Rowan will never make it in the WWE....

[Dave]

Mark my words.

Having watched him over the last few months in his alliance with Ryback and Ziggler, his promo skills are amongst some of the worst that the company has right now. His promo skills consist of removing his mask slowly and then looking at it, making menacing eyes, and then making a complete fuck up of his lines.

And the sad thing is, that Ziggler and Ryback are making him look even worse by comparison. And don't get me wrong, Ziggler and Ryback are far from top microphone talents. Still, they look a hundred miles ahead of Rowan at this point.

Rowan, at his best was when he was part of the Wyatt family. And of course that had to come to an end but come on... The WWE have ruined his credentials as a powerful and mysterious competitor. He's been reduced to a sideshow freak that can't stand on his own two feet without help from his allies or Luke Harper. And that's a sad state of affairs.

Agree with me here.

 

[L@RISANO]

Can't agree just yet.

I'd give him another few months, at least until he(and Rybiggler) can get out of the Survivor Series fallout story before making a judgement of if he can or cannot make it in the WWE.


However, I can't say that I ever expected him to be anywhere higher than a MidCarder at any point. I guess he'll take over the Khali role if anything, and maybe, just maybe, he gets a 'mini' push to make him remotely relevant and be a Midcard mainstay... beyond that...

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't think you are going out on a limb. The guy looks like Stone Cold and a Tolkien Dwarf had a baby. He hasn't done anything interesting in WWE other than wear a mask. I kind of wonder if WWE thought to give him a face run to try to sell more masks. I've been very surprised WWE has given him as much of a chance as they have. He feels like a guy that will get future endeavored if cuts need to be made in a year or so.

 

[MartialHorror]

I think he could be okay, except those pauses go on for too long. I think they're trying to present him as eccentric, but it just isn't working.

At the absolute least, he does have a distinct voice and personality- something I believe Ziggler lacks. But his pacing is off and I agree Rowan will probably never be a real main eventer. Even though he's big, he lacks the presence of Kane and the mass of Big Show. Or the skill of Taker. His average in almost every way. I'd personally book him as the silent, creepy type. Have him standing around in the backround, staring into the camera as Renee tries to interview someone. Turning him face, in retrospect, was a mistake.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

I agree. There's also the problem that he didn't really distanced his character all that much from his former tag team partner. If Luke Harper ever gets his deserved push Rowan will probably go.

Now I do not necessarily think he will be future endeavored, He's a big guy and he's sorta of ok in the ring. I can actually see him going back to NXT to work on his character. Worse case they re-package him.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

lol seeing as Big Slow and Kane are washed up hacks and Rowan is the single most agile big man on the roster I'll have to disagree vehemently. I completely agree that his mic skills are non-existent which will hamper him in actually ever making noise.

The thing is he is a perfect big man to job to guys like Wyatt/Rusev and Owens when he arrives. He is big enough and formidable enough not to be a laugher victory. He will carve out a nice niche for 4+ years IMO even if it becomes nothing but taking losses against new talent. I still think they messed up breaking up Harper/Rowan.

I think Harper has a future in mid-card singles picture but they were SUPER effective as a tag team.

 

[Bernkastel]

Promo skills go beyond just talking. You can say allot by actually saying very little. Rowan removing his mask slowly and looking menacing is a nice touch. IMO body language portrays much more than the tongue alone can. What good is a diatribe or saying lines clearly if the emotion isn't there? Rowan at least gives off an aura of emotion. It's eerie, but different from what Luke Harper or Bray Wyatt do.

Hopefully WWE just keeps him soft spoken. I see little reason for him to talk that much. Though he might just be destined to be a side gimmick character. That might not be horrible thing in the long run.

 

[MartialHorror]

I doubt he will be future endeavored anytime soon as long as he doesn't have any major attitude problems, isn't injured or puts on a significant amount of weight. At the absolute least, he makes credible talent enhancement thanks to his size alone. If the WWE kept Khali for as long as they did, then Rowan shouldn't have anything to worry about...while he is still fit, anyway.

 

[chicagokmc]

if "make it" is being defined as having a run at some singles belt for some amount of time, then by that definition he won't "make it". he'll put over pushed talent, he may even sniff a tag team championship with Harper or some other partner. every wrestler who get time on tv isn't going to be a champion at some point in their career and that's ok. if you think about it after all is said there probably won't be much difference in the careers of Rowan and Harper other than Harper being able to say he was IC champ for about a month.

 

[MartialHorror]

While he might've actually been injured for all I know, one thing I do admire about Rowan is his ability to sell injuries. When his leg got hurt, he never seemed to forget it. Just kicking Rollins seemed to hurt him.

 

[Navi]

I like Rowan and would like to see them do more with him. But unfortunately he's lost in the shuffle. This Ziggler/Ryback/Rowan vs Kane/Big Show/Rollins, has to be over soon. Can't take much more of it.

