While a genius move, WWE missed the boat big time

[That N Word]

At WrestleMania, WWE had Rollins cash in mid-match. IMO, they really ruined Reigns at the event. If he had one the title he would have been cemented as the 'Face' of WWE. He was winning fans over at the end of the match and they was slowly beginning to start cheering at the stuff he was doing. Picture this, Reigns wins the title and Brock teasing another assault shakes Reigns hand out of respect for the beating he took and turns face then. Rollins could have then attacked both following a pyro and hit Lesnar and Reigns with the briefcase before teasing a cash in and then curbs stomps Reigns. Before he can hand over the briefcase Lesnar get's up and F-5's him saving the cash in from happening and then say "I told you, no montreal screwjobs." Reigns then appears on the today show, ESPN, and a local radio interview. Reigns would have been cemented. But they had Rollins cash in and it really seemed to ruin him even worse mainly due to the beating he took. If anything he should have dominated the match due to his recent anger with Brock occasionally popping up with F-5's and suplex city. The best way they could have handled it since going with the Rollins cash in, if do a storyline where Reigns disappears for a while, while Brock is suspended and Rollins continues to feud with Orton. At Extreme Rules during the match he walks down the audience and takes a seat and watch looking depressed. After Rollins wins, Reigns begins to walk away while Rollins cause him a coward. At Payback, Rollins beats Orton again with Reigns watching in the crowd again. At MITB, Dean and Rollins faces off for the title in the main event and Roman is a surprise entrant in the MITB match and wins the case and disappears again after. During the main event both man are fighting in the crowd and get's double counted out following Reigns music playing for the distraction. At Battleground they face off again, with Reigns returning and sitting in the crowd again and both man are down. Reigns comes down and beats both with a chair and cashes in his briefcase and retains at Summerslam in a Shield Triple Threat, moves on to feud with Ambrose as Lesnar returns for Rollins. At NOC, Reigns (still a silent killer) def. Ambrose via stoppage. At NOC, Lesnar def. Rollins to get his rematch first. At HIAC, we get Reigns vs Lesnar II with Reigns dominating and finally winning and he beats him again at SSeries. He picks back up on his feud with Rollins and is still a silent killer and loses the title to him via help from Triple H The next night Reigns beats up everyone in his path because he can't find Triple H. At RR,Reigns def. Triple H and the next night RR Cena confronts him telling him this is not him. He let one little lost send him to the darkness. Cena say's he has been there, and it was a loss to Reigns own cousin The Rock. But you know what I did instead of becoming some guy who stayed silent and stayed in the background until a big match he fought and then he came back and whip The Rock's ass. Reigns hits a superman punch on Cena and spears him through the barricade and then beats him down in the crowd. Cena returns and challenges Reigns to Mania. Reigns wins against Cena and Cena passes the torch, the next night Reigns finally talks. In this Reigns isn't really a heel or face until Mania 32. Sorry I like to fantasy book but seriously. Do you think WWE missed the boat??? Would you have done the cash in at Mania??? How would you book Reigns from here???

 

[#1druid]

I don't know if he was winning the fans over so much as the people who did like him finally had something to cheer after he was getting his ass kicked for so long, not hating on him but you saw the same thing at summerslam people cheering brock the whole time but when Cena got offense the fans who were in Cena's corner came alive however briefly. Brock dominating or at least not getting dominated was the way to go. It maintains his mystique and keeps him an attraction while maintaining the respect of those who had been previously dominated by brock. The WWE can't call it's main event midway and Reigns' celebration ceremony would have likely been shit on, they had to at least assume it would be. Everyone came out of this match bigger except maybe Brock who at the very least didn't lose anything. Brock and Reigns were both down essentially equals, at least that was the story being told, when Seth came in. Reigns is a baby face he wouldn't wait to pick the bones he would spear Lesnar, then go after Seth, the ending made perfect sense and considering Extreme Rules is in Chicago they're likely to be anti-Roman as well, so him entering as champion would not go over well. Reigns should lose/not win the title at Extreme Rules, Seth should feud with Orton and Reigns should feud with The Authority or Rusev, people who get legit heat so the crowd will cheer Roman, at least in the WWE's mind. The fans need to see Roman drop down the card to drop their guard to cheering him, ascending back towards the main event. He might not be "the" guy but he can certainly be "a" guy. We'll see what happens.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

Damn man use pargraphs thats a painful block of text to read. Your idea sucks. You want Reigns of screen for months, then you want him to come back and win the title. No build? You realise the reason his career almost crashed and burned is because he wasnt built up right? He would get shit all over looking like he had been handed it again.
You want him to dominate Lesnar twice? No one should be doing that. The aura around Lesnar is unique don't squander it. The maine event on sunday was perfect imo. Nobody came out of it looking weak. It just a shame that some of the best moments have to come out of creative fuckingup in the first place.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't know if Reigns was winning people over so much as they were just flat out into the physical brutality of the match itself. It was a great match that showed Reigns has some legit toughness, the match told a great story and featured great use of psychology.

