At what point do we admit it..?

[That N Word]

At what point do we quit fooling ourselves and recognize the fact that he (Roman Reigns) is the New Face of the WWE?

Yeah that stings right? To some I may sound even dumbfounded. But truth in the matter is by now he is. With Cena now in semi-retirement and Roman now replacing Cena in almost everything it's safe to say he's THE Guy.

Whether fans wants to admit it,whether any of us wants to admit it he's THE Guy. By now almost everybody knows who Roman Reigns is. When he's doing posterboy stuff like the stuff with Make A Wish, Tribute To The Troops,Selling merch the way he does who else can really fit that title. Not to mention majority of children love him more than anybody else on the roster and sees him as their "hero."

When mainstream media outlets talk WWE they talk about mainly Roman Reigns or John Cena. When you see WWE commercials who's featured? Roman Reigns,WWE Posters? Roman Reigns.

Some may say AJ Styles? But come on anybody with a brain know that's just a storyline. Yes, Styles may be the Face of SmackDown...But it takes a helluva lot more to be the Face of the entire company. At which point do fans wake up and admit this?

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Eh. Maybe some day. Yes, he's in commercials and doing Make A Wish, but so do several other wrestlers. They obviously wanted him to be at one point. Maybe they still do, but there's no doubt they've pulled the reins a little bit on that. The biggest problem is their lack of options.

Rollins, probably their best alternative, might've ended his possibilities a few years ago with certain pictures. You know WWE doesn't want kids to Google him and find those. Plus he's also had injuries that, if repeated, could shorten/end his career at any moment. Either way, they're a long road to recovery. He's really young though, so he still has time.
Styles is too old.
Ambrose is missing something. Plus his character doesn't really have a "face of the company" style to it.
Zayn possibly if he could pull off a DB sort of backing.
I like KO, but realistically, do you think WWE would make him face of the company?
Maybe they were going to pursue it with Balor (and they still could), but he got injured so fast, who knows?

Anyone else have any realistic possibilities?

I said realistic.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

I know I'm a Roman Reigns guy! (Of course, I'm also a consummate beautiful women's guy, but that's another story!)

I've even applied to be known as "Romanfreakinreigns". Wonder when the moderator will cause it to happen!

I can agree that he slowly is cementing his spot as "The guy" and Face of the company as a whole, implicit in which is the fact that he comes across as a genuinely likable, humble , good person(just like The Rock), and is a great role model for kids, teenagers and adults alike.

What really matters is that Roman Reigns has "it", a complete package. He has the looks, the in-ring ability to perform excellent matches with diverse performers, pretty decent on the mic too I'd say.

I'd be very happy the day Reigns wins the Universal title, because I'm just bored of Kevin Owens. I was a huge KO fan, but now I'm not.

Roman Reigns is the Guy, Seth Rollins is the Man! And any time those two are in the title picture is a great time!

May be many will try to deny it, using any number of arguments, but Roman Reigns really could be, the next poster boy, if he already isn't. (Like I said, I don't really care about the merchandise sales and kids and all that, so I have no idea. )

Besides, who really is there? AJ Styles is a great wrestler and has quite a personality to him, but for the face of the company, I'm not so sure. Same goes about the Kevin Owens', Dolph Zigglers', Dean Ambroses and Finn Balors.

There really isn't anyone else. Roman Reigns has a bright future! May be Seth can be too, but I'm not so sure.
If anything, Reigns deserves admiration from and acknowledgement as one of the better performers from more adult fans.

 

[OYDK]

He's the face of the WWE in the sense that they plaster his face everywhere. He's a good-looking guy, there's no doubt about it, and any chance WWE gets to put his mug front and center, they take that chance more often than not. Still, I'd argue he's not the definitive face of the company and he's not the definitive face of the product as of yet. As Fire Marshall Bill said, in regards to Make-A-Wish, promotional videos, etc., sure he takes part in it, but so does everybody else. If I'm not mistaken, Rollins has actually appeared on more mainstream talk shows than Roman Reigns has. He's been just as active outside the company as Roman has. And Rollins has also been involved in the WWE title picture just as consistently as Reigns has since the Shield split and has gotten the best of him on most occasions.

