Skip to main content

Roman Empire

So why is everyone so whiny about Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble when Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble was literally the plan since WM30?

What I mean is, we're acting like this is some big utter injustice instead of the plan to get over a homegrown star. We keep demanding new stars, fine.  They're making a new star.  Stop bitching.

Or is it because Daniel Bryan has that many uncompromising fanboys?

What exactly have they done to "make a new star"?  Have him tell nursery rhymes and go 50/50 with Big Show on TV?  Wow, what a star making performance.  The problem isn't Reigns, the problem is that they're shitty bookers and somehow expecting Reigns to magically become Steve Austin by laying in the corner and selling at the Royal Rumble.  People may hate Cena on top, but in 2004 he was on an inevitable rocket to the top and holding him back would have been a stupid business move.  Reigns is just a guy.  A B+ player who's a good hand at the moment.  

Comments

  1. Because:

    1. The Shield was always more over than any individual guy in it

    2. The Shield helped cover for Reigns' limitations

    3. BUT BUT BUT DANIEL BRYAN

    4. It's often more fun to hate than like, especially for wrestling fans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm totally on the bandwagon for making a new star by identifying him and pushing him to the moon, but that's not at all what they're doing with Reigns. Reigns is feuding with Big Show for months, which lots of guys have done, and is getting mildly positive reactions from the crowd from what I've seen. He's not getting Austin in 1997 or John Cena in 2004 reactions. Reigns in 2015 is just a guy on the roster who's suddenly got a spot in the Rumble after coasting through and isn't really inspiring anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What story has Reigns built in the past year? He got punked by Rollins, got sick and got no revenge on him, was out several months, had a plodding feud with Big Show, then won the Royal Rumble with The Rock's help.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think people were looking forward to see what they'd do with Reigns in the year leading up to this past Royal Rumble. From 2014's Rumble, he fought the Wyatts, fought Kane and the New Age Outlaws, destroyed Evolution twice, and then it was downhill from there.


    Reigns should be a guy that comes out and lets his fists do the talking. Ideally, someone like the Miz would be in the ring, and you'd hope Reigns would come out and just punch him in the mouth and then leave without saying anything. Had they done that, I bet he would have gotten a reaction like Ziggler or Ambrose after Bryan was eliminated. In fact, they could have had him be the one punching people and just tossing them out like a sack of potatoes instead of Big Show doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. He also spiked Stephanie Mc Mahon cofee this one time on Raw

    ReplyDelete
  6. it is all in the execution. I'm on board for Reigns. Heck a couple months back I was getting annoyed by all the folks around here and other places seemingly salivating at his "failure." But truth is his push has been awful. Turning him into Cena lite, not pushing him as an unstoppable force, giving him a half hearted Rumble win, it all equals a guy who is primed for a giant backlash.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm all in favor of making a new start but Reigns isn't ready yet. Bryan winning the Rumble and the title at Wrestlemania was a storyline that MADE SO MUCH SENSE IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE WRITTEN.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANFebruary 3, 2015 at 4:01 PM

    I also think everyone can accept him being pushed, he's right out of central casting. The problem is the push is trash, not to mention he missed a good deal of time, which condensed the push? Who has he brag in this buildup, shit he's going 50/50 with Big Show, who Brock murdered.

    ReplyDelete
  9. They didn't push reigns. They just decided he was gonna be the guy and thought that would be enough.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Why don't they bring in another group similar to the Shield? Obviously not a direct ripoff, but similar in the way that they were positioned as unpredictable badasses? The Shield seems like the most successful thing to come out of FCW/NXT, besides Daniel Bryan, so I kind of scratch my head as to why they haven't tried to do it again. Putting Zayn, Owens, Balor, and maybe Corbin as the heavy, in a group and have them make a big impact in their first appearance like the Shield did seems like a much better idea than sticking them individually with some sort of shitty Adam Rose type gimmicks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If they kept pushing him relatively strong until next year, fan would have been asking for this mega push, what a bad timing for him.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very true, though Batista was white hot in the late fall and into the new year before WrestleMania, and pulling the trigger on him at Mania was clearly the right move.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Don't forget, he works his ass off behind the scenes!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Or he could get thrown around by Big Show for weeks, that might work too

    ReplyDelete
  15. But the big show is huge. You must not have seen him, live.

    ReplyDelete
  16. You really have to see him live to appreciate how huge he is.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Would it really have been that hard to book Reigns to Superman Punch Big Show out of the ring to win the Rumble?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi, Vince Jordan.