However, the fact remains that while Roman Reigns did show he can be tough when needed, he's still weak in terms of personality, promo ability and establishing a rapport with fans. I agree that the overall build for his match with Lesnar certainly didn't help him out any, but these are issues that were plaguing Reigns before Reigns won the Royal Rumble, during the build to WrestleMania and are currently still there. Putting the title on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania would've pretty much crippled his career because, as of right now, there are just too many fans who aren't into the notion of him being champion. Some feel the guy needs more experience, some feel he needs improving upon in some key areas and some just flat out don't like the poor guy just because Vince liked him. Reigns will never be able to win over everybody, no wrestler ever has or ever will win over everyone, but some are going to boo Reigns no matter what, unfortunately, out of some crackpot principles that doesn't really make any degree of sense.

At any rate, Roman Reigns probably won't be WWE World Heavyweight Champion anytime soon, nor should he be in my opinion. Just putting the title on him for the sake of seeing him champion and forcing him onto fans even more than Vince has already done will only make it more difficult.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

I think we're going to see Reigns Brock II - I'm not sure when or under what circumstances but I'd expect the build to be very different next time and the audience to be more receptive to it. I don't know if Reigns can afford to wait on that match though. I have him winning the Rumble again next year however.

I think Reigns is going to be fine, but I'm having a difficult time deciding whether or not to keep him in the title hunt at the moment.

I know he should be mad at the world though, going apeshit like Lesnar did probably would have been good for him too. I wouldn't have brought him back last night though to do it.

He needs to handle losses differently from Cena. There's a lot that can go into his character now. He's been screwed by Rollins big time, twice now, he got his ass kicked at Mania, the fans used to love him in the shield but turned on him. It's rough being Roman. It really is one versus all.

He needs to snap, maybe grab a planted fan on his way through the crowd and drag him to the ring and beat the shit out of him. That would satisfy me so much to see.

I'm so ready for a Roman heel turn, just throw this shit back in fans faces. Lash out at everybody, beat up Dean Ambrose - "I thought you said you'd never let Rollins cash in his MITB".

 

[XXJJ]

I think they made the best decision. Rollins is the best heel besides Lesnar.

They used Rock and every big name on the current roster to help put Reigns over and it didn't work. Giving him the title at WM would of been a disaster.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

Roman fans have been burned in the fire, they've created the next Cena in it only took them 4 months to do it and unlike Cena, Roman can be an amoral tweener.

I wanna see Reigns beat the shit out of somebody at a bar. When Cena lost to the Rock they didn't change a damn thing about his character but they wanted the audience to believe this was a dark period for him. They have a chance to radically grow Reigns' character and I hope they do it. He got screwed and nobody cares, I'd have a field day with this.

There's any number of ways they can go with this with any number of people.

 

[rbv13]

At WrestleMania, WWE had Rollins cash in mid-match. IMO, they really ruined Reigns at the event. If he had one the title he would have been cemented as the 'Face' of WWE. He was winning fans over at the end of the match and they was slowly beginning to start cheering at the stuff he was doing.[/B]

This is where I stopped reading. I am assuming this is all I needed to form a counter opinion. The rout they chose was the best for all parties involved.

-It brought closure to a very long and uneventful Money in the Bank run.
-They were able to move the title to the biggest heel in the company.
-They protected their biggest special attraction.
-They were even able to protect the not quite ready for primetime future face of the company. Reigns was able to show some serious hart, fight and a little ability. In the end what should have been his moment was stolen. It is perfect fuel for a baby face in his eventual chase of Rollins.

 

[Navi]

I have to agree, use paragraphs for crying out loud.

On topic. The Reigns character isn't working like it should for the reasons that Jack-Hammer laid out. I've never been a huge advocate of turning someone heel for the reason "just because", but in this case it's warranted.