I'd say as of right now, Reigns and Rollins share the burden of the "face of the company" label similar to how Orton, Cena, and Batista did before Cena clearly became the number one. Whichever one ends up as the man going forward is still completely up in the air as far as I'm concerned.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Cena is still the face of the company, the number one guy. The guy people will relate to WWE that is a somewhat active roster member. Reigns may not even be in the top five. I would definitely put Lesnar over him. Charlotte and Sasha should be above him as well. Ambrose and Miz and Orton are probably more synonymous with WWE. I forgot about Jericho. HHH, Vince, Shane, DB, and Foley are above him if you want to talk about non-wrestlers. I wouldn't put the whole cast of Total Divas above him but definitely Nikki Bella.

Roman is fine. But he is nowhere near the face of the company. Maybe there is no face right, there certainly doesn't have to be. Roman just lacks a personality that screams face of the company. It also looks like he tucks his pants in to his boots so that is working against him. The guy is barely carrying much of Raw besides a few clearly written words, a couple of snears, and then a decent to good match. Look at how much on screen time is going to Owens, Jericho, New Day, and Enzo and Cass in comparison to Reigns. Cena rarely got less time when he was around.

You could make a better argument that there is no face over Roman being the face. He just isn't.

 

[Navi]

At what point do we quit fooling ourselves and recognize the fact that he (Roman Reigns) is the New Face of the WWE?

I've been watching professional wrestling for over 30 years now, actually more than that, and never in my life have I seen people get so pissed off because other people don't like their hero, Roman Reigns. It's okay not to like Daniel Bryan, he's a nerd, right. And others, but to dislike Roman Reigns, well, it's like you just killed a kitten or something. Let me tell you what I think of Roman Reigns. It's not going to be popular but I'm beyond giving a shit as these threads pop up every couple of weeks.

Roman Reigns pisses me off to no end. I'm sick and tired of looking at him, having him in every almost every main event match on every RAW and most PPV's in two years, is making me want to throw up. He has been shoved so far down our throats, that when you open your mouths all you see is the soles of his feel.

Is he good in the ring, at times yes. Good looking, sure why not. Horrible on the mic, that's a true statement right there. Has charisma, no fucking way, none whatsoever. He's just not as good as those blinded by his looks.

The crowds have made it clear that they don't like him for whatever reason's they have, the WWE have just steamrolled right over it and pushed him anyway. So let him be champ, let him be champ forever. Make a new belt that says "Roman Reign - King of the WWE". Make everyone else fight till the end of time for the IC and US titles. I'll watch the blue brand, or whatever one he's not on and be happy.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There seem to be a lot of "you're either with us or against us" extreme positions when it comes to discussions on Roman Reigns; if you like the guy, then some go out of their way to belittle you as though you have some hopeless man-crush but if you don't gush all over him, then you despise the ground he walks on and you're just a hater. There's so little in the way of middle ground when it comes to Reigns that talk of his future in WWE is almost a parody of itself.

Here's the way I look at Roman Reigns. I think the guy's okay. He's far from being the worst I've ever seen and he's far from being the best I've ever seen. He has enough overall ability to tie everything together good enough to where I'm not embarrassed to watch him anymore; at least Vince was able to realize his mistake of having Reigns utilize the catchphrases of Looney Toon characters so as not to repeat them but, at the same time, I'm of the opinion that Vince has still made many more mistakes with Reigns that he still hasn't corrected.

I don't see Roman Reigns being accepted, ever, as the way Vince hopes for by a significant number of fans. That's not to say he can't be successful, or won't be successful, but the odds are stacked against Reigns being lauded by fans as WWE's next superhero because A. many resent Reigns being pushed to the main event before he was ready, which is an opinion shared by many, including myself, and B. they're burned out on the nigh invincible superhero who overcomes all the odds no matter what. It's a formula WWE used ad nauseam with John Cena for years, sometimes to the detriment of the viability of the roster as a whole, and one that'd been stale for a long time.

Roman Reigns has improved a good deal since he's been out of the main event picture. Now, is that because Reigns has improved in areas where he needs work or is it because he's in a spot that's more conducive to his abilities? Personally, I feel that it's a little bit of both. Reigns carries himself with more confidence and he's not out there trying to be all cute & silly on the mic but he's also someone that I don't see being able to hold the attention or interest of fans in long promos without someone else out there with him to play off of.

Right now, Roman Reigns is NOT the face of WWE. As others have said, sure he's used in promos for Make A Wish and all that but not remotely to the same extent and degree as Cena has been and there are a lot of others also being featured in those ads as well that get just as much airtime as he does. Aside from John Cena, there's no singular, definitive face of WWE and I hope that's the way it continues. Putting nearly all of his collective eggs in the John Cena basket is something that's bitten Vince in the ass more than once and if you look at the rest of professional wrestling, I think it's fairly obvious that a good many fans would rather see a roster full of wrestlers with the built up credibility that's able to step up into a main event slot instead of it mostly being centered on one single guy. Again, that's all part of the formula used on Cena that many are burned out on and sick of.

