Roman Reigns Mega (push) Thread! *SPOILERS*

J. Marston

Roman gets snippy with his "haters"....

Roman Reigns was interviewed this week by Crave Online to promote Sunday’s Royal Rumble. Reigns said that he’s willing to take on any of the three guys in the title match on Sunday (Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Seth Rollins) at WrestleMania 31. Reigns was asked about some of the critics. He said:

[Laughs] Yeah, I think its hard not to pay attention these days with all of the social media networks and all of the different outlets. It’s so easy to connect with fans nowadays. You know, I have a Twitter and things like that. I’m not a crazy Twitter guy to where I’m tweeting out stuff every day and rarely even once a week, do I tweet. But I mean, occasionally, I read some stuff.

The funny part is, you have a guy like me who is kind of getting like a mixed vibe from time-to-time. I get a lot of love and then you’ll get the hate in the middle of it but its just funny, the perspectives you know, the differences between the love and the hate. As far as the hate, it makes me laugh. Everybody is a critic. Every critic I’ve ever had, they weren’t wrestlers [laughs]. Every wrestler I’ve ever had critique me, they were always into my stuff or what I’m doing out there. For a non-wrestler, someone who doesn’t even know how to lock up, and if we did lock up, they wouldn’t know what to do, for them to critique any of us, it really does pop me.

Reigns, when asked about “haters,” said:

That’s what haters do. They hate because they hate their lives.

He also talked about Dean Ambrose, his injury rehab, preparing for Sunday’s Royal Rumble, setting the record for eliminations at last year’s Rumble, getting married recently, and more. Read the full interview by clicking here.

http://wrestlingnews.co/roman-reigns-addresses-his-haters-talks-about-who-he-wants-to-face-at-wrestlemania/?doing_wp_cron=1421962239.8273971080780029296875

Angron

Honestly, that just makes him sound like a bit of an ass.

Machismo Fan

Hater is my least favourite word. It's nearly always deployed to deflect reasonable, constructive criticism.

Moneymaker

I hate the attitude 'oh you never wrestled, what would you know?' or 'you dumbass smarks don't understand the business.'

Oh, just the 20+ years i've been watching Roman. Yeah I know what makes a good wrestler and what doesn't. Does that mean I can do it? Hell no. Doesn't mean I can't tell a good one from a bad one.

veganrun

I definitely think he's lost out the most on the break-up of The Shield. Ambrose seems very popular and Rollins as turned out to be a great heel. He's one of the rare heel's that you want to see him get beat, but don't like him enough to cheer for him.

leggo

I mean, to be fair, fans judge guys more on how they're being booked than how much talent they actually have. And Reigns is a perfect example of this. He has a LOT of upside, he's just having his limitations tested by putting him in the main event spotlight before he's ready. That exposes the weaknesses in his game, which he's always gonna have at such an early stage of his development. He's not a bad wrestler by any means.

So he's not completely wrong in what he says. How else do you marry the fact that this time last year people were dying for him to win the Rumble match and are dreading it now? Has he got less talented? The thoughts he's verbalising there are what he needs to think to get through the day. He can't just be like, "Yeah I suck..." when he's probably going to be put in the WrestleMania main event and needs to give the performance of his life every night. But the fact that he's letting it slip in media interviews shows that it's something that's nagging him and that he wants to bite back.

DM_7

He should be heel. He would be liked then.

The positivity towards Reigns last year was anyone but Batista.

Bryan summed it up recently when he said the fans wouldn't accept anything other than him in the title match at Mania.

The reaction to Brock v Reigns will be horrible unless Brock signs a new deal and puts doubt in people's mind. (He is probably worth resigning now for star power to fill the stadium for 32).

leggo

Ah it wasn't just anti-Batista, I've footage of people watching in Woolshed losing their minds because they thought Reigns would win. He was on a tear last year after Survivor Series. Nobody was disputing that he was the next in line.

beakerjoe

leggo wrote: »

Ah it wasn't just anti-Batista, I've footage of people watching in Woolshed losing their minds because they thought Reigns would win. He was on a tear last year after Survivor Series. Nobody was disputing that he was the next in line.

It was all Anti Batista. Could have been Kofi in there and Id be cheering.

People didnt lose their minds over Reigns potentially winning, just people losing their minds at BIG DAVE potentially losing.

Moneymaker

leggo wrote: »

I mean, to be fair, fans judge guys more on how they're being booked than how much talent they actually have. And Reigns is a perfect example of this. He has a LOT of upside, he's just having his limitations tested by putting him in the main event spotlight before he's ready. That exposes the weaknesses in his game, which he's always gonna have at such an early stage of his development. He's not a bad wrestler by any means.