Maybe once he gets out from underneath this storyline we'll see something better out of him.

 

[MartialHorror]

I find it annoyed how Ryback, Ziggler and Rowan are being treated as an unofficial stable where none of their personalities stand out. They're just three guys whose primary purpose is to back up whomever is challenging the authority.

Yet even though their function as a team is what is being emphasized, they still lost to the authority- who have been mostly pushed as individuals. Rollins was just contending for the belt, Big Show had his Reigns feud and Kane had his Rollins feud.

 

[MC_Live]

He had a shot at standing out when he turned. But that changed real quickly. WWE has booked him like absolute crap. I mean, I think he beat a nobody name early on in his turn, and I don't think he's won a match since. It's a shame, because I see moments of potential. But WWE has crippled him through the booking and writing. Nothing about him really makes him stand out, and he doesn't win. So what does he do? At the rate he's going, he'll be a glorified jobber, like R-Truth or Fandango. Except they had things the crowd could chant. Rowan, he's got nothing.

 

[Radical]

Roman HAS already made it in the WWE.

There have been countless other wrestlers who have come into WWE with moderate to big pushes and deflated in less than 6 months and certainly less than a year.

Roman got a great start with The Shield and did his part to stand out as 'the muscle.' He had a great run as one half of the Tag Team Champions.

Since 2014 he got a chance to breakout as a singles star and despite an injury he was voted by FANS as Superstar of the Year.

Now, I agree, he's being pushed into the top spot a little faster than I would have expected or planned (if I had any say in it). Like a lot of people, I would have had him win the IC title or at least have some key singles match victories in 2015 including a big one at WM and then by SummerSlam he could challenge for the WWE title OR even build to NEXT Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.

But that's not what happened. He's been pushed to the top and he's doing the best he can with it. No, he's not the greatest on the mic. But neither is Brock so he got Heyman. Neither was Batista but he had the look and he got the chance to improve to be at least decent on the mic. In the ring Roman is solid. He's not technical showman like Bryan or Ziggler but he doesn't need to be. He needs to be a methodical and powerful wrestler not pulling off complicated flipping moves or bridging suplexes. He has his style and he's improving on it and obviously a good portion of fans are buying into it.

I think that he would actually benefit from losing at WM against Lesnar. He would benefit in a lot of ways because he probably would have taken Lesnar to the extreme but just came short of winning. That means he would lose but look strong doing so but also fans of his would get more behind him because they should believe he is close to being able to beat Lesnar and 'haters' of him might back off a bit because he didn't win the WWE title so soon.

This all depends on if Lesnar is staying with WWE for another year or so. If he is, have Lesnar retain at WM. Have Orton challenge Lesnar at the next PPV or two but still lose in the meantime Reigns can get a few big singles wins over anyone like Sheamus or Rusev and really establish himself as a viable #1 Contender again for the WWE title. Then SummerSlam maybe Reigns can defeat Lesnar for the WWE title. It isn't as grand of a stage as WM but it would still be good.

 

[AustinHartLesnarHBKTaz80]

Yea this guy sucks. Plain and simple. Absolutely NO crowd reaction to Rowan whatsoever. Don't even mention the piped in, fake crowd noise they use on taped Smackdown shows either.

I see zero potential in the guy. He doesn't have the look, he doesn't have the wrestling ability, he doesn't have 'IT.' He was best utilized in the tag team with Harper. Other than that, nothing else will work to get him over

 

[kadroan]

Mark my words.

Having watched him over the last few months in his alliance with Ryback and Ziggler, his promo skills are amongst some of the worst that the company has right now. His promo skills consist of removing his mask slowly and then looking at it, making menacing eyes, and then making a complete fuck up of his lines.

And the sad thing is, that Ziggler and Ryback are making him look even worse by comparison. And don't get me wrong, Ziggler and Ryback are far from top microphone talents. Still, they look a hundred miles ahead of Rowan at this point.

Rowan, at his best was when he was part of the Wyatt family. And of course that had to come to an end but come on... The WWE have ruined his credentials as a powerful and mysterious competitor. He's been reduced to a sideshow freak that can't stand on his own two feet without help from his allies or Luke Harper. And that's a sad state of affairs.

Agree with me here.

WWE dropped the ball on him.
-When Rowan replaced Sheamus as the last member of Team Cena and the audience gave him a good reaction based on how Harper responded. No Harper vs. Rowan feud.
-Instead, he feuded with Show, which would have also been a good look, getting put over by a future HOF. Instead, they had him lose to Show who went on to lose to Reigns.
-Bray and Rowan had a match on Smackdown in January. Bray even addressed their family ties but Bray moved on.
-Bray, Rowan and Harper had a confrontation during the RR match, fans seemed invested in it. Forget waiting for a Shield triple threat match when you could have had a Wyatt Family triple match right now.