    ReplyDelete
  19. ESPECIALLY after Big Show was knocking people out with punches.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yes. Show can't take a backwards bump over the top.

    ReplyDelete
  21. He has hands the size of frying pans!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Romans punch would be bigger. You can actually build off that!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I was a big fan of Batista (still am). I think once he got the belt his workrate is criminally underrated. Loved his face turn, especially with how much I hated (and still do) Randy Orton

    ReplyDelete
  24. That would have been redeemed if Reigns had destroyed both monsters in convincing fashion or ideally Reigns takes out Show and Bryan takes out Kane in the final four.

    ReplyDelete
  25. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANFebruary 3, 2015 at 4:09 PM

    Dave's build was awesome. The complete opposite of this.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Or if you want that visual of Show/Kane dumping sacks of shit, have them 29 and 30, but have them stand on top of the ramp watching the Rumble, after 10 or so minutes where everyone goes balls to the wall in the ring, have them come down after a big spot when everyone's already weakened, then do their thing, then come up with a Reigns spot that doesn't look like it's in slow motion to dump them two

    ReplyDelete
  27. absolutely. My point was having great matches isn't a prerequisite for the kind of push that fans LOVE

    ReplyDelete
  28. His face turn was certainly a lot more natural and less forced than Orton's, for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Orton is a case where someone's real life douchiness shines through on screen no matter what their character.

    ReplyDelete
  30. That's just b/c they're short sighted now and couldn't book an angle to save themselves. However, look at the 2004 rumble - that's the absolute perfect use of the big show - establish him as a monster and use him to put over someone else. It can be done right, they just don't do it right any longer

    ReplyDelete
  31. Holy shit, is that REALLY eleven years ago already?


    Scary.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Versus Orton at SummerSlam, those two matches he had with Rollins on RAW, and a decent match with Cesaro IIRC on an episode of SmackDown a while back.

    ReplyDelete
  33. A good hand? Bobby Eaton was a good hand... and Roman Reigns ain't Bobby Eaton.

    ReplyDelete
  34. The what now in 2004? Can't remember.

    ReplyDelete
  35. That three way convinced me more that Roman is by far the lesser worker of the three Shield guys. He's getting exposed as fuck right now on his own

    ReplyDelete
  36. Come to think of it, Batista and Reigns are VERY much alike.


    Batista was obviously going to be pushed hard despite his lack of ability in the ring, but he was booked as a smart, strong, silent assassin type, and the fans bought into it. Then, after being moved to the main-event scene, he was made to start cutting longer promos with goofy lines ("Basketballs don't hold grudges"), which resulted in the fans cooling on him.

    Let's now all get ready for lukewarm face Reigns getting infinite title rematches. Hopefully in 2019, he'll be allowed to play a total d-bag heel and we'll all love him again. Then he'll go to Hollywood for a while, return to win the 2024 "Rumble", and be showered with boos and chants of "Ole! Ole! Ole!"


    Mark my word.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Or just, I don't know, show how powerful you by kicking everyone's ass. Booking hard.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Reigns could be ready if they just kept him as a silent ass kicker in the shield. Instead they have done nothing to make people want to see him (although that speak on the big show at Raw and his involvement in the match wasn't bad really). I still have no clue why they're putting DB in the mix if they want to get Reigns over. That's not ending well for them

    ReplyDelete
  39. I've said it before and I'll say it again: look at that 3-way for the championship at the Rumble and ask yourself if Reigns could hang with those 3 guys?

    Putting Roman Reigns in the main event picture right now is a drop in match quality.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Eh, eventually, yeah but there should be some type of statute of limitations on that, not quite Cornett's 7 years, but a little distance between ass kicking groups so you can appreciate them when they do show up

    ReplyDelete
  41. Also he can't fucking work or promo. That's kinda a big thing. I don't want a guy who can't entertain me on top.

    ReplyDelete
  42. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANFebruary 3, 2015 at 4:26 PM

    Would it be hard to not have Kane and Show let the air out of the balloon, instead of having Rusev and Bray there at the end?

