WWE dropping the ball on Reigns absence/return

[TheMainEvent]

The same can likely be said for Daniel Bryan but I really think that the WWE is dropping the ball on building towards the return of Roman Reigns. Sure having him come out as a surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble could be an awesome return but if they really are going to get behind him as the future of the company and "feed" Brock Lesnar to him at Wrestlemania then they need to focus on building his return up more. Having him give weak over-scripted promos in front of a camera isn't going to cut it.

I think back to when Triple H was out with injury in 2001 and returned just before the Royal Rumble to eventually win.. WWE programming was full of vignettes and promos showcasing his rehabilitation process and clips of his dominance pre-injury. It built him up a sympathetic return but also showcased him as a badass. WWE NEEDS to do this with Roman Reigns ASAP. His promo skills are lacking so why showcase that?! Hopefully he is spending this time away focusing 90% on the promo skills to improve. Regardless, they need to be hyping him up as the future of the company and make his return an epic build for something fans to look forward to.

 

[L@RISANO]

Don't see why it needs to be over-promoted, and given it would only involve him doing some sort of mic work, it is better his return be kept as a surprise, preferably as soon as possible so he can get back on track and finish up the Authority storyline once and for all by building the long rumoured match with HHH at some point.

Either he returns at Survivor Series as part of Team Cena, and then builds towards a match with HHH(with Brock vs Reigns at Mania 31 thereafter), or he ends up facing HHH at Mania 31 itself(which I think will prove to be better booking in the long run for Roman Reigns).

I just think his return being more of a surprise type would be better than building it up given how his momentum was on a slight downward movement before he suffered his injury problem. Creative just have to make sure it is done at the right and most opportune moment.

 

[kumarjtk]

wwe build rollins as their top heel and roman as their top face in future. Right now rollins almost become their top heel. He beat ambrose, now randy.
If roman not injured. He penciled for top baby face. My guess is roman beat rusev clean at tlc and became us champion. Bcoz it gives him a hero status from fans. He wins battle royal at royal rumble and challenge brock for wwe title at wm31.

 

[MERPER]

promoting a return is too dangerous... if the injured guy suffers any setback your promotion gets you in trouble and these guys are human, setbacks during injury recoveries occur...

Heck, tonight they issued refunds to any fans at RAW in Buffalo cause 1 week in advance Cena had to cancel and the backlash was fierce.

Now imagine them promoting the return of Bryan or Reigns for a certain time period or show and then they can't make it cause something unforseen occurs. It's too risky.

 

[Navi]

promoting a return is too dangerous... if the injured guy suffers any setback your promotion gets you in trouble and these guys are human, setbacks during injury recoveries occur...

Heck, tonight they issued refunds to any fans at RAW in Buffalo cause 1 week in advance Cena had to cancel and the backlash was fierce.

Now imagine them promoting the return of Bryan or Reigns for a certain time period or show and then they can't make it cause something unforseen occurs. It's too risky.

This I have to agree with. Neither Bryan or Reigns has been cleared to come back. All we've heard is Daniel Bryan may need Tommy John surgery and if that happens, he'll be out for another 6 months or more. Reigns could get cleared any day, but I seriously don't think they'll bring him back before he's 100%. Doing anything other than that could cause him to re-injure himself and he'll be out longer as well.

The best way to bring them back is a surprise return, either at Survivor Series or the Rumble. That way the fans don't get their hopes up, buy the tickets only to find out their guy isn't going to show up.

We were at a house show in April of this year, and Daniel Bryan who was supposed to be there couldn't because of his father's death. We were told before the show started he wasn't there, and if we wanted we could leave and go and get our tickets refunded. As far as I know, Bryan and Cena are the only two they do that for. When Reigns had to pull out of the October show, we got Ambrose instead, which was better for us really, because he was great.