So he's not completely wrong in what he says. How else do you marry the fact that this time last year people were dying for him to win the Rumble match and are dreading it now? Has he got less talented? The thoughts he's verbalising there are what he needs to think to get through the day. He can't just be like, "Yeah I suck..." when he's probably going to be put in the WrestleMania main event and needs to give the performance of his life every night. But the fact that he's letting it slip in media interviews shows that it's something that's nagging him and that he wants to bite back.

This time last year he was still in the Shield, not wrestling 1 on 1 matches and very little mic time, i.e his flaws were hidden and hidden very well.

Now he's been shown to be what he is(green as hell) and is being shoved down our throats as Cena Mk2, fans have had to put up with that **** for 10 years now and they are sick of it.

He's 29, he has tons of time. Let him rise up more naturally and organically and pull the trigger at WM32 imo.

thebostoncrab

I still remember the Rumble last year and it certainly was an "anyone but- Batista" mentality. I even remember after Ret came out one of the lads at the table actually said "Well, we aren't getting Bryan then! I'm rooting for everyone to stop Batsia!"

I don't think a single person is calling Reigns a bad wrestler, and I haven't heard anyone suggest that frame of mind. The problem people have is that Reigns will be ready some day, but it's not now. He isn't ready and the fans aren't ready for it either. The fans are still behind Bryan as their number one guy, even after missing so much time in 2014. We have to remember, Reigns hasn't been wrestling for that long in the grand scheme of things, there is still a lot he has to learn before he is given the ball. I mean, we still haven't seen him in a major 1 on 1 feud yet.

rovert

Whosthis wrote: »

When did The Independent start covering wrestling?
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/wwe-mma-wrestling/wwe-seth-rollins-aims-to-defeat-brock-lesnar-and-john-cena-at-royal-rumble-by-hook-or-by-crook-and-face-daniel-bryan-at-wrestlemania-9997785.html

A while. Known Martin going back some time. The articles are aimed at a fairly casual audience so I don't really read them.

Moneymaker wrote: »

This time last year he was still in the Shield, not wrestling 1 on 1 matches and very little mic time, i.e his flaws were hidden and hidden very well.

Now he's been shown to be what he is(green as hell) and is being shoved down our throats as Cena Mk2, fans have had to put up with that **** for 10 years now and they are sick of it.

He's 29, he has tons of time. Let him rise up more naturally and organically and pull the trigger at WM32 imo.

Yeah The Shield's matches were designed to protect Reigns. Also you have the whole make "Roman strong thing".

PR wise this interview comes at a terrible time. Philly fans at the Royal Rumble now know he is "bothered" by him.

The Strawman Argument

Reigns is really facing an uphill battle at this stage, honestly I'm hoping Vonce ignores absolutely everything and pushes him like crazy just so I can see what happens.

He's way more Diesel than Hogan or Cena at the moment, and that alone should be a huge warning sign.

Palo Alto

Reigns' main problem is he comes across as to paraphrase CM Punk talking about Ryback, "dumb as ****". Say what you want about Cena, but the guy has a brain for talking and can react to a situation, he has always had this.

Reigns I believe is genuinely too stupid to make the step up. If this is how he cuts promos after having acting lessons, dear God!

He needs a manager but that only tends to work as a heel I suppose.

Machismo Fan

The problem with Reigns isn't him but how he's booked. Yes he has limitations but clearly from his Shield days when he's protected he's a world beater. But he hasn't been protected since the Shield broke up. They're making do the same promos as everybody else which clearly aren't in his wheelhouse and always seem phoney coming out of his mouth. And they're not protecting him in matches either. Having a competitive feud with Big Show or working 15-20 minute headlock fests instead of explosive 10 minutes matches.

WWE's system is too rigid and set in its way to adapt to Reigns weaknesses and amplify his clear as day strengths.

The Strawman Argument

I don't see how you could sustain protecting him anywhere close to the degree he was being protected in the Shield. He could be one of the top-tier guys but he's shown nothing to imply that he can be THE top guy for any kind of length.

gimmick

Split from the news thread.

Andersonisgod

They booked him so well when he was with The Shield, with the ultra talented Rollins and Ambrose his shortcomings we're masked, he had those cool spots, he came across like a potential superstar.

Since then, the booking has let him down in the biggest possible way. Exposed to lengthy single matches (not his strong point), inconsistent booking (that damn feud with Big Show is enough to kill anyone's momentum) and that long injury lay off has set him off track.