    ReplyDelete
  43. It's someone else who should know better.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Reigns is still just 1/3rd of something that was awesome and that's why he only has 1/3rd of the 'WWE Universe's support. They had a chance to prove us wrong with him and didn't, for the reasons Scott said

    ReplyDelete
  45. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANFebruary 3, 2015 at 4:27 PM

    Short of them signing Bobby Roode, I can't think of anyone they'd sign that they hadn't already grown or wouldn't be rebooted and spend a year in the minors. Maybe if Steen gets fast-tracked, but they'd probably reboot him as a competitive eater.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I'd have fed Rusev to Reigns at the December PPV, then put him over strong (come in early and eliminate half the field) in the Rumble. If you're going to strap a rocket to a guy, don't half ass it.

    ReplyDelete
  47. More like one tenth of something that was awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  48. What about me?! WHAT ABOUT ROMAN?!

    ReplyDelete
  49. heck even Punk went through OVW

    ReplyDelete
  50. Eliminating Big Show from a battle royal worked wonders for Cesaro also.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Hands like oversized soupbones!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Lol @ Roode not spending a year in the minors.

    ReplyDelete
  53. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANFebruary 3, 2015 at 4:27 PM

    Isn't everyone a homegrown star now?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Also he's never had a good singles match (above ***)

    ReplyDelete
  55. I think, as well, that there are several other guys much more ready to be pushed into stardom right now before Reigns. People do want new stars, yes, but they don't want just anyone shoved to the top. The e-mailer seems to be saying, "hey, you wanted guys pushed, and they're pushing SOMEONE, so you have no right to complain!" Um, that's not how it works.

    ReplyDelete
  56. In the 90's, "shades of grey" referred to the blurring of the line between face and heel. But now it refers to the blurring of the line between story and reality.

    You have fans that like a good story, and fans that get behind the real life person regardless of the story, and often in spite of it.

    To have a happy crowd, you need to find somebody that bridges both of the gaps, and stick with him. Otherwise, you will always be chasing one end of the spectrum at the expense of the other.

    Roman Reigns is not that guy.

    ReplyDelete
  57. that didn't stop Batista's rise.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Would you stop it already. It's 2015 - you really think it's time to give up on the big show and kane as main eventers? Although I have no desire to see either of them wrestle ever again and they should not be in the main event scene, they can serve a purpose on the roster putting over big dudes like Reigns and Ryback. Otherwise, they're just dead weight. Dead weight with really big hands that you have to see live.

    ReplyDelete
  59. This is the same company that over the last year has managed to screw up potential pushes for:
    Cesaro
    Ambrose
    Wyatt
    Ziggler
    They've boosted exactly two people since last WM: Rollins and Rusev. Rollins has the goods to be a upper midcard/ME guy and Rusev has been protected very well. I'm not saying that any of the above 4 could or should carry the company, but with the proper booking, they could have been attractions this year. Instead they are just filling out the rest of the card.
    And yes, it took Austin over a year from KOTR to beating HBK to reach the top, but once he started mixing it up with Bret you started to get a sense that it was just a matter of time. I don't think anyone has gotten that feeling with Roman except Vince.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Yeah, make a new star...who is ready. Dude ain't ready (or, "some people say" dude ain't ready, if I'm sitting in a room with Hunter doing a podcast, lol).

    ReplyDelete
  61. Fuck, Austin needed Bret TO TELL VINCE "put Austin with me." 20 years more wear and tear on that brain, the fact that Vince has the tinglies tells me all I need to know, haha.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Yeah. Eaton's hair is waaaaay nicer.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Out him! Shame him!

    ReplyDelete
  64. I hope that becomes the new meme.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Seriously, between that and Bryan getting a match with the shot on the line? At the least, I hope it means they realize he has to be heel

    ReplyDelete
  66. From day 1. Everyone works their asses off!

    ReplyDelete
  67. Yeah, what the fuck was that?

    ReplyDelete
  68. You'd think losing to Big Show in 3 minutes would indicate they've lost faith in him and are switching to Bryan but who the fuck knows with this company.

    ReplyDelete
  69. What about a woman? HEY-OH wakka wakka!

    ReplyDelete
  70. A guy on the 411 comments called him joe. The other posters didnt take kindly to that.

    ReplyDelete
  71. What fans are rejecting that from the minute The Shield debuted -- maybe even before, in FCW -- Reigns was pegged as the Next Big Thing. It didn't matter that Bryan, Ziggler, Cesaro, Ambrose, Wyatt, and Rollins all got more over at various times over the past two years, It didn't matter that he couldn't cut a natural-sounding promo to save his life. It didn't matter that of the listed wrestlers he's the least skilled at this juncture. It didn't matter that Reigns was injured from September to December and off TV, leading to Ziggler and Rollins to get massively over. Reigns was THE GUY, like it or not.

