Why isn't Reigns feuding with Rollins?

[Navi]

Okay hear me out on this one. The Royal Rumble is 5 short weeks away, and by all accounts Roman Reigns is rumoured to win it. That means he's heading into Wrestlemania 31 with a shot at the WWE Title.

Now I think most of us can agree here that he's not ready, both in the ring and on the mic. That being said however, McMahon wants a new face of the WWE and he's picked Reigns over Ambrose and Ziggler.

So herein lies the issue. Reigns was part of the best factions ever and was white hot when they broke up. Even although Ambrose and Rollins where booked well, Reigns became known as the guy who finished tag matches. He never really seemed to come into his own, or was he allowed to stand on his own two feet. They always wanted to prop him up with either Cena or Sheamus. Then he got injured and was out for about three months.

Now a lot of people thought he would come back to a huge pop because fans would miss him. That happened, he did get a huge pop, but it didn't seem to last very long. Now we're hearing that fans are again booing him and they're chanting "Boring" during his matches. Quite honestly his matches haven't been great, first Fandango and now Big Show.

That brings me to the subject of this thread. If they want Reigns to go into Mania as the challenger, he needs the fans behind him like they were with Daniel Bryan. Now I don't think he's going to reach that level with the fans, but if he can get the majority on his side who cares about the stragglers.

So why are they having him in a feud with Big Show? No one gives a shit about Big Show, so they turn off during the matches no matter who he's against. Why not put Rollins against Reigns? This would not only build heat for Rollins but the fans would get behind Reigns like they did with Ambrose. Plus didn't Reigns promise that he was coming after Rollins when he returned. It's like he's totally forgotten about that.

Now I'm not saying he should be beating Rollins at all. Have Rollins use every dirty trick in the book to win every time. Reigns with get the sympathy and Rollins the heat. With the history between the two this feud writes itself. I'm stunned that creative hasn't used it yet considering what they see happening. His booking has been horrible since the day the Shield split up.

So what do you guys think?

 

[kadroan]

WWE is booking Reigns weird. He did satellite promos and even mentioned Rollins' name yet during TLC, he didn't even touch Rollins, instead he went after Big Show. I could understand if Sting would have done it since he's supposed to be the hero of the WWE but Reigns actually has personal history with Rollins.

Reigns feuding with Big Show doesn't help. I guess WWE thinks their fans' memory isn't that good.

 

[Navi]

I'm afraid our memory is much better than Reigns trying to remember his lines.

Totally agree, he's never been booked properly since the beginning of his singles run, and it's hurt him. I really thought he would go for Rollins when he came back. Just don't get what they are doing with him, and they don't have a lot of time for farting around here.

 

[chicagokmc]

If they are finally ready to start the singles push of Reigns while continuing the push of Rollins as top heel, then it makes sense that they do not cross paths. See Dean Ambrose. He went up against Rollins and in order to keep Rollins push going he ended up getting the best of Ambrose in matches. Ambrose's current character could withstand that, and they worked in his current opponent Wyatt in a screw job ending to explain why Ambrose no longer wanted to fight Rollins. Point is, Rollins vs Reings would set one of these guys back and I don't think WWE wants to do that right now. They can always work in the Shield break up revenge angle and it would make sense.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

I think we are in for a big time swerve.
Reigns winning the rumble would culminate a run of very very mediocre and predictable product barring one 10 minute segment featuring Sting.

Ziggler, Barrett, or Ambrose win the rumble.

 

[Prince Vee]

I don't understand either. As soon as the shield broke up it was just Ambrose who feuded with Rollins and Roman just started chasing the WWE title. He was threatening Vickie to do some dumb shits or I don't know.

And if you're still saying he got a huge pop when he returned in TLC then it's a libel. He didn't even get the pop that Dolph got earlier in that show.