Unless he does something to earn heat for whatever reason, including another Wellness Policy violation, Reigns will be among the top guys in WWE for much of the next decade. But if it ultimately did come down to WWE having one, single, definitive face of the company, I just don't see it with Reigns. Some may think of him as the heir apparent to John Cena, that's all well and good, but the simple fact of the matter is that John Cena leaves some extremely big shoes to fill and I'm of the opinion that Reigns simply isn't the guy to fill 'em.

 

[OYDK]

Unless he does something to earn heat for whatever reason, including another Wellness Policy violation, Reigns will be among the top guys in WWE for much of the next decade. But if it ultimately did come down to WWE having one, single, definitive face of the company, I just don't see it with Reigns. Some may think of him as the heir apparent to John Cena, that's all well and good, but the simple fact of the matter is that Cena has some very big shoes to fill and I'm of the opinion that Reigns simply isn't the guy to fill 'em.

I agree with most everything you said and I also agree with this to a certain degree. The way I see it however, is that WWE will never let go of the idea of making Reigns the face of their company. Sure they took him out of the World (or Universal) title picture for a while but even as US champ, he was the one closing shows, not Kevin Owens. And look where he is now; fighting for the top title once again even though he's holding the US championship. Who else did that not too long ago? John Cena.

I personally don't think Roman has the natural skill to be the true face of the company. I doubt he'll ever come close to the heights that Cena reached and there are better options on the roster than Roman Reigns. All that being said, the guy's going to get pushed to the top no matter what. I think we all need to accept that fact. It's been proven time and time again for the past 3 years now.

The question isn't whether Roman Reigns has the skill to be the face of the company, he doesn't. That might not be a proven fact, but it might as well be for anybody not deluded by his looks. The question is whether WWE will make him their face despite his deficiencies, despite the crowd reaction, despite everything. And unfortunately, it's blatantly obvious that they are already grooming him for that spot once John Cena officially calls it quits.

 

[Noshowers]

There seem to be a lot of "you're either with us or against us" extreme positions when it comes to discussions on Roman Reigns; if you like the guy, then some go out of their way to belittle you as though you have some hopeless man-crush but if you don't gush all over him, then you despise the ground he walks on and you're just a hater. There's so little in the way of middle ground when it comes to Reigns that talk of his future in WWE is almost a parody of itself.

Here's the way I look at Roman Reigns. I think the guy's okay. He's far from being the worst I've ever seen and he's far from being the best I've ever seen. He has enough overall ability to tie everything together good enough to where I'm not embarrassed to watch him anymore; at least Vince was able to realize his mistake of having Reigns utilize the catchphrases of Looney Toon characters so as not to repeat them but, at the same time, I'm of the opinion that Vince has still made many more mistakes with Reigns that he still hasn't corrected.

I don't see Roman Reigns being accepted, ever, as the way Vince hopes for by a significant number of fans. That's not to say he can't be successful, or won't be successful, but the odds are stacked against Reigns being lauded by fans as WWE's next superhero because A. many resent Reigns being pushed to the main event before he was ready, which is an opinion shared by many, including myself, and B. they're burned out on the nigh invincible superhero who overcomes all the odds no matter what. It's a formula WWE used ad nauseam with John Cena for years, sometimes to the detriment of the viability of the roster as a whole, and one that'd been stale for a long time.

Roman Reigns has improved a good deal since he's been out of the main event picture. Now, is that because Reigns has improved in areas where he needs work or is it because he's in a spot that's more conducive to his abilities? Personally, I feel that it's a little bit of both. Reigns carries himself with more confidence and he's not out there trying to be all cute & silly on the mic but he's also someone that I don't see being able to hold the attention or interest of fans in long promos without someone else out there with him to play off of.

Right now, Roman Reigns is NOT the face of WWE. As others have said, sure he's used in promos for Make A Wish and all that but not remotely to the same extent and degree as Cena has been and there are a lot of others also being featured in those ads as well that get just as much airtime as he does. Aside from John Cena, there's no singular, definitive face of WWE and I hope that's the way it continues. Putting nearly all of his collective eggs in the John Cena basket is something that's bitten Vince in the ass more than once and if you look at the rest of professional wrestling, I think it's fairly obvious that a good many fans would rather see a roster full of wrestlers with the built up credibility that's able to step up into a main event slot instead of it mostly being centered on one single guy. Again, that's all part of the formula used on Cena that many are burned out on and sick of.

