didn't win the belt again even before the Shield broke up.

However, don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

I think I meant that fans wanted bryan to win the rumble in 2015 and face lesnar at mania since he had to relinquished the title the year prior, instead they just had bryan been a meaninless elimination in the rumble in favor of giving reigns the big push and try to get reigns over the following month by having face bryan at fastlane which did the opposite because fans wanted to see bryan wins over reigns.

Looking back know, I get why they step over bryan's push to start roman's push but, it reallu wasn't smart on their part to have roman beat bryan a month before mania especially considering what they did at mania.

 

[Navi]

Looking back know, I get why they step over bryan's push to start roman's push but, it reallu wasn't smart on their part to have roman beat bryan a month before mania especially considering what they did at mania.

They have made glaring mistakes with Roman Reigns and what you say here is one of them. There is no reason to really stop someone's push in order to push someone else. Now keep in mind I'm not a Daniel Bryan fan, but he has many out there. The first thing you don't do is hold back the obvious fan favourite in favour of someone else. That just spells disaster for the other guy.

I'm sure if they had really known the extent of Bryan's injuries it would have ended differently, but it didn't. That was the beginning of the backlash towards Reigns and it hasn't let up since. It wouldn't have killed them to push both of them at the same time. Fans who weren't into Bryan would have gravitated towards Reigns, but that's not how it ended up.

As for was he the right choice, simple answer is no-one was the right choice. I'm a firm believer that the Undertaker should have retired with the streak intact. That was one record that would never have been broken and it should have stayed that way. Records are meant to be broken but I would have been quite happy to see this one stand. Lesnar didn't need the rub, Reigns didn't either. Reigns will get it from Cena down the line.

 

[Chicago1989]

I feel that after watching the Reigns/Undertaker match, Roman Reigns has earned my respect. Besides John Cena, Roman Reigns was the right choice to be Undertaker's last opponent. It's either one of those two, but long term-wise, Roman made more sense.

At the end of the day, Roman Reigns is a hell of an athlete, carries himself well, can put on good matches, and is a draw. Whether we like it or not, it's his yard now and it's just a fact. I can't hate on the guy for doing his part well in the match and doing what he said he was going to do.

It was time for Undertaker to retire and Roman Reigns was the right guy at the right time. All this hating on Roman Reigns now just seems to be bandwagon hate. He's going to be a big part of the WWE for a long time and the haters just need to deal with it.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I feel that after watching the Reigns/Undertaker match, Roman Reigns has earned my respect. Besides John Cena, Roman Reigns was the right choice to be Undertaker's last opponent. It's either one of those two, but long term-wise, Roman made more sense.

At the end of the day, Roman Reigns is a hell of an athlete, carries himself well, can put on good matches, and is a draw. Whether we like it or not, it's his yard now and it's just a fact. I can't hate on the guy for doing his part well in the match and doing what he said he was going to do.

It was time for Undertaker to retire and Roman Reigns was the right guy at the right time. All this hating on Roman Reigns now just seems to be bandwagon hate. He's going to be a big part of the WWE for a long time and the haters just need to deal with it.

I know exactly what it is.

It is the absolute arrogance of the IWC haters on here.

You see, they hate Cena and hate Roman, because it wasn't the fans' choice. The fans think that they know everything, and Vince knows nothing (despite him running a multi-billion dollar company for over forty years, and them never running one). Everyone's an expert.

The fans want what they want, and are too inflexible to accept anyone else. They cheered Roman, until he got a solo push, and the moment that happened, they booed him, because it wasn't "their choice".

They cheered Austin because they "chose" Austin. They "chose" the Rock. They chose "C.M. Punk", they "chose" Daniel Bryan. The fans expect to say "jump" and have Vince ask "How high?".

The fans think they know everything. Many of them actually don't like wrestling, they just like going along with crowds. They want to pick the top star, even if it is the wrong person to headline Wrestlemania or sell seats.

So it won't change until many people here know their role, and realise that the wrestling world doesn't revolve around them.

 

[Glacier]

Next year it could be Undertaker vs. Mick Foley in one last match for
each- the Battle of the Hips.

And Ole JR could call it just like he did years ago.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Next year it could be Undertaker vs. Mick Foley in one last match for
each- the Battle of the Hips.

And Ole JR could call it just like he did years ago.

The stip will be a "Bionic Hip On A Pole" Match.