As long as WWE tries to push Roman down our throat he's gonna get "Let's go Roman" "Roman sucks" chants pretty early than Cena got

 

[stingray11214]

They are protecting BOTH Rollins and Reigns. They need to keep both strong so they can have that feud after WM31. They can't have that war if they are beating each other up now. Ambrose is going to be a tweener in the Austin mold, and he will chase both of them. However, RAW is still, for all intents and purposes, The John Cena Show. It will be a few years when that is broken down as one of the three I mentioned rise up.

 

[MartialHorror]

I feel one of the problems with WWE right now is that it lacks patience in regards to putting together important feuds, but then takes forever in ending them. 'Rollins Vs Ambrose' went from awesome to frustrating because it was the same shit on a weekly basis for seemingly forever. 'Bray vs Ambrose' was then designed during a period where neither could really afford a loss.

I think that's the problem with 'Reigns vs Rollins'. I'm curious what the original plans were, but I never felt their feud would've gone for more than a month. It would've acted as padding until Reigns fought Triple H. Sort of like when the Shield fought the Wyatts- only there to set up the Shield Vs the Authority.

Navi believes that losing can be a way to get someone over and maybe she's right. I personally don't feel that way as fans turned on Cena for losing to Lesnar, gave up on Wyatt after being squashed by Cena and losing streaks tend to be forshadowing for burials. When the losses became part of Swagger and Sandows storylines, it lead to very low points of their career, only saved by a face turn and a repackaging. Although Swaggers subsequent losing streak as a face has arguably brought him back down.

I want to see Roman Reigns Vs Rollins as their one match together was awesome, proving that Reigns can be carried through an exceptional match. But I don't think it should happen now.

 

[Just Zay'n]

I think we are in for a big time swerve.
Reigns winning the rumble would culminate a run of very very mediocre and predictable product barring one 10 minute segment featuring Sting.

Ziggler, Barrett, or Ambrose win the rumble.

Ziggler doesn't win the Rumble. He's the IC champ. Running with the assumption that they won't let him be both IC and WWE champ, he'd drop it before 'Mania which would crush his momentum and make him look weak, especially if Lesnar was to be his opponent. I think this Rumble is actually quite unpredictable, since Reigns winning it would just be way, way too predictable (although I suppose that didn't stop them with Batista...). I personally really want to see Cesaro win it, Cesaro vs. Lesnar actually seems pretty sweet.

As for Reigns, a good choice could be to beat Rusev for the US title - Cena's push began with a US title win at WM20, why can't they do a similar thing for Reigns? It'd accomplish a lot - making him look like a beast, while keeping him away from the WWEWHC for now.

 

[Navi]

Navi believes that losing can be a way to get someone over and maybe she's right. I personally don't feel that way as fans turned on Cena for losing to Lesnar, gave up on Wyatt after being squashed by Cena and losing streaks tend to be forshadowing for burials. When the losses became part of Swagger and Sandows storylines, it lead to very low points of their career, only saved by a face turn and a repackaging. Although Swaggers subsequent losing streak as a face has arguably brought him back down.

I want to see Roman Reigns Vs Rollins as their one match together was awesome, proving that Reigns can be carried through an exceptional match. But I don't think it should happen now.

The reason I believe it in Reigns case is look what happened to Ambrose. He consistently lost almost every match he's had, and watch the crowd reaction to him. He's one of the most over guys on the roster and he's done nothing except have great matches and loses every one of them.

With Reigns everyone says he's like Cena, a powerhouse that never loses, even though he doesn't have the talent he wins all the time. In other words he's being shoved down our throats. What if he got into a feud with a huge heel, not Big Show, and was screwed out of every match. Just when it looked like he was going to win, someone would interfere or something would happen and he's fucked. The fans would rally to his defense, he would become a huge underdog and over with the fans.

I'm just throwing an idea out there, I mean shit they have to do something with him, what they've done just isn't working. Poor guy gets injured, comes back, stuck with Big Show, and he gets boo'd. Mitigate your damages here, put him in a feud where he becomes a loser, at the same time he actually becomes a winner. Big Show isn't that guy to do it for him. Rollins would be perfect, and I don't believe this shit that their path shouldn't cross. A small feud to get things started would elevate both of them to new heights.