However there was a chance to turn the injury layoff into a positive. A big return, at or nearing the Rumble and there could have been really strong support behind him. Instead they made a bad situation a million times worse, they made Roman talk. It's the weakest part of his repertoire, it's what they should have actively avoided doing but instead they've given him the mic and have given him the most God-awful material that any pro wrestler in WWE has ever been given. The tough, quiet guy in The Shield has turned into someone who recites Jack and the Beanstalk, says "suffering suckatash" and threatens to perform a sexual act on his opponents.

I've heard people suggest that maybe this has been done intentionally, maybe they've given him this stuff to turn him heel. I'd like to believe that's the case, I'd like to believe that this company has the creativity to do such a thing, however I truly think that this is as good as they could do for their next headline star. They've failed him big-time, possibly beyond repair.

JP Liz V1

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Hater is my least favourite word. It's nearly always deployed to deflect reasonable, constructive criticism.

I have Taylor Swift's Shake it Off in my head now with Reigns doing the dances moves

sky88

i dont think hes ready at all and if he went on to win the title wrestelmania and raw the night after wrestlemania could be terrible for him if the crowd turns on him in a Batista level hate from last year.

i actually think hes liked by a lot of the fans and people just dont want him rushed into a place in the card hes not ready for and in fairness to him they have booked him horrendously.

Palo Alto

It's not just the booking. He's genuinely terrible.

brianregan09

They should of held off on him coming back from injury and had him come back the night of the rumble and win it

there wouldn't be any of this talk then

andyman

His promo on Smackdown was a **** tonne better than the rest if his combined.

Hopefully a sign they're just going back to basics on the mic, and none of this looney toon ****e.

DM_7

**Apart from the horrible feuds (Big Show who almost killed off Rusev before) and horrible Promos**


The problem for Reigns is he is not the only shining light in WWE. A couple of years ago a Reigns would be a god send.

Now, not so much, Rollins and Ambrose have come through and excelled, particularly in the time he was injured.

Daniel Bryan was injured for 8 months and has now returned, he is the most universally popular guy in WWE and people want/need to see him in a major spot after so long out.

Then the Network and effort that has gone into NXT makes people look at what amazing talent is coming through after Reigns/Rollins/Ambrose (Zayn, Devitt, Kevin Owens).

Its all about timing and it just looks to be bad timing for him. Summerslam would be a very good time for him as it would give him another few months to catch up on what he missed.

rossie1977

with the amount of heat this guy has online right now its very interesting to see what wwe do. i think many self combusted yesterday after seeing the fake billboard post on twitter/wrestling inc

they could have him win the rumble, beat lesnar and then pin rollins when he tries to cash in (would be first person ever to do that). if they do that he will have nuclear heat and it would then be a perfect time to turn him heel.

the possiblities then would be immense. wwe could keep throwing guys at the unstoppable heel wwe champion reigns like cena, bryan, ambrose, orton, ziggler. later in the year then debut balor and zayn and have one of those guys be the first to pin him for the title.

andyman

Being honest though, I don't want Bryan to win either.

Yes, he should have won or even been in the match last year, but he ended up getting his WrestleMania moment just last year. Is it now a case that he should win the title at Mania every year?

Next year would be a better time for Bryan to win the Rumble, in my opinion.

I think Ziggler should win, personally.

rossie1977

andyman wrote: »

Being honest though, I don't want Bryan to win either.

Yes, he should have won or even been in the match last year, but he ended up getting his WrestleMania moment just last year. Is it now a case that he should win the title at Mania every year?

bryan winning is logical storytelling. he never lost the title and it would the two guys who created history at mania the year previous

reigns, bryan and orton are the only 3 as it stands that make sense. i included orton because they teased that match and orton has a move in his arsenal that nobody has ever kicked out of and puts most out of action. in saying that i think they will do orton vs rollins at mania.

Bounty Hunter

ready for what though? to main event Wrestlemania... I don't think so. I actually wouldnt be against Reigns having a run with the belt next year but him vs Lesnar / Cena or even Rollins is not in any way my idea of a great WM main event.

D.Bryan on the other hand vs Lesnar is he best match they can put on and for that reason alone it should be him.

Reigns to either end Rusevs undefeated run or if they must have Cena in that spot at Mania have Reigns and Ambrose go at it

brianregan09

Whatever happens who ever suggested Rollins losing when he cashs in is nuts, Rollins has to win the title when he cashs in and i would love it be against Reigns at WM

rovert

Palo Alto

JAYSUS.

