What to do with Roman.... not that?

[Navi]

We've all been speculating on his feud with Big Show. When will it last, is it over soon, what was the whole point, and so on and so forth? Well it looks like it might, and I say might come to a conclusion this weekend at Extreme Rules, maybe. For Christ's sake let it be over this weekend and put us out of our misery. I regress.

So where does Reigns go from here? Now he needs a feud with some bite too it, he needs to get the fans back on his side, he needs a feud that is going to propel him into the main event picture again. Am I right? According to the main page, and I have no idea what percentage of correct information gets put out there, Reigns next feud is already being discussed.

That's right behind closed doors at the WWE his next feud will be against the person who meets all the above criteria. He'll be feuding with.........Kane!!!! Not Bray Wyatt, not Sheamus, not Bad New Barrett in other words not anyone exciting, but he'll be feuding with Kane. Of all the people on the roster Kane is the last person I would have picked.

After Kane's shenanigans on RAW last night, and the fact he was cheered for his actions against Rollins, is Kane really the one to get the fans behind Reigns. What the hell is going on, has creative left the building and didn't tell anyone?

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

If Kane wasn't in the midst of a(nother) face turn, I'd say this made perfect sense: have Reigns plough through the Authority one by one until he gets Rollins in a title match. But I just can't see the point since they are actively portraying dissension between Kane and Rollins.

More likely now, given the leaked Payback trailer, is that Reigns enters a triple threat with Rollins & Orton, which presumably will lead to a face v face Orton v Reigns Summerslam rematch at Battleground

 

[Mitch Henessey]

It's safe to say Reigns' push is on the backburner now, and I get the feeling WWE is taking careful steps to keep the fans from completely turning on Reigns.

For the time being, Reigns' current path is the right choice. Reigns needs more time to build himself up as a character, so forcing or pushing Reigns into a prominent role again too soon could backfire.

As far as Kane goes, my only guess is WWE setting the wheels in motion for a face turn, and maybe Kane and Reigns will join forces as allies to fight a common enemy.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I'm pretty sure Kane's supposed face turn is all smoke and mirrors for Kane to help Rollins retain. Kane is a very experienced competitor and not a bad guy to learn from, but he's go no heat. He's a stooge now, and hasn't done anything evil. All he's done is not get along with the people he should be getting along with the most, Rollins and Big Show.

A feud with Kane won't hurt Reigns just as much as it won't get anywhere. Maybe if Masked Kane had been around and built some real heat, setting Bryan's beard on fire or something that would generate real heat. I'd rather see Reigns fight a heel that has some heat with the crowd. Stardust has more heat with the Cody chants, I actually wouldn't mind seeing that feud. Even Bo Dallas has more heat than Kane right now. Christian returning as heel would be a great feud for Reigns too, although I don't think Roman is equipped to protect the veteran.

Reigns needs some meaningful wins. Aside from Lesnar and Rollins, there's one other guy that's been booked as the top heel, and he's been undefeated in that spot since before his heel turn at Summerslam 2013. I'm talking about Triple H of course. It's beyond me why Triple H hasn't put over Roman. Losing to Roman prior to fighting Sting wouldn't have affected Vince's I beat WCW penis showing game.

Other feuds I would consider for Reigns in the near future would be Rusev or Cena. Not saying Roman gets involved in the US title scene but decisive wins over either, especially Cena would be good for Reigns.

Roman has been getting better crowd reactions. Limit his mic time, let his fist do the talking. Let him run through some opponents with heat. Sheamus, Triple H, Stardust, and Cena are all opponents that should be considered, and I'd put the other men aside from Rhodes in the need category.

 

[Hayabusa]

I like to believe that Reigns will take on Trips in his rise to Rollins. Slow build him through all of it. Get the fans behind him. Have the Authority hold him down. He failed to beat Lesnar. Who did? Rollins. Who's the face of the company? Rollins. Have them start holding him down after a couple of wins. All through this if anyone tries to help Reigns. Have Reigns overcome some odds.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Not Bray Wyatt, not Sheamus, not Bad New Barrett in other words not anyone exciting, but he'll be feuding with Kane.

As I see it, the company is tearing Roman down somewhat in order to build him back up. It's a tricky proposition, as they want to keep him dangerous while giving him opponents who will help him gain the experience he needs to advance to where they hoped he would have been by WM31. That's why his latest effort has been against Big Show. Unless they plan to make Roman-Show a series of matches, we're pretty certain Roman isn't going to lose, right? Still, Big Show is always a dangerous foe....and that's what Roman needs at this point. Squash matches will do nothing for his image or development.