Unless he does something to earn heat for whatever reason, including another Wellness Policy violation, Reigns will be among the top guys in WWE for much of the next decade. But if it ultimately did come down to WWE having one, single, definitive face of the company, I just don't see it with Reigns. Some may think of him as the heir apparent to John Cena, that's all well and good, but the simple fact of the matter is that Cena has some very big shoes to fill and I'm of the opinion that Reigns simply isn't the guy to fill 'em.

I agree with all of this here and also have a little extra to provide.

To me at least, Roman has the look of a heel. He looks like a cocky arrogant bad guy. He looks entitled. When he is sarcastic in his promos he sounds like he is making fun of people including the fans. He is like the jock football player in high school that the teachers love cause he is such a good kid but gives the underclassmen wedgies in the hallway.

That is part of the look I see along with the tattoos and muscles. He is a natural heel and with his reaction he gets more heat then almsot anyone this past decade, almost as much heat as Muhammad Hassan. Imagine how crazy the crowd would go if Finn Balor or Sami Zayn or Rollins beat him at next years Wrestlemania for the belt? Would be huge in my opinion.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

There seem to be a lot of "you're either with us or against us" extreme positions when it comes to discussions on Roman Reigns; if you like the guy, then some go out of their way to belittle you as though you have some hopeless man-crush but if you don't gush all over him, then you despise the ground he walks on and you're just a hater. There's so little in the way of middle ground when it comes to Reigns that talk of his future in WWE is almost a parody of itself.

In professional sport there is a term "you either love the guy or hate it" (or like in our own Navi case loved it then hate it ). Usually describes top guy who is so good that you either love his work and accomplishments or hate his guts because of the things he does inside or outside of what sport he does. F1 Schumacher is one example. Christiano Ronaldo and Messi are another. Tom Brady is another example. You can go even further and expand it to entertainment. Look at Kim K.

Not saying that Roman is that great because even WWE knows that he isnt. Just that he is maybe only one on the roster who has that strain that causes that kind of reaction. For that he is on the level of Cena, HHH and other greats who can cause similar reaction. That is why maybe he is pushed that hard, because if you look at that reaction he is maybe most over person on roster.

 

[Navi]

In professional sport there is a term "you either love the guy or hate it" (or like in our own Navi case loved it then hate it ). Usually describes top guy who is so good that you either love his work and accomplishments or hate his guts because of the things he does inside or outside of what sport he does. F1 Schumacher is one example. Christiano Ronaldo and Messi are another. Tom Brady is another example. You can go even further and expand it to entertainment. Look at Kim K.

Not saying that Roman is that great because even WWE knows that he isnt. Just that he is maybe only one on the roster who has that strain that causes that kind of reaction. For that he is on the level of Cena, HHH and other greats who can cause similar reaction. That is why maybe he is pushed that hard, because if you look at that reaction he is maybe most over person on roster.

I liked him when he was part of the Shield because I like the Shield as a whole. Still do. I still like Rollins, getting a little tired of Ambrose and his wackiness though. Reigns was not the standout or the star of the Shield, he was the good looking silent guy who stood in the background. The other two clearly overshadowed him on the mic and did most of the ring work during a match.

Don't hate Reigns either, don't know the guy personally, just tired of his character and the way he's been front and centre for the better part of 3 years. I don't remember a time when the WWE went this far to push a guy and not have it work. As JH said, now he's the US title holder and he's also fighting for the Universal title this weekend. It's pretty obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that Owens is just a placeholder until Reigns can claim the title back from him. So like I said above, just give him the title and be done with it. Have everyone else feud for second place.

Oh and when I'm at a show and he does come out I say nothing, don't boo or cheer. Notice a lot of people doing the same thing. The women and kids love him, men not so much. He might the "The Guy" to some, others don't have the same opinion.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I liked him when he was part of the Shield because I like the Shield as a whole. Still do. I still like Rollins, getting a little tired of Ambrose and his wackiness though. Reigns was not the standout or the star of the Shield, he was the good looking silent guy who stood in the background. The other two clearly overshadowed him on the mic and did most of the ring work during a match.