I really like Reigns, and want to see him succeed, the way he's going right now, he's not going too. I said on another thread, once the fans turn on him, he doesn't have the experience or the fortitude to withstand that, not yet anyway. He doesn't have the where with all to turn that into a benefit and feed off it like Cena does, it could well ruin a promising career.

 

[OYDK]

Perhaps they're holding out on this feud until after Mania season where they can insert the WWEWHC into the mix? I'm of the opinion that WWE is not illogical enough to give Reigns the title at Wrestlemania... I just don't see it happening. Now don't get me wrong, I do see Reigns winning the Rumble and going on to defeat Lesnar at Mania, but I wholly believe that Seth Rollins will walk out as WWE Champion via his MITB briefcase. WWE is prone to make some bad and irrational decisions now and then, but when it comes to something as big as Mania and the next "guy", I don't think Vince and HHH will screw around with that.

I've really been seeing this RTW as Seth Rollins' push instead of Reigns' tbh. Rollins regularly begins the show (Raw, Smackdown, etc) and also closes the show the majority of the time... Usually that's what the WWE Champion would do (but seeing as we don't really have one right now...). I think after Rollins cashes in on Reigns, they will write Roman off TV for a couple weeks so he gets a big pop when he returns. At that point I think they begin to feud for the title.

 

[L@RISANO]

Okay hear me out on this one. The Royal Rumble is 5 short weeks away, and by all accounts Roman Reigns is rumoured to win it. That means he's heading into Wrestlemania 31 with a shot at the WWE Title.

Now I think most of us can agree here that he's not ready, both in the ring and on the mic. That being said however, McMahon wants a new face of the WWE and he's picked Reigns over Ambrose and Ziggler.

So herein lies the issue. Reigns was part of the best factions ever and was white hot when they broke up. Even although Ambrose and Rollins where booked well, Reigns became known as the guy who finished tag matches. He never really seemed to come into his own, or was he allowed to stand on his own two feet. They always wanted to prop him up with either Cena or Sheamus. Then he got injured and was out for about three months.

Now a lot of people thought he would come back to a huge pop because fans would miss him. That happened, he did get a huge pop, but it didn't seem to last very long. Now we're hearing that fans are again booing him and they're chanting "Boring" during his matches. Quite honestly his matches haven't been great, first Fandango and now Big Show.

That brings me to the subject of this thread. If they want Reigns to go into Mania as the challenger, he needs the fans behind him like they were with Daniel Bryan. Now I don't think he's going to reach that level with the fans, but if he can get the majority on his side who cares about the stragglers.

So why are they having him in a feud with Big Show? No one gives a shit about Big Show, so they turn off during the matches no matter who he's against. Why not put Rollins against Reigns? This would not only build heat for Rollins but the fans would get behind Reigns like they did with Ambrose. Plus didn't Reigns promise that he was coming after Rollins when he returned. It's like he's totally forgotten about that.

Now I'm not saying he should be beating Rollins at all. Have Rollins use every dirty trick in the book to win every time. Reigns with get the sympathy and Rollins the heat. With the history between the two this feud writes itself. I'm stunned that creative hasn't used it yet considering what they see happening. His booking has been horrible since the day the Shield split up.

So what do you guys think?

In your one sentence, you summed up the main problem of Roman Reigns' entire singles run.


Roman Reigns has been booked as unbeatable as Brock Lesnar has been which means they are building for a logical Immovable Object vs Unstoppable Force WrestleMania event, which should see Reigns go over the 1 in 21-1 in clean fashion.


However, the journey towards that has been nothing short of atrocious and a huge momentum killer for Reigns.
From not ever really helping Ambrose and keeping at least some sort of connection with the Shield member who should still be an Ally has been puzzling.
Coupled that with regular matches vs Kane, Rusev and Big Show amongst others when clearly he has worked better with the likes of Del Rio and Rollins is also puzzling and makes no sense as the latter clearly shows that he can have a good match but is not yet at the level where he can dictate the pace.


