What if I Win?

[Prince Vee]

"What if I win?" That's what the only question that Roman Reigns had to ask Vince McMahon on Monday Night RAW. It was a nice little promo by the McMahon family that preceded that patronising about the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion standing amidst the crowd of all the Superstars in the MainRoster. Roman Reigns cut Vince McMahon off by entering the ring and asked that one single question right at his face. And that's when I started to think something isn't going right at that moment.

Let me clear you first, this isn't going to be an usual hatred thread, directed against somebody with meaningless brats and rants. I'm not a huge fan of Roman Reigns but not his greatest hater either. I was amazed how he evolved so much aftermath the Royal Rumble last year as everyone had been predicting it'll take at least 2 years for him to get the fans back.

Cheers to the good storylines he had been involved him which evolved him eventually into the spot where he is. But don't you reckon there's something missing badly with him?

That one liner "What if I win?" was supposed to draw a huge pop from the crowd, wasn't that? Such thing happened not too long when the crowd didn't reach for his "Tatted Tot" comment. But imagine, what if that same question was asked by someone else like John Cena, CM Punk, The Rock or maybe in Paul Heyman's version, "What if my client wins?" The crowd would've gone absolutely crazy isn't it?

I'm just dropping a bombshell here that Roman Reigns misses a quality (which I can't predict) to be the face of the company. I'm not sure why he isn't connecting with the fans quite well. Rethink about that segment and fantasise the whole scenario with your favourite wrestler who had that calibre to connect with the crowd. Wouldn't they have made this one liner to go viral?

Just look at this Mateys, even after ages, Chris Jericho's "Never Eeeeever" and "Will you shut the hell up" are being applauded by the crowd. Its not just him, its something every superstar who had been on top had in common.

When the WWE Network was established, Triple H (heel at that time) cut a promo about the $9.99 and the reaction of the crowd speaks why he's on top!

So here's my question. What's been missing from Roman Reigns? Or you presume I'm just speaking out with one side of perspective? If I'm wrong, justify your reason.

Cheers!!

 

[J.J.]

No offense to the OP, but what did I just read? You're comparing one line that wasn't him even pandering to the crowd when he said it. This is also a line we may never hear him utter again and you're comparing it to a Triple H sales pitch and a Y2J punchline? Reigns is connecting with the crowd, he's over.

Why this type of over analyzing? I'm not a huge fan of Reigns, but he's acceptable I personally think he's the same in all individual aspects as he was a year ago. I'm not sure what people feel has changed with him other than the booking at RR last year. That's no pun towards him in any way. There are two different types of people that despise him - the ones that want to see a guy like Finn Balor as champ or the clique that go against the manufactured guy the machine gets behind.

So many have complained over the years of WWE failing to 'create' stars or tired of seeing Cena at his post for a decade, but overlook that guys built to replace him have left or just become injury prone or even stake, heat, ect. Now there's a guy to take Cena's spot and now it's not good enough. Now there's people wondering when Cena is coming back and to book him against Reigns. Mind you, the same ones that are against Cena. Reigns is a decent worker, decent mic skills, good build, attractive - he looks like a star. More importantly he gets over with the Cena audience and that's the point - then he's marketable.

But everything else with him comes with patience. His mic skills are exceptional and I personally feel this is about as good as it'll get with him and I can accept that. He'll add more moves to his repertoire over time I'm sure. But to say he isn't over when I hear him getting a good reaction every week is asinine. He's not over to you, maybe? But the live audience says different.

 

[BuriedByCena]

I have been calling Roman Reigns "Cena 2.0". But after thinking about it, he is more like "Cena 0.4". He isn't even half as good as Cena is. I hate Cena as much as the next guy, but Roman is even worse. It's like the lesser of two evils. This is why some of us would rather have Cena come back lol.

Anyone but Roman. Seriously, I would rather watch Heath Slater. It's too late for Roman. WWE ruined him. He will never win the audience over. Roman will be booed no matter who he fights at Mania. Turn him heel and embrace the hate.

 

[Azane]

One Liners work great when you have some talent and charisma

that's why Roman Reign's most famous one liner is TATER TOTS (awkwardly laughs at his own joke).

But nobody cares about his one liners, they've thrown the entire WWE Franchise at him in an attempt to get him over, and he's still boring, lose for 20 minutes, super punch and spear, and TATER TOTS.