Don't hate Reigns either, don't know the guy personally, just tired of his character and the way he's been front and centre for the better part of 3 years. I don't remember a time when the WWE went this far to push a guy and not have it work. As JH said, now he's the US title holder and he's also fighting for the Universal title this weekend. It's pretty obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that Owens is just a placeholder until Reigns can claim the title back from him. So like I said above, just give him the title and be done with it. Have everyone else feud for second place.

Oh and when I'm at a show and he does come out I say nothing, don't boo or cheer. Notice a lot of people doing the same thing. The women and kids love him, men not so much. He might the "The Guy" to some, others don't have the same opinion.

There's some real bitterness in there. Reminds me of that thread "when did wrestling make you irrationally upset?" I received comments regarding my reply that it's professional wrestling. It should never really upset you.

And anyway, you're blatantly wrong in saying Reigns wasn't the standout star. Who did they cheer when he went toe to toe with Bray Wyatt? (Going to say that moment isn't memorable?) Big Show? Just about anyone who went toe to toe 1v1 against the SHIELD? I'll give you two hints: it wasn't Rollins or Ambrose. It doesn't work as well with them, because they're just not as imposing. When he was SHIELD he didn't have to talk much. He was basically pushed how he should be. It made him shine.

Just because you're clearly upset about Reigns' direction since SHIELD, doesn't mean you can blatantly make shit up.

 

[wwetnafan2k15]

I liked him when he was part of the Shield because I like the Shield as a whole. Still do. I still like Rollins, getting a little tired of Ambrose and his wackiness though. Reigns was not the standout or the star of the Shield, he was the good looking silent guy who stood in the background. The other two clearly overshadowed him on the mic and did most of the ring work during a match.

Don't hate Reigns either, don't know the guy personally, just tired of his character and the way he's been front and centre for the better part of 3 years. I don't remember a time when the WWE went this far to push a guy and not have it work. As JH said, now he's the US title holder and he's also fighting for the Universal title this weekend. It's pretty obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that Owens is just a placeholder until Reigns can claim the title back from him. So like I said above, just give him the title and be done with it. Have everyone else feud for second place.

Oh and when I'm at a show and he does come out I say nothing, don't boo or cheer. Notice a lot of people doing the same thing. The women and kids love him, men not so much. He might the "The Guy" to some, others don't have the same opinion.

1. I'm a man and like Roman
2. He is obviously not winning the universal title from Owens, Balor will probably win it back (unfortunately).
3. I prefer Reigns over Ambrose, I don't get the hype about Ambrose.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Selling merch the way he does who else can really fit that title. Not to mention majority of children love him more than anybody else on the roster and sees him as their "hero."

Please show me any evidence besides your own delusional speculation that backs up either of these points.

There is no way that I am willing to believe that Reigns is even top five in the company in merch sales. You see a tiny fraction of Reigns merch in crowds if you see any at all. Hell, you see a nobody like Dolph's shirts outnumbering Reigns merch by what looks to be 5-1. There is no way he is selling more merch than Cena, Styles, New Day, Enzo/Cass, Bayley, etc.

And as for the kids' reactions, sure he gets a better reaction among children than the adult men, but that is because the children in the crowd are more susceptible to rooting for the acts with strong booking that are represented as heroes. And I'd still say his reactions with children are no better than the reactions that any other babyface on the roster receives. In fact considering how strongly he's booked, his reactions with kids should be far better than they are. He doesn't receive nearly the love from that demographic that Cena did/does. Hell, I'd say more child relatable acts like Enzo and Bayley appear to receive much more love from the pre-teen demo than Reigns.

So please support or back up what sounds like pure bullshit to me.

As for all the other things you cited- being pushed for media appearances, Make-a-Wish, posters, commercials, etc.; those are all things that the company controls. They WANT him to be the face of the company and push him this way accordingly. That's no proof that he is anything more than the personality with the most heft from the machine- so in that way he is the guy. But he is no where near being seen in that light by the fanbase.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Let'S face it, like it or not, reigns is over with the crowds. When you are able to get a reaction positive or negative everytime you come out to the ring your over so on the point the guy is one of the more over guy in the company right now because some like him, some don'T but everybody has an opinion on the guy and that'S saying something since outside AJ styles and cena, they don'T really have a guy that get a reaction from the crowd in every town is in.

Also, i don'T now what issue of the observer that i read the sells figure as far as merchandise, but i do remember reading that aside from lesnar, Cena and Aj styles, Roman reigns was the top selling guy in the company and i not really surprise since everytime i want to a wwe show, his merchandise would sell very well to a point that it was almost sold out everytime.

