WWE: Why Roman Reigns Deserves The World Title
Roman Reigns has become a controversial figure in the WWE over the last year. At one time, he was an immensely popular cleanup man for The Shield, but after the group broke up, his weaknesses as a performer and a personality started to show through.
That wouldn’t have been so bad, except he was derailed on his path to the main event of WrestleMania 31 with an injury, and thus his learning curve was cut short.
After returning, it had become apparent fans were going in another direction with their loyalties, and that Roman Reigns would have difficulty keeping up.
This truth was made painfully aware to the company, notes Sporting News, when Reigns won the Royal Rumble 30-man battle royal to a chorus of boos from a hostile Philly crowd in January.
The WWE then recalculated and made the decision to force Roman to “work for it” against crowd favorite Daniel Bryan.
On the surface, this was a wise move, because Daniel Bryan is a top-tier performer, who can make just about anyone look their best — similar to how Shawn Michaels used to do it.
At Fastlane, Bryan did just that. He and Roman Reigns had a much better match than anyone expected, and the outcome wherein, notes The Big Lead, Bryan lost via spear didn’t get the heat of Reigns’ victory at the Rumble.
Now Reigns is going into a match with superstar Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31, and he deserves it without question.
I know right about now you Reigns haters are ready to crucify me for saying that, but before you do, let’s look at the WWE.
Today, the once great wrestling company has devolved into a “sports entertainment” brand known for putting out crappy movies, reality television, and the occasional wrestling match (though most of those are usually seen inside a NXT ring).
Today’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship means very little. The company has spent the last few years dragging it through the mud with non-sensical booking, part-time champions, and a propensity for pushing superstars down fans’ throats instead of allowing the performer to get themselves “over.” Or worse, they’ve actively buried performers who were already over without much of an explanation (Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Dean Ambrose, etc).
In other words, the company is now a joke, they have a joke belt, and they deserve a joke champion. Roman Reigns fills that role quite nicely.
As a WWE Network subscriber from the very beginning, I’m caught between canceling prior to WrestleMania 31 because I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the main event, or holding onto it just to see how bad it turns out to be.
Reigns isn’t capable of calling a match. Neither is Lesnar. However, Lesnar is able to look fantastic when he’s placed in a match with the right people.
A pairing that consists of just the two of them is a recipe for disaster, because neither Lesnar nor Reigns will have a ring general to direct the match. But at least when the dust clears, Lesnar will have UFC or Bellator to fall back on. Roman Reigns will be exposed, and so will the WWE. And in the company’s current climate, that seems fitting.
What do you think about Roman Reigns as WWE Champion — does he “deserve” it or not?