Rjd2

rossie1977 wrote: »

with the amount of heat this guy has online right now its very interesting to see what wwe do. i think many self combusted yesterday after seeing the fake billboard post on twitter/wrestling inc

they could have him win the rumble, beat lesnar and then pin rollins when he tries to cash in (would be first person ever to do that). if they do that he will have nuclear heat and it would then be a perfect time to turn him heel.

the possiblities then would be immense. wwe could keep throwing guys at the unstoppable heel wwe champion reigns like cena, bryan, ambrose, orton, ziggler. later in the year then debut balor and zayn and have one of those guys be the first to pin him for the title.

I doubt Vince and Trips give 2 damns about his online reaction. He does seem to get a decent enough reaction whenever I seen him on Raw so he is not as heatless as some say. The promos are dire, but they can work on that.


On the haters line? Its stupid anyone over the age of 13 uses it, but a lot of celebrities are quite fragile when it comes to criticism sadly. Heck we all are probably.

leggo

Ah now, you won't hear me defending Reigns as a WrestleMania main event caliber talent anytime soon (I put it in print MONTHS back that this would happen exactly as it has - save the injury), but to say it was a protest cheer simply isn't true. How do you explain his Survivor Series cheers then? He was crazy over!

Like I said, I watched (well, skimmed through, it's an hour long) a video with reaction to last year's match just a couple weeks back when editing the Woolshed ad. I remember it well and the video backs it up. When it came down to Reigns and Batista, sure people were sickened at the idea that Batista could win, but there was also that, "ooooohhh..." factor with Reigns, he was on a run of momentum and people were curious and willing to get behind him as a winner. Otherwise they would've just **** on the whole match if they weren't. There was genuine excitement until Batista won and the audience deflated instantly.

Reigns isn't terrible. He has raw talent but you need to be near flawless when you have that big spotlight on you, and he's just too fresh. He's Orton in 2004: Mr Right, just not Mr Right Now.

gerrybbadd

Ya see in that video rovert posted, Reigns, when he's not reading stupid lines about being Superman, actually has a lot of personality.

WWE should stop trying to make Roman into Cena V2. When he's reading lines, he's wooden in his delivery. When he's let go like in Roberts video, he oozes likeable and charisma.

leggo

If I was booking him, he'd be a natural heel. He's good looking, smug because he knows it, naturally hateable but the kind of guy you could also see yourself getting behind if he gave you a good reason to. Very like The Rock around 1997.

But it's a tricky situation and one that a lot of guys find themselves in: it's easier to get cheers and be a fiery babyface as big comebacks are easily orchestrated and executed for limited guys. It's a lot tougher working as a heel as you're then calling the majority of the match in the ring more often than not. Again, think back to when Orton turned again after his short 2004 babyface run: how boring were his matches with the stomps and chinlocks? He's since honed that and turned it into an asset as a heel, he knows how to work the crowd with his boring bits so the exciting ones let the face look amazing.

The solution is to not let guys get past that upper midcard tier until they've developed a genuine connection with the crowd based on a personality that'll work long-term. And WWE thought they already had that with Reigns' reactions at Survivor Series and beyond. The problem is that they've now booked themselves into a hole reliant on building ready-made stars they thought they had that haven't panned out just yet. Taker put over a soon-to-be out of contract Brock, for what now? If it's to build a new star that'll lead the company for years, great. But if it's to be beaten by the guy they've already had win a WrestleMania main event it's kind of a waste.

Stereomaniac

This time last year, people were marking out for Roman Reigns. I don't care what anyone says.

brianregan09

I wanted Reigns to win it last year I'll be honest , and it wasn't because of any hate for Batista because i like Batista , This year though with the breakup of the Shield and his injury he lost alot of momentum and this has hurt him more than anything

Angron

Stereomaniac wrote: »

This time last year, people were marking out for Roman Reigns. I don't care what anyone says.

Cause he was in the Shield, not standing in the spotlight alone. His weaknesses weren't as obvious at the time.

Stereomaniac

He was standing alone when he stole the match at Survivor Series 2013 & almost won the rumble.

Angron

Tag and multi-person matches, hardly convincing me I'm wrong there.

Stereomaniac

It doesn't really matter what you or I think, though. He dominated both those matches anyway.

Mr.Nice Guy

I think the problem is on WWE's end. They don't know how to properly utilise the guy and are trying to turn him into John Cena 2 like they try to do with all babyfaces that come along. It's the same old lame, goofy humour. It happened with Sheamus as well when he was given his big run. Remember his hilarious tales? :rolleyes:

They also tried it with Goldberg as well which is one of the reasons he got pissed off. That segment with Goldust and the wig just typifies WWE logic. He needed humour to get over in their eyes despite the fact that in WCW he got over by just tearing through guys and being a badass.