Personally, i'm a fan of the guy, the guy reminds me of the old school superhero style personna that i grew up on. Those guys that had charisma and didn'T need to do 50 highspots to get over. They just needed a couple of move and sell the beat down from their opponent before doing the comeback and beating the hell. i grew up on this style and that's what i find entertaining about wrestling because it feel more believable, then what you see on the indy scene. So to me, he is the guy right now, especially after the year he's had with most of his big time matches are matchs of the year candidate and that AJ Styles himself said that Reigns was one of his favorite opponent to work with in his career. That'S saying something.

So this hatred for roman reigns from the a section of the fan is just a phase in my opinion and when it'S going to stop to be cool then he'S going to be cheered again just like what happened With Cena.

 

[That N Word]

I would like to keep these debate as a intellectual one. Please refrain from name calling, just because you don't agree with someone has to say or just because you believe someone is making something up.

As for Papa Pillman's comment,WWE has been touting Reigns as #2 in merch (just behind John Cena or occasionally someone else) for a while now. There has even been times he has been 1. And for your point about him not being kids favor,that's blind hate and not a fact. You go and ask any kid who their favorite wrestler is and guaranteed that you're either gonna get a "Roman Reigns" or "Dean Ambrose." Definitely not an Enzo Amore and only NXT kids really know Bayley. Why? Because WWE hasn't booked her enough to make kids care or even know who TF she is.

 

[Papa Pillman]

As for Papa Pillman's comment,WWE has been touting Reigns as #2 in merch (just behind John Cena or occasionally someone else) for a while now. There has even been times he has been 1.

The WWE does not release those official numbers. Please show any source where they have.

And its easy for someone to make that statement without official numbers to back anything up. There are people in the company who would do anything to have you believe that Reigns is Cena 2.0(or Hogan 3.0 if you will)- yet the only thing that backs that up is booking that is too strong to be taken seriously.

As for the "he's most over because he gets the loudest reaction" nonsense; even at his most hated, Cena still got a pretty mixed reaction in all but the smarkiest of cities- where the cheers fought to keep up. Reigns on the other hand gets a mixed reaction only in the least possibly smarky areas, while everywhere else the boos easily drown out the cheers, and in smarky cities those cheers are all but non-existent. There are only maybe one-in-ten TV arenas where Roman would have enough support to make the positive end of the classic dueling Cena-style chants even remotely audible.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The WWE does not release those official numbers. Please show any source where they have.

And its easy for someone to make that statement without official numbers to back anything up. There are people in the company who would do anything to have you believe that Reigns is Cena 2.0(or Hogan 3.0 if you will)- yet the only thing that backs that up is booking that is too strong to be taken seriously.

As for the "he's most over because he gets the loudest reaction" nonsense; even at his most hated, Cena still got a pretty mixed reaction in all but the smarkiest of cities- where the cheers fought to keep up. Reigns on the other hand gets a mixed reaction only in the least possibly smarky areas, while everywhere else the boos easily drown out the cheers, and in smarky cities those cheers are all but non-existent. There are only maybe one-in-ten TV arenas where Roman would have enough support to make the positive end of the classic dueling Cena-style chants even remotely audible.

You do have a point, but let's face, the fact is that who on the roster right now outside of maybe Aj Styles and John Cena or any part timer gets a reaction everywhere they go good or bad. Not a lot, you got Jericho, orton and that'S about it really. Seth rollins is over in smarky areas, so is kevin owens, dean ambrose just to name a few, but in certains non smarky areas, they barely get a reaction really, Reigns does good or bad, smarky areas and non smarky areas, he gets a reaction and that's called being over.

As for the financial statement, i don'T have any recent proof that roman reigns is one of the top merchandise sellers but at the beginning of the year he was in the top 3 and if you don'T believe me just read the article on the link that i'm providing you:

http://www.sescoops.com/news-on-roman-reigns-popularity-based-on-wwe-marketability-study/

 

[multiverseman.com]

By now almost everybody knows who Roman Reigns is.

No they don't. Nobody outside Raw watchers, who are dwindling week by week, know who he is and most don't like him.

When he's doing posterboy stuff like the stuff with Make A Wish, Tribute To The Troops,Selling merch the way he does

Like CM Punk once said, everybody does that charity stuff. It's just Cena who gets publicized. And selling merch?

I'm still wondering where that myth came from. I've seen no figures to back that up. I do know they prominently place his stuff everywhere and try to get you to buy it, but who wants it?