 

[MTL722]

I'm with the OP here. I really liked Roman I the shield. Always figured he'd be the guy they pushed to the moon and I was very surprised that Seth got his turn first. But Seth knocked it out of the park because....its 100 times easier to get over as a heel. Seth, as great as he is, would not be able to pull off his same run if he was a face

I really think that WWE has finally realized that the "less is more" approach should be used with Roman. Long promos just didn't work for him. Problem is, these short sound byte things aren't working either.

And don't get me started on the way he smiled at Lesnar after Lesnar destroyed everyone and F-5d him. It annoyed the shit out of me. You were just ganged up on by half the roster, at the behest of your boss, and then Lesnar comes out and picks apart what was left. Why are you smiling? For Christ's sake, be pissed off

 

[BuriedByCena]

Exactly! Roman smiling after getting beat down is a thing heels would do. He is basically mocking Lesnar, the fans and the entire roster. He is acting cocky and telling people "LOL, You can't hurt me. I am Super Roman and I always win!"

It's one thing when Lesnar laughs during a beating. It works for Lesnar because he is real. It comes natural. It doesn't work at all for Roman. All it does is make me hate him more which is the opposite of what wwe wants. Roman should be selling the beating and be angry. Instead he smiles and laughs?! Okay buddy!

It's the same thing with Cena when he says stuff like "Face to face with the man who runs the place". Cena doesn't care anymore. He is also acting cocky.

I guess you would end up like that when the entire company supports you and lets you Bury everyone because of your muscles! LOL

 

[L@RISANO]

And don't get me started on the way he smiled at Lesnar after Lesnar destroyed everyone and F-5d him. It annoyed the shit out of me. You were just ganged up on by half the roster, at the behest of your boss, and then Lesnar comes out and picks apart what was left. Why are you smiling? For Christ's sake, be pissed off

You clearly missed the WrestleMania 31 Main Event, didn't you? The match which was originally Brock vs Reigns, which never actually got a clear ending. A match which saw Brock smash Reigns again and again, and Reigns just... Smiled and Laughed in a rather taunting manner..


Quite simply, the ending of last RAW where Reigns smiled as Brock after being dropped by an F-5 was basically a "Call back" to Mania 31 and the match the two of them had. Tho, I do suppose you missed the part where Brock also clearly acknowledged Roman's smirking at him before he went to the back...



And then people wonder why WWE pay little attention to detail in their storylines and tend to 'leave out' history between 2 guys so many times. It's not like many 'fans' seem to actually remember stuff, so why should WWE be bothered...

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

You are comparing apples and oranges here? Y2Jobber is way higher than roman reigns and same with john semen! These 2 are main eventers something reigns isn t! Same goes for Seth Rollins and don t even go there Seth Rollins has more mic skills and in ring skills than this NON character from Phantom Zone Villains he is only good for showing some power moves and superman punch! The Shield is compared a lot to the Phantom Zone Villains Seth Rollins ( leader and General Zod 2000) Edge referred him as that! Reigns is NON the muscle head and no brain ! Dean Ambrose is URSA female one cause she was last and awful as a fighter as he is a jobber!
So no Reigns should lose the title to Brock Lesner as we saw the closing scene on RAW Lesner should win the RR and face Reigns part 2 @WM32as it makes more sense unless somehow miraculously Seth Rollins returns by WM32 and becomes a triple threat would be super awesome but far fetched!
He needs to turn heel and drop the title to the Tweener Brock Lesner! He s hungry and wants his title back now and it's been a year now!

It's too late for Roman. wwe ruined him. He will never win the audience over. Roman will be jeered no matter who he fights at Mania. Turn him heel and embrace the hate

 

[edgehead113]

Maybe Reigns just used a bad line in a promo because he's still young and you don't get great at promos overnight.

Maybe the line was scripted and it will mean something. I'm starting to think the latter is the case.

Reigns said "What if I win" and there was no real answer provided. Obviously he's still the champion. But who will face the champion at Mania if not the Rumble winner?

What is Reigns wins, does the SuperCena thing, whatever. Whether the crowd is hot for it or not, the match that will draw at Mania is Reigns vs. HHH. So Reigns wins and after the match he grabs the mic, calls out the McMahons, and Steph and VKM come out to the ramp looking pissed. Reigns says "I asked what would happen if I won, and now I'll tell you what's going to happen. I'm going to let HHH take all the time he needs to recover and get ready. I'm challenging him to a match at Wrestlemania, and I'll put the Title on the line (big pop). But IF I WIN, HHH and Stephanie are out of power"

This to me makes the match less predictable because obviously the Authority are showing no signs of leaving their on screen roles, and that Cena bullshit flopped when Rollins got the Authority reinstated.