Also, saddling him with all of 4 moves, when from his FCW videos, it is clear he knows more also brings up questions.
Lastly, the forced mic time...and the fact he is clearly getting his entire promo scripted and handed to him and is basically being told to read it off word for word whilst delivering it like a No-Nonsense BadAss character should... does that even make sense? To besides, the couple times he has clearly gone off-script, the fans have absolutely ate it up,lMO.


Of course, those who are against the Roman Reigns push, won't ever analyse all of that stuff at all.
For instance, Dean Ambrose started his Singles career as the hero in distress going after TraitorFace who betrayed him And Reigns. That there, is booking 101 on how to get someone to be over with the fans, and it clearly worked. Imagine Ambrose had instead been saddled with going after Kane, whilst Reigns got to go after Rollins... I am sure we would be singing a different tune today.




As I said in another thread: With Big Show as stale as he is with the regular face-heel flip-flopping...he should have been squashed by Roman Reigns on his official return on the post-TLC RAW and been put off of TV for a while, with Reigns moving onto someone(the MIA Cesaro anyone???) who could complement him in the ring, especially with Reigns riding the kind of momentum he did on his return at TLC.
But No...the WWE believes that the Big Show is an up and comer that requires a yearly push of sorts...thus we get this shit, which could well break Reigns before he has even got to show himself properly.




End Rant/

 

[chicagokmc]

The reason I believe it in Reigns case is look what happened to Ambrose. He consistently lost almost every match he's had, and watch the crowd reaction to him. He's one of the most over guys on the roster and he's done nothing except have great matches and loses every one of them.

With Reigns everyone says he's like Cena, a powerhouse that never loses, even though he doesn't have the talent he wins all the time. In other words he's being shoved down our throats. What if he got into a feud with a huge heel, not Big Show, and was screwed out of every match. Just when it looked like he was going to win, someone would interfere or something would happen and he's fucked. The fans would rally to his defense, he would become a huge underdog and over with the fans.

I'm just throwing an idea out there, I mean shit they have to do something with him, what they've done just isn't working. Poor guy gets injured, comes back, stuck with Big Show, and he gets boo'd. Mitigate your damages here, put him in a feud where he becomes a loser, at the same time he actually becomes a winner. Big Show isn't that guy to do it for him. Rollins would be perfect, and I don't believe this shit that their path shouldn't cross. A small feud to get things started would elevate both of them to new heights.

I really like Reigns, and want to see him succeed, the way he's going right now, he's not going too. I said on another thread, once the fans turn on him, he doesn't have the experience or the fortitude to withstand that, not yet anyway. He doesn't have the where with all to turn that into a benefit and feed off it like Cena does, it could well ruin a promising career.

The difference between Ambrose and Reigns here is that Ambrose wasn't going for the title, and unless I'm mistaken, was never slated to be in the title picture. In fact they are establishing Ambrose as this guy that's so extreme and crazy he doesn't care about wins and losses (see feud with Wyatt). When someone is being pushed for the title, whether they deserve to be or not, wins and losses do matter. Its just far less plausible seeing someone who isn't a made man (Cena) losing and still being a contender for the world title.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I haven't got time right now to read through all the various responses. This may have already been mentioned but, just in case it hasn't, I'd say the primary reason they aren't feuding is because WWE wants to protect them both. I ultimately think that this feud will take place later in 2015, at least if WWE still plans to have Roman Reigns go to WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar. If that happens and Reigns wins, I can see Rollins cashing in the MITB briefcase following the win against Lesnar or possibly waiting until the next night on Raw.

Unless plans change, I have a feeling WWE will want both men looking strong heading into the new year and into WrestleMania before pitting them against each other in a title feud that'll culminate at SummerSlam next year.