Not to mention majority of children love him more than anybody else on the roster and sees him as their "hero."

Did you conduct a poll? Run a survey? I don't talk to many children so I don't know what they like. The kids I come in contact with don't watch WWE. The median age of a RAW watcher is in their 40's anyway, no matter what they try and get you to believe.

Besides, kids are gullible as hell. They like to play along. You produce a popular product, whoever's face is at the front of the card, they're gonna get behind to some extent. The key is maxing out all demos.

When mainstream media outlets talk WWE they talk about mainly Roman Reigns or John Cena. When you see WWE commercials who's featured? Roman Reigns,WWE Posters? Roman Reigns.

Nobody said Vince didn't have a hard-on for the guy. He's just a failure in his role.

Some may say AJ Styles? But come on anybody with a brain know that's just a storyline. Yes, Styles may be the Face of SmackDown...But it takes a helluva lot more to be the Face of the entire company. At which point do fans wake up and admit this?

No doubt, Vince wants to make it happen. He's dying for it to happen. He'd give his left nut to make Roman the new undisputed golden boy for the next 10 to 15 years.

Only one problem. He's not. He's not over as a babyface. He'd make an excellent heel if they'd turned him a year ago, but they're too stubborn and now it would just ring hollow.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I still don't believe that Reigns is the chosen one to get the torch from John Cena and become a superstar with the same magnitude as Brock, Cena, HHH, Austin, Rock, Hart, HBK, Savage and Hogan. Plain and simple. He has a long road ahead of him. Maybe he's a guy that will mature slowly.

But I have to hand it to him. a) He's done tremendous progress, both in the ring and at the mic and be I think he has done a much better job as a top face, when compared to his Shield buddies. I know Ambrose is over and Rollins, too, but to be honest, Roman never really bored me when he was at the top.

Roman will always have Royal Rumble 2015 to haunt him. He can't overcome that. I say keep him away from main event titles for the whole 2017.
He can still be the pet project, the chosen one, but that can come later. He's already considered a top superstar and someone who sells. How about we make him better?

He needs a personal feud. Every wrestler is defined by a rivalry. What's his? He needs a long, personal feud, that will define his career for ages to come. Let's make 2017 something like that. You always think of Austin-Rock, Austin-HHH, HHH-Rock, Rock-Foley, Foley-HHH, HBK-Hart, HBK-HHH, Orton-Cena, Cena-Edge. Reigns needs that personal feud in order for the fans to get invested in him.

That's my two cents. To sum up:
a) keep Reigns away from world titles, because world titles don't make the superstar (see The Undertaker)
b) give him a strong feud

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I still don't believe that Reigns is the chosen one to get the torch from John Cena and become a superstar with the same magnitude as Brock, Cena, HHH, Austin, Rock, Hart, HBK, Savage and Hogan. Plain and simple. He has a long road ahead of him. Maybe he's a guy that will mature slowly.

But I have to hand it to him. a) He's done tremendous progress, both in the ring and at the mic and be I think he has done a much better job as a top face, when compared to his Shield buddies. I know Ambrose is over and Rollins, too, but to be honest, Roman never really bored me when he was at the top.

Roman will always have Royal Rumble 2015 to haunt him. He can't overcome that. I say keep him away from main event titles for the whole 2017.
He can still be the pet project, the chosen one, but that can come later. He's already considered a top superstar and someone who sells. How about we make him better?

He needs a personal feud. Every wrestler is defined by a rivalry. What's his? He needs a long, personal feud, that will define his career for ages to come. Let's make 2017 something like that. You always think of Austin-Rock, Austin-HHH, HHH-Rock, Rock-Foley, Foley-HHH, HBK-Hart, HBK-HHH, Orton-Cena, Cena-Edge. Reigns needs that personal feud in order for the fans to get invested in him.

That's my two cents. To sum up:
a) keep Reigns away from world titles, because world titles don't make the superstar (see The Undertaker)
b) give him a strong feud

Agree with you 100%, but the problem is who could that guy be on the main roster. It's not like they have a lot of choice on raw. The closest that I could see for him would be either a part timer like brock lesnar or at best rusev, outside of that unless you move him on smackdown to have him feud with either styles or cena. That's about it in my opinion.

 

[Navi]

There's some real bitterness in there. Reminds me of that thread "when did wrestling make you irrationally upset?" I received comments regarding my reply that it's professional wrestling. It should never really upset you.