But I can envision that storyline drawing money and keeping Reigns on his upward streak. I could also see them revisit some of what they teased last year and maybe have Rock/Rousey escort Reigns and be in his corner to counter Stephanie/Vince being in HHH's corner.

It also opens up a lot of possibilities for a finish that keeps Reigns hot and keeps the Authority around. One of those possibilities being John Cena turning heel to help the authority and screwing Reigns.

Those are my rambling thoughts. We complain Reigns is too scripted but then pay no mind to whether a certain word or phrase could be deliberate to set something up.

 

[Azane]

"What if I win" is going to be the tagline in the promo for the Royal Rumble, that's pretty much the only reason it was muttered.

 

[whoopin' ass]

What's been missing from Reigns is a reason for the crowd to get behind him. You have 2 types of champs in wwe - those management wants to push and those the fans choose. Guys like HBK, Austin, Foley and even the Rock to a degree are ones that the fans chose to get behind for whatever reason. They were not supposed to be champ(except for the Rock), they worked for years before being given the chance to be the top guy. Even with the Rock, fans rejected him and he had to work his way up. Then you get guys that management wants and get pushed -Batista, etc. These are the guys management is going to make champ and you are expected to get behind. Reigns is one of them. Remember when they were all in The Shield - Reigns was never the one they were talking about. Even when they split, it was still Rollins and Ambrose who had the bright future, not Reigns. Then he got hurt and suddenly he was going to be the bit star of the group because wwe said so and they started pushing him like crazy over guys that the fans liked. That was the problem all along - the fans had no reason to like him since wwe was going to make him champ anyways. I think that with them holding off almost a year before making him champ, they were able to somewhat get the fans to support him and that is why it seems better now. I also think with Daniel Bryan not on tv, the fans didn't have someone to support so they were more willing to back him. Put it together and you now have a champ the audience will support.

 

[Prince Vee]

"What if I win" is going to be the tagline in the promo for the Royal Rumble, that's pretty much the only reason it was muttered.

I know right, but the problem is, those Tag Lines are supposed to make the crowd to jump off their seats to give standing ovation, if not, should make them at least to cheer him over that. But it was lacklustre when he muttered the same. No crowd reaction or whatsoever.

 

[J.J.]

I know right, but the problem is, those Tag Lines are supposed to make the crowd to jump off their seats to give standing ovation, if not, should make them at least to cheer him over that. But it was lacklustre when he muttered the same. No crowd reaction or whatsoever.

But look at what you're comparing it to. Triple H is addressing the audience with his line, Y2J is playing to the crowd when he is saying is. Roman Reigns didn't present it as a catchphrase, emphasize on it or play it off to the crowd. I never viewed it as him playing to the crowd like when he says "Believe That".

 

[Prince Vee]

But look at what you're comparing it to. Triple H is addressing the audience with his line, Y2J is playing to the crowd when he is saying is. Roman Reigns didn't present it as a catchphrase, emphasize on it or play it off to the crowd. I never viewed it as him playing to the crowd like when he says "Believe That".

Did it sound like he was playing the crowd when he was delivering the Tater Tot promo? Nope absolutely not. But in the WWE creative's verdict it was supposed to be a phrase which the crowd plays with the piper. But it didn't happen. I'm just assuming the same that happened with what if I win promo as well. Vince might've expected the crowd to crazy but it didn't happen. If you watch that segment closely, you would've seen some changes in Vince's attitude after that no reaction. He sort of ****tered his words. I reckon he might've gone off the script as he didn't reply to the direct question. Perhaps it's my hunch.

 

[J.J.]

Perhaps it's your hunch is right. Maybe you're right, I don't know but I perceived it differently. I believe Reigns tater tot line and reference to potatoes were his attempt at humor. Even if it was corny.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

It was a creative tagline to sell the Royal Rumble and almost guaranteed to be scripted.

As for why the crowd didn't have a strong reaction, the blame is Reigns' lackluster mic skills.

Reigns is over, but until he improves his mic skills, he's not going to reach that next level.