Next? Unlike the OP, I was thinking Sheamus or Bray Wyatt would fit the bill nicely. They're rough & tough; good ring workers who have had enough success to make a victory over them an important event.

I see no point in putting Roman in against Daniel Bryan again (presuming his availability) because Roman has been there already.....and Reigns needs bigger, stronger opposition to get him back to main event level. He needs to engage in wars against big guys to show he's ready & able to advance past the loss to Brock.

Could Kane do the job, too? I suppose he could, but after having dealt with Big Show, it seems Roman doesn't need another almost-retired, talent enhancement opponent.

Sheamus or Bray would be great at this point in Roman Reigns' career.

 

[Navi]

Next? Unlike the OP, I was thinking Sheamus or Bray Wyatt would fit the bill nicely. They're rough & tough; good ring workers who have had enough success to make a victory over them an important event.

Could Kane do the job, too? I suppose he could, but after having dealt with Big Show, it seems Roman doesn't need another almost-retired, talent enhancement opponent.

Sheamus or Bray would be great at this point in Roman Reigns' career.

No Sally, that's what I meant, instead of putting him with BNB, Sheamus or Wyatt, you know wrestlers that he can have good matches with, they stick him with Kane.

Now Kane can still go in the ring, but he's not the Kane of before, and never will be again. That's not his fault, he's almost 50 years old. Reigns needs younger competitor's who can match his speed and power. Sheamus would be perfect and the crowd hates him. They would have no option but to side with Roman. They seem to like Wyatt and BNB, so maybe they wouldn't good for him after all. But Sheamus even though I can't stand him, would be perfect.

Kane has too many other irons in the fire right now anyway. He's still the Director of Operations, Rollins protector and HHH's go to guy. He should be taking care of the entire roster not just focusing on one wrestler. Besides Reigns isn't a threat to the Authority right now, when creative decides it's time for him to go after Rollins, then Kane should step in. If he feuds with Kane now and beats him, then what the point of using Kane as a roadblock later.

 

[MartialHorror]

NOOOOOOOOOO!

I don't think they will go through with this, but if they do...I'm cancelling the network. It annoys me that WWE hasn't realized how 'Reigns Vs Big Show' is part of what derailed Reigns in the eyes of fans in the first place. The matches were boring because Show works best with stronger guys (who can lift him) and Reigns needs faster paced guys. And yet despite their matches being booed to the point where fans turned on Reigns, they have a match at Extreme Rules.

Yet Kane is arguably worse because he's been booked as a weakling. Big Show, like him or not, at least is always treated like he's a dangerous foe. He's booked as the guy who can take out pretty much anyone except whoever is about to become a WHC contender. Kane rarely wins solo matches. This would be a major step down for Reigns, even though the matches probably would be a little better. The reason for this is Kane's style is always the same, heel or face, while Show tends to be faster paced as the good guy (see his matches with Rusev).

I'd rather see Reigns take on Stardust, Miz or Harper before Kane. Although I'd personally have Reigns feud with Rusev.

 

[OYDK]

I strongly feel like WWE is booking this Roman/Show feud all wrong and will continue it with Kane. This program could be so much better given some real merit and reason because the build really hasn't been that bad. Why the hell is Show chasing Roman? "I want to make you the biggest failure in history"... why exactly? He already pinned him in January.

Roman should have been the one targeting Show for constantly screwing him around the past 4 months. Instead of simply trying to get Show off his back, Reigns should be aiming to end his career "one way or another" at Extreme Rules. Even if Show isn't really "retiring", a break would be beneficial to everybody.

Same goes for Kane if he's not turning. Have Roman become "The People's Liberator" (nudge nudge) by getting rid of both Show and Kane for a few months. Than he can safely move on to Rollins or HHH.

EDIT: Than again, I wouldn't be surprised if these reports are falsely leaked and instead of Wyatt/Ryback and Kane/Reigns we get Wyatt/Reigns and Ryback/Kane. WWE has done this in the past to throw the predictability factor out the window.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Normally I'd be the guy saying calm down, and just watch the shows, I bet something good will come of this, it just a transition to his next program or a building block or something. But not this time, Reigns has been handled with all the grace of the "All American" Lex Luger. They might as well get him a SWAT van to travel the country in, like Lex's bus.
The dude is super talented and has probably been wrestling since before he could walk. His promos have shown improvement and it seems the IWC and live crowds are slowly coming around to him. IDK why they wanna go back down that road. Don't have him in the Authority cycle of Big Show, Kane, and Rollins over and over again.