And anyway, you're blatantly wrong in saying Reigns wasn't the standout star. Who did they cheer when he went toe to toe with Bray Wyatt? (Going to say that moment isn't memorable?) Big Show? Just about anyone who went toe to toe 1v1 against the SHIELD? I'll give you two hints: it wasn't Rollins or Ambrose. It doesn't work as well with them, because they're just not as imposing. When he was SHIELD he didn't have to talk much. He was basically pushed how he should be. It made him shine.

Just because you're clearly upset about Reigns' direction since SHIELD, doesn't mean you can blatantly make shit up.

No there is no bitterness at all. The OP asked a question and I gave an honest answer. Didn't expect most to like it but I'm not going to sit here and blow sunshine up everyone's asses when it's just not the case.

And who says I'm wrong, you? It is my opinion that he was not the standout star, might not be your's but shit are we not allowed to have an opinion on this site because it doesn't agree with others. And it has nothing to do with imposing, it has everything to do with who he was portrayed as a member of the Shield. Who did most of the talking, Rollins and Ambrose, right? Who did most of the ring work, Rollins and Ambrose, again am I right? Reigns was the silent guy who stood in the background and went into action when he was supposed too. That's how the Shield worked, and it worked well.

As for his singles career, well I agree he's has some good matches, but so have the other two. And really so what, lot's of wrestler's have good matches. Reigns is not an exception to the rule, but his fans would have you believe he is. No I don't care much for the guy, and again that is my personal opinion. If you don't like it then that's quite honestly too bad.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I just read the above comment and it made me think of something. The other big problem with reigns is the same thing that as plague rollins and ambrose and it's that the fans don't really except the fact that the shield as split up.

Let's face it, rollins isn't really over has a face and ambrose same thing but for some reason when all three get together, they are the most over act in tv.

So I'm thinking that why not just put them back together, you could still use them as single stars but within a faction. This would help not only reigns but the other 2 as well.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I just rad the above comment and it made me think of something. The other big problem with reigns is the same thing that as plague rollins and ambrose and it's that the fans don't really except the fact that the shield as split up.

Let's face it, rollins isn't really over has a face and ambrose same thing but for some reason when all three get together, they are the most over act in tv.

So I'm thinking that why not just put them back together, you could still use them as single stars but within a faction. This would help not only reigns but the other 2 as well.

I kind of see the point that you're making here, and it likely has a shred of truth. Though I tend to disagree about Ambrose not being over. The only problem with Ambrose currently is that he's been matched up for the last few months with the most over heel in the company, and many in the crowd's affinity for Styles limits the amount of positive response that his opponent will get in many arenas.

As for Seth, its mostly a booking error. They should have brought him back as a face after the injury when the crowd was hot for him. Instead they brought him back exactly the same, and then hotshotted a half-assed face turn after Balor's injury. Now he's been floating as a cocky semi-face that has given the crowd no extra reason to care for him unless they were already Seth marks to some degree even when he was a heel. They have definitely handled his character badly in 2016- in fact worse than they have handled Roman, whose booking seems to be what most fans prefer to question.

 

[That N Word]

No there is no bitterness at all. The OP asked a question and I gave an honest answer. Didn't expect most to like it but I'm not going to sit here and blow sunshine up everyone's asses when it's just not the case.

And who says I'm wrong, you? It is my opinion that he was not the standout star, might not be your's but shit are we not allowed to have an opinion on this site because it doesn't agree with others. And it has nothing to do with imposing, it has everything to do with who he was portrayed as a member of the Shield. Who did most of the talking, Rollins and Ambrose, right? Who did most of the ring work, Rollins and Ambrose, again am I right? Reigns was the silent guy who stood in the background and went into action when he was supposed too. That's how the Shield worked, and it worked well.

As for his singles career, well I agree he's has some good matches, but so have the other two. And really so what, lot's of wrestler's have good matches. Reigns is not an exception to the rule, but his fans would have you believe he is. No I don't care much for the guy, and again that is my personal opinion. If you don't like it then that's quite honestly too bad.

Putting both of your responses in perspective,I believe you think I'm one of "them." Them as in those Roman fans so believe he Is way better than he actually is and I can tell you I'm not. Am I a fan? Sure. But I'm more neutral when it comes to all talent. Whether I like that performer or not. Right now my Top 5 is AJ,Seth,Owens,Miz,and Jericho. And even with them guys I wouldn't overrate them. My opinion is purely based off of what I've been seeing when it comes to Roman being "THE Guy."