A friend of mine was at Mania and RAW last night. I spoke to him this morning, and he told me the boo's were deafening for Reigns at both shows. The fans hated him. We didn't hear it because the WWE must have muted the crowd mic's, so it's time to change direction here.

If he's going to get booed then let him get booed for the most logical reason, he's a heel. I wouldn't be taking him off TV for long periods of time, it didn't work before. He needs to be out there tearing through the roster, taking the faces down one at a time.

What I would love to see is in a couple of months, have Cena issue another open challenge for the US title, and have Reigns come out and just destroy him. That would do a lot to getting the fans back on his side, and he could carry the title right through to Summerslam and maybe beyond. Cut back on his promo's, and just let him showcase what he knows and what he can do.

Also keep him out of the main event picture for awhile. Have Rollins feud with Orton and Lesnar in the meantime. You can flip Reigns face again later in the year, but he needs to get the connection back with the fans that he's lost. It's not going to happen the way he's going now. And get him away from friggin Big Show and these 6 man tag team matches.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

This is where I stopped reading. I am assuming this is all I needed to form a counter opinion. The rout they chose was the best for all parties involved.

-It brought closure to a very long and uneventful Money in the Bank run.
-They were able to move the title to the biggest heel in the company.
-They protected their biggest special attraction.
-They were even able to protect the not quite ready for primetime future face of the company. Reigns was able to show some serious hart, fight and a little ability. In the end what should have been his moment was stolen. It is perfect fuel for a baby face in his eventual chase of Rollins.

Great points, I'd like to see how his reactions are once they get away from the "We Are Awesome" crowds. Casual fans actually understand what took place at Mania. The guy got screwed, I expect him to get screwed over a few more times by Rollins, I hope they find a way to turn the haters into heels since they want to be part of the show so much. Have a segment where Hogan or someone comes up to him and tells him not to let the boos get to him. Mark Henry is the only guy who gave him a pep talk but Daniel Bryan had every IC title holder congratulating him at Wrestemania.

 

[#1druid]

Great points, I'd like to see how his reactions are once they get away from the "We Are Awesome" crowds. Casual fans actually understand what took place at Mania. The guy got screwed, I expect him to get screwed over a few more times by Rollins, I hope they find a way to turn the haters into heels since they want to be part of the show so much. Have a segment where Hogan or someone comes up to him and tells him not to let the boos get to him. Mark Henry is the only guy who gave him a pep talk but Daniel Bryan had every IC title holder congratulating him at Wrestemania.

Daniel Bryan also put Reigns over huge both in match and promo, and Paul Heyman sang his praises for a month but I digress. Reigns winning would have done horrible damage to his career as he's not ready. However whether Lesnar or Reigns was winning was never answered which protects both men. Reigns himself should turn heel even if it's a righteous heel, I.e. You turned on me first. He won't though and I imagine Reigns will chase but not win, then transition into a feud with HHH which might actually get Reigns cheered, then Seth should get his ass beat at summerslam by Lesnar but get dqed or something allowing whoever wins mitb this year to cash in.

If they're determined to keep Reigns face and actually want him to get over in a huge feud, he should either feud with Cena or a heel Rock. Imagine if the Rock starts taking the Roman hate personally and starts taking people out when they disrespect Roman and cutting promos on the fans hating roman, but Roman tells Rock to stop it's one vs all, he doesn't want or need the Rock's help, Rock pretends to understand but then takes out Roman leading to a Mania match.

 

[L@RISANO]

Last night, I saw the F'n Big Show get cheered when he went for a chokeslam on Reigns. It is clear that his haters are gonna hate. However, whilst I understand the story being told last night was that both Brock and Roman went toe to toe against each other and thus both appeared on RAW ready to fight... it would have been better if Roman took this week off and came out to hunt Rollins starting next week.

Last night should have been centred around the Current Champion and the former Champion and honestly, the first half of the show reflected that brilliantly.
.. I felt it should have ended with Brock wrecking the entire Main Event once again and being somehow forcefully taken out of the building to start his "suspension".


However, based on what I saw last night, Roman will continue to be pushed as the new Babyface Superman, majority crowd reaction be damned. I for one, pity Joe Anoa'i because he's almost fighting a losing battle out there when logical booking for the next year is all he needs to get back on track.

 

[Navi]

If they're determined to keep Reigns face and actually want him to get over in a huge feud, he should either feud with Cena or a heel Rock. Imagine if the Rock starts taking the Roman hate personally and starts taking people out when they disrespect Roman and cutting promos on the fans hating roman, but Roman tells Rock to stop it's one vs all, he doesn't want or need the Rock's help, Rock pretends to understand but then takes out Roman leading to a Mania match.