So I don't think they've dropped the ball, they never had it in their hands to begin with. Until they hear from the doctor's the WWE's hands are tied. No matter how badly Reigns or Bryan want to come back, coming back before they're ready will only hurt them, the product, and take away from our enjoyment.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think back to when Triple H was out with injury in 2001 and returned just before the Royal Rumble to eventually win.

Valid point, but the way I remember it, it seemed at the time they had forgotten Triple H; they went a long period without mentioning him and I found myself wondering if he was hurt even worse than originally thought.

Yes, when he was getting closer to coming back, they started bombarding us with premonitory messages: "Triple H Returns" in which a precise date wasn't provided but we were assured we should start getting excited.

With Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan, a specific return date can't yet be provided; in Daniel's case, I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever get back. But, as another poster said, it would be bad to produce vignettes and announcements trumpeting a return, only to have the performer suffer a setback and not be able to return at the scheduled time. When that happens, we criticize WWE for "lying" to us.

Rest assured, with the future the company apparently has in mind for Reigns, when they know for sure the approximate time for his reappearance, we'll be flooded with all the announcements you could ever want.

It's just too early now.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I've never heard of WWE under promoting something or someone (hyperbole alert). When WWE knows Reigns is returning the shows will be flooded with vignettes. Some people will be sick of Reigns before he even sniffs a ring again.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't see the point in overly hyping or promoting a talent that's still on the injured list who may not be back for some time. They won't start heavily promoting his return until they have a very, very firm grasp, a pretty much guarantee, on when he'll be back.

As GSB pointed out, by the time Roman Reigns is ready to return, Raw & SD! will probably be bombarded with vignettes, interview clips, etc. of Roman Reigns. Of course, when that happens, you'll have people coming out of the woodwork saying how tired they are of Reigns or just flat out hating on him.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

So, if Bryan/Reigns can't return until say February, you really want to see four months of hype? They'll hype when they're sure there's a return. Or they'll make a surprise return on a PPV and then hype that for the following Raw. Must be a slow week for WWE complaints if this is what we're getting.

 

[MR K]

I just don't get why Reigns is such a big deal to everyone, WWE was forcing him down our throats before his injury. I don't think he should beat Brock for the title at all, never mind at Mania.

He is god awful on the mic, he has a spear and a superman punch, thats about it for moveset. He was protected as part of the shield but once on his own I think he was seriously exposed.


I think what they need to do is give him a good mid-card run with guys that he can learn off of, Cesaro, Harper, Wyatt, Ziggler etc. Let the fans actually get behind the guy naturally. Let his in ring skills improve, then move him up.

Forcing him into the main event scene is silly, WWE don't seem to learn from guys like Swagger, Sheamus, Del Rio, they were all made champions before they were ready instead of working there way through the mid-card first. All you have to do is look at there own network of programming. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Austin, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Cm Punk, Daniel Bryan, the list goes on. Guys who went through the mid-card first and became great champions because the fans got to know them and the guys got over naturally.

 

[master carnage]

i spotted a post from wwes official facebook hyping their return to boston and apparently roman reigns will be there..."What will happen when televised SmackDown returns to Boston and the TD Garden just two days after the Royal Rumble? You'll see John Cena, the return of Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Kane and many more! Tickets start at $20 and go on sale this Saturday at 10am. http://wwe.me/EAQjm"

 

[Navi]

i spotted a post from wwes official facebook hyping their return to boston and apparently roman reigns will be there..."What will happen when televised SmackDown returns to Boston and the TD Garden just two days after the Royal Rumble? You'll see John Cena, the return of Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Kane and many more! Tickets start at $20 and go on sale this Saturday at 10am. http://wwe.me/EAQjm"

The WZ main page and a number of other sources are reporting that he has been scheduled for events starting mid December. That pretty much corresponds with what they've been saying for awhile now.

 

[kadroan]

I'm curious to see what they do with him right away since they have a couple of weeks before Royal Rumble after TLC.

I saw he's supposed to face Rusev at house shows. I'm hoping they're not going to have him face Rusev at the Rumble and have Reigns beat him and win the Royal Rumble the same night.