He's got a chance to grow organically now, let him feud with 2-3 different top mid carders until Summerslam and maybe he'll have enough fan support to win the title there. Just turn him loose and lets see what he's got, Just like they did The Rock.

 

[ADLegend21]

Roman should be the one to tear the Authority down. I remember seeing that Dolph was put his Survivor series spot because of his injury so Roman was apparently supposed to be the one to tear the authority down, so let him do it. Let him end the overstayed storyline with a bang instead of a whimper. As much as it pains me to say it, he should have a feud with Kane to set up a feud for Rollins where he's taking out the Authority one at a time then Hunter screws him out of a title win and then he faces Hunter at Summerslam with a "you lose the Authority is out for real" stipulation and beat the COO to send him packing for good.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Beating the Authority really does provide a good opportunity for him to get over well. If you like them even one iota, you are definitely in the minority. Talk about stale. John Cena might be going on top for 10 years now. The evil boss storyline has been going on for what feels like forever, and in multiple wrestling companies.

 

[mkw1962]

Roman is getting much better on the mic and in the ring. The fans are starting to cheer him more, now he just needs some good feuds. Kane might not be that bad he is not turning face it is all just a game, he will help Seth win on Sunday and possibly help Big Show as well which will start the Kane/Roman feud. I think Roman needs to feud with guys like Sheamus and Bray they could really help push Roman. It is smart to keep Roman in the Title hunt by putting him in a triple threat match next month, but do not have him win yet.

 

[kadroan]

We've all been speculating on his feud with Big Show. When will it last, is it over soon, what was the whole point, and so on and so forth? Well it looks like it might, and I say might come to a conclusion this weekend at Extreme Rules, maybe. For Christ's sake let it be over this weekend and put us out of our misery. I regress.

So where does Reigns go from here? Now he needs a feud with some bite too it, he needs to get the fans back on his side, he needs a feud that is going to propel him into the main event picture again. Am I right? According to the main page, and I have no idea what percentage of correct information gets put out there, Reigns next feud is already being discussed.

That's right behind closed doors at the WWE his next feud will be against the person who meets all the above criteria. He'll be feuding with.........Kane!!!! Not Bray Wyatt, not Sheamus, not Bad New Barrett in other words not anyone exciting, but he'll be feuding with Kane. Of all the people on the roster Kane is the last person I would have picked.

After Kane's shenanigans on RAW last night, and the fact he was cheered for his actions against Rollins, is Kane really the one to get the fans behind Reigns. What the hell is going on, has creative left the building and didn't tell anyone?

Kane like Show, is another superstar fans can't seriously as a threat. We just seen Ryback run through Kane at TLC. We just seen Cena beat Kane on RAW. I could see if this was 10 years ago. Kane, like Show, lost a step in the ring.

If there going to have Kane feud with Reigns, Reigns need to dominate him like Cena does. Kane cannot be taken seriously. Now if Kane had his mask back on then maybe we could see something like the late 2012/early 2013 Kane vs. Cena feud but Kane of right now, no excuse for Reigns not to run through him.

I'd love to see him feud with Sheamus, get in the IC title picture, replace Bryan as the face of the division.

 

[Wald]

It looks terrible on paper, Reigns moving from headlining Wrestlemania against Brock Lesnar to fighting Big Show (again) and now Kane but it actually highlights WWE's biggest problem more than anything. I know Kane has no heat on him right now but can you tell me one heel in the WWE that has heat that isn't named Seth Rollins? Sheamus is being built back up and is on the right track but he needs some work still before he could absorb a loss to Reigns. Bray Wyatt is in huge danger of being permanently stuck in the midcard if he doesn't start winning meaningful feuds. Bad News Barrett is below the standard Reigns needs to be fighting right now too. Rusev has heat I guess but we'll see what's left of that if Cena beats him in their chain match. If Rusev loses that feud he can't be fed to Reigns anyway.

WWE really needs to think about turning some of their high midcard faces heel. You have the likes of Ambrose, Reigns himself and Ziggler floating around doing nothing so why not turn one of them and see if it works? WWE should also consider pushing Samoa Joe past NXT and straight on to the main roster as a high midcard heel too. I know they probably won't but Joe has the experience to make it work without having to be in NXT for a while. Have Joe come in against Reigns and set up a Summerslam match, let Reigns win it because he has more upside than Joe at this stage and then move Joe off to a winning feud against someone like Orton to help him establish himself whilst Reigns can then go up against Sheamus.