 

[L@RISANO]

I haven't got time right now to read through all the various responses. This may have already been mentioned but, just in case it hasn't, I'd say the primary reason they aren't feuding is because WWE wants to protect them both. I ultimately think that this feud will take place later in 2015, at least if WWE still plans to have Roman Reigns go to WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar. If that happens and Reigns wins, I can see Rollins cashing in the MITB briefcase following the win against Lesnar or possibly waiting until the next night on Raw.

Unless plans change, I have a feeling WWE will want both men looking strong heading into the new year and into WrestleMania before pitting them against each other in a title feud that'll culminate at SummerSlam next year.

I don't that that is the possible direction and it does make sense.
However, given how so many stories have intertwined and can be done with good writing...sticking Reigns with Big Show isn't doing him any favours and the fact that there actually isn't anybody else amongst good heels, means at least some sort of teasing with Rollins going into the Rumble wouldn't have hurt Reigns at all, and would actually have helped his momentum rather than sticking him with the Big Show of all people...

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

In your one sentence, you summed up the main problem of Roman Reigns' entire singles run.


Roman Reigns has been booked as unbeatable as Brock Lesnar has been which means they are building for a logical Immovable Object vs Unstoppable Force WrestleMania event, which should see Reigns go over the 1 in 21-1 in clean fashion.


However, the journey towards that has been nothing short of atrocious and a huge momentum killer for Reigns.
From not ever really helping Ambrose and keeping at least some sort of connection with the Shield member who should still be an Ally has been puzzling.
Coupled that with regular matches vs Kane, Rusev and Big Show amongst others when clearly he has worked better with the likes of Del Rio and Rollins is also puzzling and makes no sense as the latter clearly shows that he can have a good match but is not yet at the level where he can dictate the pace.


Also, saddling him with all of 4 moves, when from his FCW videos, it is clear he knows more also brings up questions.
Lastly, the forced mic time...and the fact he is clearly getting his entire promo scripted and handed to him and is basically being told to read it off word for word whilst delivering it like a No-Nonsense BadAss character should... does that even make sense? To besides, the couple times he has clearly gone off-script, the fans have absolutely ate it up,lMO.


Of course, those who are against the Roman Reigns push, won't ever analyse all of that stuff at all.
For instance, Dean Ambrose started his Singles career as the hero in distress going after TraitorFace who betrayed him And Reigns. That there, is booking 101 on how to get someone to be over with the fans, and it clearly worked. Imagine Ambrose had instead been saddled with going after Kane, whilst Reigns got to go after Rollins... I am sure we would be singing a different tune today.




As I said in another thread: With Big Show as stale as he is with the regular face-heel flip-flopping...he should have been squashed by Roman Reigns on his official return on the post-TLC RAW and been put off of TV for a while, with Reigns moving onto someone(the MIA Cesaro anyone???) who could complement him in the ring, especially with Reigns riding the kind of momentum he did on his return at TLC.
But No...the WWE believes that the Big Show is an up and comer that requires a yearly push of sorts...thus we get this shit, which could well break Reigns before he has even got to show himself properly.




End Rant/

Remember: The WWE doesn't have bookers anymore; they have writers. Failed Hollywood writers who, if they were even semi-competent, would be employed by the legit TV studios and NOT employed by the WWE. If they aren't competent enough to write for the studios; why are we shocked that they're clueless as to how to book a wrestling company?

 

[Navi]

Remember: The WWE doesn't have bookers anymore; they have writers. Failed Hollywood writers who, if they were even semi-competent, would be employed by the legit TV studios and NOT employed by the WWE. If they aren't competent enough to write for the studios; why are we shocked that they're clueless as to how to book a wrestling company?

The WWE according to Vince isn't a wrestling company anymore, it's sports entertainment. Even a failed Hollywood writer should be able to write about the age old story of good versus evil, which in a nutshell is what wrestling is all about today, and has always been about since it's inception.

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

The WWE according to Vince isn't a wrestling company anymore, it's sports entertainment. Even a failed Hollywood writer should be able to write about the age old story of good versus evil, which in a nutshell is what wrestling is all about today, and has always been about since it's inception.