It amazes me because the last guy the WWE had who fit this profile and who they did get over was Batista. And again there was no goofy humour involved. He just came out, destroyed people, and was believable in doing so. Nobody was raving about Batista's promos. In fact, I'd say Reigns is a better promo than Batista was in 2005.

They didn't need to reinvent the Reigns character. He was already gaining great reactions in The Shield and they had kept him strong there. He didn't need to start playing a comedian once he went solo. Sadly, their mindset is that it works for Cena so everyone else must follow suit.

I think he would be much more liked now if they had kept his promos short and sweet. Even keeping the backstage talking-to-the-camera stuff from The Shield might have been good for him and kept him a bit different to everybody else.

I listened to his recent promo on Smackdown and this is not the same guy of even six months ago. I think they're doing a really good job of ruining his character the way they are going but I can't say I'm surprised because they never learn. And they wonder why no one else gets over.

jaykhunter

Sufferin' succotash! As far as main event level goes, IMO Roman's
look: there
signature moves: there
charisma: very good
wrestling skill: good, not great
promos/delivery: embarrassing

I don't see wrestling skill improving wildly but he'll get more competent (and will always be behind Seth & Dean) but the kicker is he can't deliver the terrible promos he's been asked - his charisma isn't enough to pull it off (although Dean can weather the terrible writing storm). Now that he's got the WWE machine behind him, he's under scrutiny, and he's not ready for it - his own skills and WWE getting their act together needs another year of development. 2016 Rumble is a far better bet.

Separately, has the boat sailed on him getting non-Shield knock-off gear? Feels like Jannetty post-Rockers.

DM_7

Its weird how they are trying to turn him into Cena but fogot the Cena they are going for is not the one that became popular to start with.

Mokuba

Roman shouldn't even be in the conversation for a Royal Rumble win this year. The only reason he is, is because he is a Vince McMahon big guy. It's 2015. He looked decent in short, dominant spots when he was with the Shield. Everything since then has shown he is unbelievably far from ready.

Randy Orton held his hand through their match and he still looked poor. That was his only singles PPV match last year. Since then he has gone on to deliver possibly the worst promo in the last couple of years, and has barely improved in the ring. He is the hot tag, not a 20 minute match guy right now.

Right now Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins are all significantly ahead of him in development. If we are planning Rumble winners for this year and next year, it should be from that pool.

Lord TSC

I'd be curious if he wins; Reigns vs Brock SHOULD be the build of a new superstar. But the way Brock is at the moment, I think the crowd would move solidly behind Lesnar and turn completely on Reigns.

Palo Alto

I hope Lesnar doesn't renew and the whole match gets booed to death.

brianregan09

what if brock did retain and Rollins cashed in ...Alot of people have missed that possibility

Sirsok

With reigns last night winnin the rumble it got me thinking. While I know Bryan had a massive baby face moment at Mania last year, but when you think about it, he originally got over as a heel . The fans first started to care about him as a heel and that naturally changed him.

Dating back to the ATTITUDE era this has been the case. Austin, Rock, Jericho,, HHH all heels before becoming a natural baby face.

Same with Cena, people cared about him as a heel, he was a highlight on Smackdown in my younger years, and naturally became a good guy.

Agreed Reigns started off in the shield as a heel, but it was the shield who got over and was naturally turne not just REIGNS.

I am trying to think the last time a babyface got over huge from just being a babyface. Mysterio was soon turned on by the fans after his rumble win in 06, as was Shemus when he dominated and put on great matches on Smackdown.

Do we just automatically assume a guy who WWE try and push as a face is being rammed down our throat?Obviously I stand to be corrected but I genuinely can't remember the last time in our modern era a top guy was accepted by the fans during an initial babyface run as opposed to being turned from a heel run naturally.

Bounty Hunter

Ambrose is over. If they would push him insted of his old shield mate the crowd would buy into it for the simple reason that Ambrose is ready.

It will always be easier to be a heel and therefore easier to make your mark and get fan approval before a potential face turn down the line (like Rollins is doing now) but getting over as a face can be done if they book someone right and not try and make them Cena Mk2 (see Sheamus here too)

Rock Lesnar

Dolph Ziggler is over with the crowd, and hes never had any mic time compared to others, i dont know what he has to say, yet i want him to succeed.

They should give him the mic and let us here what he has to say. you never know, he might actually achieve something