Reigns isn't a mainstream household name, not just yet and you probably don't respect him. But you will.
I respect Roman Reigns, I respect how hard he's worked in the handful of years he's been involved in wrestling. He just hasn't displayed that he brings a whole helluva lot to the table in this match. He's green, he's inexperienced, he isn't all that good at cutting promos, he's fair to decent inside the ring and nothing's been done with Reigns by WWE to suggest he's remotely ready. As I've said in other threads, it's not really Reigns' fault that Vince McMahon chose him for a spot that he's not really prepared for. Plus, fans are frustrated with the WWE CEO trying to tell them who they should or shouldn't put their interest in. Reigns just happens to be the poor guy caught in the crossfire.
As for buyrates, without the network, I would put money down that it would enter this top ten list of all-time grossing manias. I'm kinda of surprised how many of them aren't from the attitude era.
If the ppv buys for WrestleMania equals 500,000, it'll be a good number. However, with the Network in play, no way the ppv buys come anywhere close to a million. As far as the Attitude Era goes, it doesn't really surprise me. The Attitude Era had shock & awe on its side and Vince certainly allowed wrestlers a far greater degree of freedom than he lets them have now. In terms of actual overall wrestling, however, I think the modern era has far better in-ring action.
http://www.therichest.com/sports/wrestling/top-10-most-bought-wrestlemania-ppvs-of-all-time/10/
Anyway, I'm excited and anyone that isn't just doesn't have to enter this thread.
If you're not prepared for vehement disagreements with your opinion on something, a pro wrestling thread is the wrong place to be. It's just how it is. I'm hoping you're right, however, that the match is better than we're expected. I honestly do hope Roman Reigns is able to prove people wrong. Most people's expectations are based on what we've seen thus far, so I can't blame anyone for having serious doubts. Neither Reigns or Lesnar is particularly skilled at leading a match, Reigns doesn't have the experience while Lesnar just simply doesn't have the ability as we saw during his match with The Undertaker last year.
The problem is that Roman Reigns has an uphill battle on his hands and it's one he has little chance of winning in such a short span of time. Unless he progresses by a massive degree within the next 6 weeks as a character and inside the ring, most people will be expecting a lackluster match. As I alluded to earlier, what's happening with Roman Reigns isn't as much a condemnation of Reigns as a talent as it is Vince McMahon's increasingly out of touch booking decisions. A
LOT of fans are tired of Vince trying to lead fans to who they should support because a lot of Vince's support is based on a wrestler's look more so than his ability. Over the past several weeks, Reigns' promos have had a very strong similarity to those that John Cena cuts when he's in a corny, joke telling mind set, Vince had Reigns spouting out catchphrases from Looney Toons characters after all. This loss of the edgy aspects of Reigns' persona coupled with him having a strong look and his work on the mic gives people the impression that Vince McMahon wants to create another John Cena. In 2015, a
LOT of fans don't want another nigh unbeatable superhero that Vince won't allow to evolve.
Reigns has a great look, no doubt, but there are wrestlers on the roster with a far greater connection with fans, far stronger inside the ring, have far greater experience and who have paid a lot of dues that Reigns' hasn't. Many fans are frustrated because they can see all these things, other members of the WWE locker room can see them, dirt sheet writers can see them, legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin can see them and with all that they see Roman Reigns as essentially being forced onto them without being ready and because Vince wants the fans to like him because he believes he's the right choice. Now I agree that Vince can't just cater to the every whims of fans, but there are very, very few instances in which it seems that such a huge majority of WWE fans are united in what they want and this is one of them. We saw it last year with fans wanting Daniel Bryan in the WM main event, we're seeing it now with fans wanting Bryan in the main event and Roman Reigns not in the main event. This isn't just a few handfuls of internet smarks complaining or the small & devoted following of some "indie guy", which means the only real reason for Vince not actually listening, despite what he claims, is that he doesn't want to and feels that he knows better than everyone else.