Keeping him face is the worst move they could make right now, and feuding with the Rock is even worse. The Rock is the one who has tried to deflect the heat from him since the Rumble, and with his sporadic appearances fans will forget and it becomes disingenuous. Fans will see through it in a New York minute and will boo him even louder.

Somewhere along the line there has been a disconnect between the fans and Reigns, and that has to be fixed if this guy is ever going to main event again. It could be that they saw him as being Vince's guy and were determined not to like it, maybe it's because he's too new or maybe their all just a bunch of fuckwits, who knows.

The fact is the WWE had to change horses in the middle of the stream for the main event at Mania two years in a row, and the crowd noise had to be silenced to protect this guy. Everyone and their brother has tried to put him over the way he is and it's still not working. Turn him heel and let the fans continue to boo him, but for the logical reason he's a heel, and that's what you do to heels.

 

[XXJJ]

Last night, I saw the F'n Big Show get cheered when he went for a chokeslam on Reigns. It is clear that his haters are gonna hate. However, whilst I understand the story being told last night was that both Brock and Roman went toe to toe against each other and thus both appeared on RAW ready to fight... it would have been better if Roman took this week off and came out to hunt Rollins starting next week.

Last night should have been centred around the Current Champion and the former Champion and honestly, the first half of the show reflected that brilliantly.
.. I felt it should have ended with Brock wrecking the entire Main Event once again and being somehow forcefully taken out of the building to start his "suspension".


However, based on what I saw last night, Roman will continue to be pushed as the new Babyface Superman, majority crowd reaction be damned. I for one, pity Joe Anoa'i because he's almost fighting a losing battle out there when logical booking for the next year is all he needs to get back on track.

The Raw main event last night was just filler. They need to desperately go back to 2 hours. I thought they should of kept Orton and Reigns off tv and not brought Rollins back out again. Sometimes less is better. They should of just did Sting interview or saved the Lesnar segment for the main event slot.

 

[#1druid]

Keeping him face is the worst move they could make right now, and feuding with the Rock is even worse. The Rock is the one who has tried to deflect the heat from him since the Rumble, and with his sporadic appearances fans will forget and it becomes disingenuous. Fans will see through it in a New York minute and will boo him even louder.

Somewhere along the line there has been a disconnect between the fans and Reigns, and that has to be fixed if this guy is ever going to main event again. It could be that they saw him as being Vince's guy and were determined not to like it, maybe it's because he's too new or maybe their all just a bunch of fuckwits, who knows.

The fact is the WWE had to change horses in the middle of the stream for the main event at Mania two years in a row, and the crowd noise had to be silenced to protect this guy. Everyone and their brother has tried to put him over the way he is and it's still not working. Turn him heel and let the fans continue to boo him, but for the logical reason he's a heel, and that's what you do to heels.

I don't disagree with the idea that keeping him face is a bad idea, I just seriously doubt they will turn him heel, they've had two perfect opportunities (against DB and Lesnar) and elected not to. However you're probably right about my idea, I'm just not seeing them turning him heel and if they're not I can't think of many ways he's not SOL going forward.

 

[L@RISANO]

The Raw main event last night was just filler. They need to desperately go back to 2 hours. I thought they should of kept Orton and Reigns off tv and not brought Rollins back out again. Sometimes less is better. They should of just did Sting interview or saved the Lesnar segment for the main event slot.

Indeed, it was filler... but the entire show should have been build around Brock and his anger at Seth Rollins for sneakily cashing in at Mania. Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins is the obvious direction, but that could have been kept back for a week and just like how the Mania Main Event booking made Brock, Roman and Seth look good coming out of it, last night's RAW should have seen Roman off for the week, whilst Brock went apeshit on everyone in his pursuit of Seth Rollins and the WWE WHC.


Basically, book everything the same way... except, Reigns isn't selected by Orton, rather he picks someone else(Mark Henry perhaps?) in his team(because Reigns isn't there) and the Main Event begins.
At some point, have a furious Brock Lesnar come back out again(even though he was suspended earlier), and destroy Big Show and Kane before Stephanie sends the whole Heel Roster, Security, etc. in order to get Brock out of the building to start his suspension.



Brock is off TV until close to SummerSlam basically, and Roman Reigns would take over the hunting of "TraitorFace" Seth Rollins starting next week... Job done.