MartialHorror
Mid-Card Championship Winner
I was a huge fan of the Shield and believed that Reigns would definitely be the man who would go the farthest once they inevitably broke up. Even when he had the least amount to say in promos, you never lost focus of him because he had such an impressive presence. It also helped that he was being booked as the strength of the Shield, whereas Rollins at the time was the heart (or in some cases, the damsel in distress) and Ambrose seemed like he would be the one to turn on them.
Yet I began to change my mind when Reigns suddenly became a contender for the championship. His promos have been inconsistent since going solo (it's never a good sign when fans start chanting 'Cena sucks' when Reigns barely mentioned him), whereas I've enjoyed all the promos from Ambrose and Rollins. Rollins has especially excelled considering I figured he'd immediately be dropped to the midcard once the Shield fell apart since he seemed like the least interesting of the three.
Even worse, his singles matches have kind of sucked. When he was with the Shield, Ambrose and Rollins would carry the bulk of the action while Reigns would deliver the climax. It would be awesome whenever Reigns would spear, Superman punch or do that running kick on an enemy. Yet it's become more apparent that those three seem to be the extent of his arsenal. People complain about Cena for this very reason, yet Reigns seems to have avoided this criticism for whatever reason. You can't carry a match with only three good moves.
The booking hasn't helped things either. After the Shield fell apart and he found himself in the Money in the Bank match, they kept putting him in other team battles. Reigns has already established that he's awesome in those kinds of matches, but shouldn't the WWE focus on building his singles career? That's sort of the most important part of being the WWE champion. Ambrose and Rollins seem to have 1 on 1 matches every week, and they're usually really good, whereas Reigns isn't getting the same singles push...even though he is technically getting the biggest singles push because he keeps getting placed in Championship matches.
So I don't think he deserves to be a contender right now, much less the champ. But with this current storyline, it's a major case of wrestling blue balls for him not to win. His feud with the authority was the biggest story going into Money in the Bank, but Cena- who was being treated as an afterthought in regards to his placement within said story- came out on top? That's just frustrating writing, even though Cena was probably the best decision at that time.
I like Reigns, but I think Rollins and Ambrose deserve the top spot over him. They've proven themselves as capable of carrying matches and they're being booked in the way that Reigns himself should be booked. Reigns should be built up more, although I'd prefer they not go the Rusev route and have him squash the same people over and over again (lol). But am I alone in my opinions? Everyone seems to really like Reigns, so it almost seems like his push has garnered more support than criticism. Obviously we won't know whether this will end in success or failure, but I'm seeing a lot of warning signs.
I will say I do like how Reigns is more of the anti-hero compared to Cena's traditional hero. It's an interesting contrast, if anything.
Yet I began to change my mind when Reigns suddenly became a contender for the championship. His promos have been inconsistent since going solo (it's never a good sign when fans start chanting 'Cena sucks' when Reigns barely mentioned him), whereas I've enjoyed all the promos from Ambrose and Rollins. Rollins has especially excelled considering I figured he'd immediately be dropped to the midcard once the Shield fell apart since he seemed like the least interesting of the three.
Even worse, his singles matches have kind of sucked. When he was with the Shield, Ambrose and Rollins would carry the bulk of the action while Reigns would deliver the climax. It would be awesome whenever Reigns would spear, Superman punch or do that running kick on an enemy. Yet it's become more apparent that those three seem to be the extent of his arsenal. People complain about Cena for this very reason, yet Reigns seems to have avoided this criticism for whatever reason. You can't carry a match with only three good moves.
The booking hasn't helped things either. After the Shield fell apart and he found himself in the Money in the Bank match, they kept putting him in other team battles. Reigns has already established that he's awesome in those kinds of matches, but shouldn't the WWE focus on building his singles career? That's sort of the most important part of being the WWE champion. Ambrose and Rollins seem to have 1 on 1 matches every week, and they're usually really good, whereas Reigns isn't getting the same singles push...even though he is technically getting the biggest singles push because he keeps getting placed in Championship matches.
So I don't think he deserves to be a contender right now, much less the champ. But with this current storyline, it's a major case of wrestling blue balls for him not to win. His feud with the authority was the biggest story going into Money in the Bank, but Cena- who was being treated as an afterthought in regards to his placement within said story- came out on top? That's just frustrating writing, even though Cena was probably the best decision at that time.
I like Reigns, but I think Rollins and Ambrose deserve the top spot over him. They've proven themselves as capable of carrying matches and they're being booked in the way that Reigns himself should be booked. Reigns should be built up more, although I'd prefer they not go the Rusev route and have him squash the same people over and over again (lol). But am I alone in my opinions? Everyone seems to really like Reigns, so it almost seems like his push has garnered more support than criticism. Obviously we won't know whether this will end in success or failure, but I'm seeing a lot of warning signs.
I will say I do like how Reigns is more of the anti-hero compared to Cena's traditional hero. It's an interesting contrast, if anything.