And Austin came very close to calling Vince on that BS at the start of the podcast. He can call it whatever he wants but at the heart of it it's still wrestling and Austin knows it.

One of the reasons that they're failed Hollywood writers is that they keep overthinking the plumbing. Even TV and movies are really simple age old stories and the successful writers know it and act accordingly.

 

[Navi]

And Austin came very close to calling Vince on that BS at the start of the podcast. He can call it whatever he wants but at the heart of it it's still wrestling and Austin knows it.

One of the reasons that they're failed Hollywood writers is that they keep overthinking the plumbing. Even TV and movies are really simple age old stories and the successful writers know it and act accordingly.

Listen I'm not disagreeing with you at all. This could be the whole root of the problem in the WWE today. Vince thinks it's one thing and it isn't. We don't know what the writers are putting out there because according to reports whatever they do write gets changed and changed and changed again, by one man, Vince.

Probably what ends up on our TV screens is nothing like what the original story line was to begin with. Maybe they are writing actual wrestling matches, but Vince is turning them into what he wants, and it's not working.

The NXT writers manage to get it right, amazing that the main roster writers look like such douchebags, maybe they really aren't. But that still doesn't explain why the Shield was booked so well, Ambrose and Rollins were booked to perfection, and poor Reigns has been treated like an afterthought. You would think that who Vince wants as the future face of the WWE would get the same booking that Cena does, apparently that isn't the case here.

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

Listen I'm not disagreeing with you at all. This could be the whole root of the problem in the WWE today. Vince thinks it's one thing and it isn't. We don't know what the writers are putting out there because according to reports whatever they do write gets changed and changed and changed again, by one man, Vince.

Probably what ends up on our TV screens is nothing like what the original story line was to begin with. Maybe they are writing actual wrestling matches, but Vince is turning them into what he wants, and it's not working.

The NXT writers manage to get it right, amazing that the main roster writers look like such douchebags, maybe they really aren't. But that still doesn't explain why the Shield was booked so well, Ambrose and Rollins were booked to perfection, and poor Reigns has been treated like an afterthought. You would think that who Vince wants as the future face of the WWE would get the same booking that Cena does, apparently that isn't the case here.

Oh I know you aren't and I certainly don't want it to sound like I'm arguing with you

My guess as to why NXT gets it right is that from what it sounds like they have someone who's actually a wrestling booker rather than a writer regardless of what their job title is. I believe it makes a HUGE difference in how the product is presented.

 

[kadroan]

I haven't got time right now to read through all the various responses. This may have already been mentioned but, just in case it hasn't, I'd say the primary reason they aren't feuding is because WWE wants to protect them both. I ultimately think that this feud will take place later in 2015, at least if WWE still plans to have Roman Reigns go to WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar. If that happens and Reigns wins, I can see Rollins cashing in the MITB briefcase following the win against Lesnar or possibly waiting until the next night on Raw.

Unless plans change, I have a feeling WWE will want both men looking strong heading into the new year and into WrestleMania before pitting them against each other in a title feud that'll culminate at SummerSlam next year.

I think Rollins will try to cash in on Reigns at WM 31 or the RAW after WM 31 but Reigns would defeat him like Cena did Sandow to make Reigns look like he's on the same level as Cena.

For Reigns to get such a big push, beating the guy who ended The Streak, I'm sure they'll have Reigns hold the title for a long time, maybe going into WM 32 season.

 

[LODemolition]

This feud is going to happen, they're just saving it for when it's for the WWE Championship. I have no doubt in my mind that Rollins will cash in on Reigns immediately after he defeats Lesnar at Mania. Reigns will then chase the title through at least the spring months, if not all the way up until SummerSlam. This will be a long time coming, since they didn't get to feud when it was planned. The day before their Night of Champions match was scheduled is when Reigns was hospitalized. The great thing is, this feud will write itself and not feel forced. By the time Mania rolls around, it'll be almost a year in the making for them to finally face off.