J.R. Thinks Roman Reigns Winning The Royal Rumble Would Be ‘Great’

Roman Reigns would be a “great” choice to win the 2015 Royal Rumble, according to legendary broadcaster and former WWE executive Jim Ross.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, J.R. dished on why he thinks Reigns has what it takes, in spite of the fact that fans have been rebelling against his promos and, for many, his in-ring work has grown stale.

“A lot of things depend on how healthy some of the guys are that are hurt. I would say you have a chance to have someone emerge from the Rumble that’s going to be your next big thing. With that said, my feeling is that Roman Reigns wins the Royal Rumble. He has a great look. He has the confidence of the promotion, so I think he’d be a great potential winner. How he does it is another issue. Does he come in during the middle of the match and just dominate? Last year, he did that. I don’t think it was followed up on like they probably would have liked for it to. If you’re going to have [Brock] Lesnar be the champion at WrestleMania, and then the winner of the Royal Rumble meets the champion, then you would have the match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, and there’s where you would pass the torch.”

While current fan reaction seems to favor a returned Daniel Bryan in the Royal Rumble 30-man battle royal match, the long-term outlook all along has been to have Brock Lesnar pass the torch to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31.

Injuries — including Reigns’ own — have caused some creative re-considerations since that news originally broke after WrestleMania 30. But now that the company is moving some of its injured talent back to the main roster, the initial plans have become more workable.

The only problem — and this has been a major point of criticism for fans — is that WrestleMania is now just around the corner (March 29, 2015), and WWE has made little effort to test the waters with Lesnar and Reigns’ chemistry.

A Brock versus Daniel Bryan match-up would have instant marquee value. For starters, Bryan is the clear fan favorite. Secondly, David versus Goliath stories always draw eyeballs. And lastly, Bryan always performs phenomenally in that role.

Putting him in against the Beast Incarnate would make the WrestleMania 31 main event intriguing from the get-go.

As for Roman Reigns, most fans and analysts alike believe he needs more time to develop.

But what do you think, readers? Is Ross right in picking Roman Reigns as a “great” choice to win the Rumble? Sound off in our comments section.