 

[Messiah]

Sorry to say but he's making it whether you like it or not.. WWE is going to make sure of it, they're giving him a match at WrestleMania against Lesnar, he will defeat Lesnar and be the next guy to carry WWE into the future.

 

[Dave]

Roman HAS already made it in the WWE.

There have been countless other wrestlers who have come into WWE with moderate to big pushes and deflated in less than 6 months and certainly less than a year.

Roman got a great start with The Shield and did his part to stand out as 'the muscle.' He had a great run as one half of the Tag Team Champions.

Since 2014 he got a chance to breakout as a singles star and despite an injury he was voted by FANS as Superstar of the Year.

Now, I agree, he's being pushed into the top spot a little faster than I would have expected or planned (if I had any say in it). Like a lot of people, I would have had him win the IC title or at least have some key singles match victories in 2015 including a big one at WM and then by SummerSlam he could challenge for the WWE title OR even build to NEXT Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.

But that's not what happened. He's been pushed to the top and he's doing the best he can with it. No, he's not the greatest on the mic. But neither is Brock so he got Heyman. Neither was Batista but he had the look and he got the chance to improve to be at least decent on the mic. In the ring Roman is solid. He's not technical showman like Bryan or Ziggler but he doesn't need to be. He needs to be a methodical and powerful wrestler not pulling off complicated flipping moves or bridging suplexes. He has his style and he's improving on it and obviously a good portion of fans are buying into it.

I think that he would actually benefit from losing at WM against Lesnar. He would benefit in a lot of ways because he probably would have taken Lesnar to the extreme but just came short of winning. That means he would lose but look strong doing so but also fans of his would get more behind him because they should believe he is close to being able to beat Lesnar and 'haters' of him might back off a bit because he didn't win the WWE title so soon.

This all depends on if Lesnar is staying with WWE for another year or so. If he is, have Lesnar retain at WM. Have Orton challenge Lesnar at the next PPV or two but still lose in the meantime Reigns can get a few big singles wins over anyone like Sheamus or Rusev and really establish himself as a viable #1 Contender again for the WWE title. Then SummerSlam maybe Reigns can defeat Lesnar for the WWE title. It isn't as grand of a stage as WM but it would still be good.

Sorry to say but he's making it whether you like it or not.. WWE is going to make sure of it, they're giving him a match at WrestleMania against Lesnar, he will defeat Lesnar and be the next guy to carry WWE into the future.

I think you both should go back and read the title of the thread, that wasn't a typo.

As far as Rowan goes, I firmly stand by what I said coming out of Fastlane. I actually have no idea what they are doing with these three guys anymore. And what's worse, I don't think the WWE even know what they are doing with them anymore. The sad thing is that Zinger and Ryback have enough credibility left when all of this is said and done, to go on and potentially be successful again; the sky is the limit.

However, Rowan has never been successful on any level really. He was the third guy in the Wyatt Family and now he hasn't ever been given an opportunity to stand on his own and see what he is made of. I agree with someone in this thread who said that when the next round of cuts are going on, then Rowan will likely be amongst them. His gimmick was good for a while when he was with Bray but it just doesn't work for a face. And when you couple that with the fact that he is clunky in the ring and his promo skills are actually awful, it certainly seems like he has a lot of work to do to get any sort of legitimacy back.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In all honesty, I've never had any particular faith in Rowan being a major player as a singles wrestler. For one thing, his current character just simply doesn't work as a babyface in my opinion. Rowan's character was designed to be part of Bray Wyatt's backwoods cult as an enforcer of Wyatt's will with a look and style that fit ideally into that sort of role. On his own, his character is just plain weird and nobody really knows how to take him and it doesn't seem that Vince knows or cares about what to do with him.

If they're not going to put The Wyatt Family together again, then the only shot Rowan has at making it further up the card is if he's repackaged. I'm still holding out hope, however, that the Family will reunite as there's little doubt that it'll be Taker vs. Wyatt for WrestleMania. Even if Wyatt lost, having Rowan & Harper suddenly show up post match and help Wyatt beat Taker down and maybe put him out for good would be a memorable way of putting them back together. I don't know why they split them all up to begin with as I thought they had a good thing going with Wyatt doing his thing and Harper & Rowan are a great big man team.

 

[Escher]

I don't think I can agree. Does he have the best mic skills in the company? No. Is there something intriguing about him? Yes. Can he wrestle? Hell Yes! So what he can't cut the best promo in WWE history, but at least he has a strong clear persona, and a strangely likeable one at that, people have survived in the company on a lot less. Don't count him out yet, once this whole coalition with Ziggler and Ryback is over Rowan can finally come into his own.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's ironic how Erick Rowan keeps making me think of Luke Gallows. Both have that huge body Vince McMahon smacks his lips over, yet an absence of personality seems to be what WWE management designed for them ......so how can the company think badly of them if they're following the script they were given? Yet, Gallows was released (what, did Punk say Luke had to go, as he did the girl?).

