Reigns might finally be on the right path

[Lord_Frish]

To me, this story starts at the 2014 Royal Rumble. Reigns was very over during the Rumble Match, second only behind Bryan or maybe Punk. It was the Rumble where Reigns broke the elimination record set by Kane. He was booked like a legit badass that people could get behind. Of course Batista went on to win the match but Reigns was at the height of his popularity at this point. The Shield were dominating everyone.

The Shield crushed NAO and Kane at Mania. It wasn't a great match, but once again they were dominating. The Shield then went on and beat Evolution two PPVs in a row. They were still hugely popular at this time, they were still winning. Of course Rollins broke the group up soon after this. They broke and all three were still over.

The way the group split made Reigns and Ambrose look a bit bad, but some good booking can get over that fairly easily. Ambrose went into a rivalry with Rollins, which Rollins won as he should have. But the problem here is that Reigns went on to lose a bunch of important matches in a row. He was in WWE title matches, which sounds nice but he was losing PPVs in a row. Then he got injured (well he had a hernia). Reigns had for the most part being a failure since the Shield split.

Reigns returns at TLC and enters a rivalry with Big Show. Reigns should have destroyed Big Show quickly, but kept going. The matches weren't great, and that was the main build up to the 2015 Royal Rumble. Everyone knows how badly booked the 2015 Royal Rumble was. I don't need to go over that. One detail that does bug me though is that Reigns was in there for half an hour and eliminated about 5 people. The rest of the time he was sleeping. It would have been better if he came in at number 27-30. Have 7 or 8 people in the ring at this time and Reigns throws out the majority of them in a whirlwind 5-10 minutes. No one wants to see Reigns as an endurance wrestler, he doesn't belong in an Iron Man situation. Also, they could have waited on Bryan for a month, he didn't need to be in the Rumble.

By this time, things were clearly going badly for Reigns. The Rock's endorsement didn't help, Bryan's endorsement didn't help. Reigns and Lesnar had a very good match at Mania though, it was entertaining and the two guys beat the crap out of each other. But the end result is the same, Reigns fails.

Reigns then continues his rivalry with the Big Show. Reigns should have destroyed him about 2 months ago. Instead he has these long hard matches with the Big Show, a guy most people consider a jobber to the stars at best. So far outside of the Royal Rumble win, Reigns accomplishments are beating the Big Show, and beating Bryan before Mania.

Reigns loses again. He wasn't pinned in the Title match, but he still fails. Reigns loses the MitB match because of Wyatt. Reigns loses to Wyatt at the next PPV. Reigns finally gets a win at Summerslam with Ambrose against the Wyatts. However during the match there was a clear 'Roman's sleeping' chant. He had to lay down and do nothing for what felt like 10 minutes (probably closer to 5). This badass, the guy who is meant to be the next big star can't handle a beating you see in most no DQ matches. Reigns once again fails against the Wyatts at the next PPV. Finally at Hell in a Cell Reigns beats Wyatt to end the feud. It took about 4 months, the top baby face took 4 months to beat a guy who has never held a title. A guy who is at best upper mid card. Reigns failed all the way to Survivor Series, where he succeeded for 5 minutes then failed again.

The booking here is atrociously bad. Reigns has been booked as a failure for over a year. The guy looks like a beast, gets booked like an underdog. He isn't an underdog. The IWC knows this, anyone with eyes knows this. Look at the huge, good looking Samoan guy. He is not an underdog. Don't book him that way. Only one guy could make him look like an underdog and that is Lesnar.

Finally at TLC he still fails, but at least he was standing tall at the end. He crushed Sheamus and his buddies. Then this Raw happened. Which was the closest thing to Reigns being booked as a legit badass since the Shield broke up. That was a year and a half ago. Reigns took out Sheamus and his goons. He took out the owner who didn't want him to win. He won the title. This should have happened months ago, maybe even a year ago.

One of the absolute basics of booking is that a face should never guarantee something that doesn't happen. Reigns said time and time again that he will do things, and then he failed. He should never have guaranteed it in the first place.

Sorry, the booking is just so stupid that it pisses me off. Look at Austin during the height of the Attitude Era. He wasn't an underdog. Everyone knew he could do anything he said he was going to do and he did it. The best title chase in history was McMahon trying to get the title off of Austin. Austin defied him almost every week. He didn't spend a year losing to McMahon's goons. I can only recall three wrestlers who managed to one up Austin during that stage, Mankind, The Rock, Triple H. Imagine Austin losing to Bossman or Shamrock? It would never happen. Why was Reigns losing to Wyatt? It shouldn't happen. Wyatt has lost to too many people, Reigns shouldn't lose to him. Reigns should not lose another match until at least Wrestlemania, maybe not even then. Whoever wins the Rumble to face Reigns should not lose another match until Wrestlemania. It isn't hard to figure out.