I figured the company was on the right track with hints of a "mensa" personality for Rowan, something that seemed unique, if strange. I figured they'd follow up after doing that "Rubik's cube" business, yet it's been completely abandoned in turning Rowan into a scary looking, yet ultimately ineffective jobber.

Well, we know what's best for those who can't stand by themselves, right? Put 'em on a team where their inadequacies can be masked. In Erick's case, send him to the place from whence he came, at least after Bray Wyatt is done being buried by the Undertaker. ('Taker is the ultimate loner. Leave Bray by himself until they're done after WM31).

But Bray can always use a disciple, and Erick needs a leader. While Luke Harper seems fine on his own (witness the fact he twice defeated Rowan head-to-head), I don't really know why management took Bray's people away from him.

Admittedly, the Ziggler-Ryback-Rowan team features three of the most discordant personalities you'd ever want to see on a team. That they're a "face" team is even stranger, otherwise, they'd be tearing each other apart by now.

Send Rowan back to his bayou cousin.

 

[Kris Benwa]

It's ironic how Erick Rowan keeps making me think of Luke Gallows. Both have that huge body Vince McMahon smacks his lips over, yet an absence of personality seems to be what WWE management designed for them ......so how can the company think badly of them if they're following the script they were given? Yet, Gallows was released (what, did Punk say Luke had to go, as he did the girl?).

I figured the company was on the right track with hints of a "mensa" personality for Rowan, something that seemed unique, if strange. I figured they'd follow up after doing that "Rubik's cube" business, yet it's been completely abandoned in turning Rowan into a scary looking, yet ultimately ineffective jobber.

Well, we know what's best for those who can't stand by themselves, right? Put 'em on a team where their inadequacies can be masked. In Erick's case, send him to the place from whence he came, at least after Bray Wyatt is done being buried by the Undertaker. ('Taker is the ultimate loner. Leave Bray by himself until they're done after WM31).

But Bray can always use a disciple, and Erick needs a leader. While Luke Harper seems fine on his own (witness the fact he twice defeated Rowan head-to-head), I don't really know why management took Bray's people away from him.

Admittedly, the Ziggler-Ryback-Rowan team features three of the most discordant personalities you'd ever want to see on a team. That they're a "face" team is even stranger, otherwise, they'd be tearing each other apart by now.

Send Rowan back to his bayou cousin.

I was going to comment on this as well. I like Rowan and think his character has a lot of potential if it were fleshed out or delved into. I think it would be interesting to hear about his genius background and how he allowed himself to be controlled by Bray and end up where he's at. It would be ultimately sad for the character if he couldn't accomplish anything after being set free and just going back to what he was before. That would be disappointing. He has a potentially interesting background I think maybe that should be more important to him.

I think all 3 guys are competent performers. I wouldn't say any of them suck I think they serve their roles. If I were booking them I would have Ryback and Ziggler maybe become more interested in Rowan and try to find out about him. Sorta have it be like these guys have been fighting in the trenches against the Authority for so long now they've become buddies some what. From there they could main that relationship or eventually turn Rowan and have him get frustrated with their questions or him having some kind of sensitive background topic that causes him to snap. They could then portray him as a genius but unstable. I think that would be a good role for him and he and Ryback can have some good big man matches. Ziggler could create some movement if they worked together. I think anybody on the roster good be a player if they had an interesting story. I think Rowan himself is good enough to have a place in the mid card and maybe break the ceiling if no one else is there but I admit I don't see perennial main eventer. Not everyone has to be though. He could be that new monster a la Kane who was always a win or two away from being a main character again.

I also dig his theme song.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Yeah this dude needs a serious transformation. I'm talking like an Isaac Yankem to Kane transition. He is a solid to good in ring performer and a true old school big man that has agility. No reason to waste all that talent on a ridiculous gimmick. He doesn't work anymore because his character was made to be a cult follower, he was designed to work alongside of Wyatt's excellent mic skills.
So he needs to disappear for a while and then come back as someone else, not just a tweak or new mask, but a complete overhaul, different name and everything. Who cares if smarks recognize him and tweet about it, it needs to happen.

 

[ColeMc]

Still want him and Harper back together. I don't see either of them doing anything other than early/midcard filler as singles competitors, their angles just aren't built for charisma and it's been a while since a notalk monster(Rusev doesn't count, he has Lana) got pushed to the top.

Actually that's a thought, why doesn't Lana take them onboard, she is excellent on the mic and a good monster stable with her and she could push all of them on.

 

[Pérez84]

95% of the main&NXT roster won't be able to make it by old times standards, talent aside.

Rowan is just another brick in the wall.