 

[realoldskoolfan]

I have to disagree with this. First he was booked fine after the Shield split. Ambrose chose to go right at Rollins while Roman was booked to be going after the Authority in general. The next ppv Money in the Bank he's booked in the main event World title match. Is he supposed to just walk right into his first solo main event and go over 5 other guys including Cena and Orton? He's booked strong and doesn't take the pin. The next ppv he's once again booked in the world title main event this time a fatal fourway. Once again I ask is he supposed to be winning the strap at this point in his career? Again he's booked strong and seeds for a fued with Orton are planted.
The following ppv he's booked in a singles match where he goes over Orton. He's made to look good and this keeps him near the Authority storyline wise. Now this is where everything went south because he was booked to be going into a fued with Rollins and had a ppv match lined up when the hernia happened. I will agree with your points about screwed booking after the injury but everything from the Shield breakup to that point was just fine and he was over.
Also...I don't get your part that faces shouldn't make guarantees. All wrestlers make guarantees. Listen to any promo ever face or heel.

 

[BuriedByCena]

You pretty much nailed it. The problem with Cena/Roman is WWE keeps on telling us they are underdogs and they must overcome the odds. We all know these guys are NOT underdogs. They should be kicking butt like Stone Cold did.

It always baffled me how Cena is a 15 time champ and the announcers are still acting like Cena never wins every match he is in. It is the same thing with Roman.

I never understood how Cena is the face of the company yet he got his butt kicked for 20 minutes straight. He should have dominated the matches to begin with.

It took WWE 10+ years before they finally got the hint. The problem is, this wont last.

Roman was booked like a joke one week ago saying Tater Tots LOL. Then the last two days he hasn't talked much and did more physical stuff which we have been telling WWE to do for the past two years to get him over. We have been screaming to book Roman like Goldberg and not a Daniel Bryan.

But like I said, this wont last. WWE will revert back to ROMANWINSLOL and corny jokes soon enough.

 

[Kizzani]

I too have to disagree. This isn't a long story drawn out to a final, this is simply mental manipulation of the garbage fans who are stuck in a deep fog. (They can't see two feet in front of themselves.)

Step 1, Royal Rumble lets sounds Triple H's guy out there....The fans know it, Kayfabee has shown the light to people. So the fans hate him winning over some little goofy Troll.

Step 2 Use D Bryan Injury to try and push him. Pit him against every, the problem is you lack a power heel. So no one really buys into the beatings he took.

Step 3 Stack the Deck, Fans love seeing and under dog arise from ashes. The fans still see right through it, like a plastic sheet.

Step 4 Make him fight Vince, Triple H and regurgitate the same storyline as stone cold without the beer. Fans are like...what fight my boss, attack my boss....I wish I had a pair....CHEER CHEER CHEER.
Seriously the same thing over and over. So what is next, he walks around being attack my the new Nation of (not domination?) Damn they even through in a garbage Nation together. Where was Barrett? Where was anyone...Oh yeah Roman Reigns is so good he beats up 3 Champions to win the title and out smarts Vince.......WITH 1 SINGLE PUNCH.

This is stupidity at it's finest. All that was done here was build him into something he can't maintain. Now when Sheamus gets a rematch, he has to beat him, When Del Rio and Rusev get involved then he has to maintain his 1 punch wonder bullcrap....to what end?

 

[Lord_Frish]

What I mean when I said a face should never promise something that doesn't happen is, if a face guarantees he will win the title in a promo and he fails, it makes him look bad. Its okay once or twice, but Reigns constantly made promises or guarantees that didn't come true. Instead of guaranteeing he will win the title if he isn't booked to do so. He can promise something like 'I will destroy Rollins at the PPV' he doesn't have to win to fulfill that promise. He should be scripted promos saying things more like 'I can beat you' not 'I will beat you' if he is going to lose.

When Austin said 'And that's the bottom line' it was true more often than not. I don't think people take Reigns 'Believe that' line anywhere near as seriously. Although I think he doesn't use it as often anymore.

Heels on the other hand are perfectly fine being booked to break their guarantees often. They should make promises and break them fairly often. 'I will kick your ass' then they cheat to win etc.