    On top of that, in early 2014 WWE let fans control the main event scene by pushing Bryan after the fans refused to support Batista. So in early 2015, fans think they can control the main event scene by refusing to support Reigns. Can you blame them?

    ReplyDelete
  72. Reigns' push is the real-life version of The Authority's "Face of the WWE" angle from Fall 2013 to Mania 2014. And they wonder why people are rejecting him?

    ReplyDelete
  73. Confession time:

    I submitted this question. No, I don't agree with the premise.

    People on Facebook know who I am, they contact me with their ideas. The fact remains Scott has it right: this company stopped treating him, or anyone, as special. Daniel Bryan is special because he's been out for long enough to avoid 50/50 booking. Ditto Brock Lesnar. John Cena is somehow immune. When you won't even feed Big Show to your next new star -- and Big Show is past 40 and past mobility -- you've fucked up. HARD.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Has it been confirmed that the superstar of the year award was rigged? I mean just suppose it wasnt for a second. If it were 100 percent legit then I can understand him winning the rumble completely. Thats putting someone the people want to see on top. I dont think anyone thinks its legit though.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Would it be that hard for HHH/Steph to come out and ask Reigns to join them in getting rid of Bryan?

    ReplyDelete
  76. Someone who was full-on, message board smarky in 1998 help me out: was anyone clamoring for anything besides Rock/Austin at WM15? Foley was on fire, and I remember he mentions in his book that Shawn was one of the people in favor of doing something different at WM15, and I assume that means he thought it should have been Austin/Foley just because of HHH/HBK's dislike of Rocky or whatever it was.

    Rock was obviously on fire from Summerslam '98 on, but wasn't yet there as a worker or any sort of proven draw quite yet. And as huge as Austin was, everything but his matches with Foley were mediocre at best, workrate-wise, in 1998 (granted, considering who he was working with most of the year, not really his fault). So he had to have had *some* detractors, right?

    As a 15-year old who was a rookie viewer and still a year or two away from going full-on smark, Rock v. Austin seemed obvious as fuck to me even though Rock was a brand-new main eventer.

    I'm not trying to make any point here in comparing it to today's booking or anything. Just genuine curiosity if Rock/Austin was as inevitable as 15-year old me thought, or if there was any serious desire for anything else.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Like a lot of stuff during this period, it was stupid fun

    ReplyDelete
  78. I laughed a good bit at it. The best part was when Austin was hoisted up and the Undertaker had a voice over that played, because evidently he could not handle a live mic or something.

    ReplyDelete
  79. My first thought was Muta in NWA

    ReplyDelete
  80. I think it was pretty inevitable. The reactions both guys were getting made it the obvious money match for WrestleMania. Vince saw nothing but dollar signs with it. Putting Foley in that spot would have been a bad idea. Foley had a following, but was not on either guy's level as a draw. That is not meant as a slight to Foley, because he was definitely in an exclusive upper tier, but WM 15 was dead-on Austin-Rock.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Oh, I absolutely think it was inevitable, too. I was just curious if smark opinion was as overwhelmingly in favor of it as me and my 15-year old jock buddies thought. As soon as Rock turned heel at SurSer, we were *dying* for Rock v. Austin.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Scott would probably be a better gauge of this than me, since I didn't have Internet at the time, but the smart fans seemed to enjoy Rock-Austin. I know they largely hated Austin-Undertaker by this point.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Related: was this just another thing me and my dumb high school friends assumed, but wasn't a long build to Austin v. Big Show the original plan for WM2000?

    ReplyDelete
  84. I believe that was an initial idea, but of course they had Austin beat Big Show on free TV and that was the end of that plan.

    ReplyDelete
  85. I loved Bret, but Vader should have been #1

    ReplyDelete
  86. Definitely. I still think their Summerslam '98 match is really good, but that's about the extent of it.

    ReplyDelete
  87. My man 2 Cold Scorpio! I always thought he could hit it big in a major promotion.

    ReplyDelete
  88. It was always gonna be Austin rock. Fans were totally burned out on rock-mankind and taker Austin

    ReplyDelete
  89. Big snow turned face way to quick at mania.. It made absolutely no sense. He also put on more weight and couldn't wrestle for more than 10 minutes, which wasn't gonna fly with wwe crowds in the main events

    ReplyDelete
  90. Crikey Mate Down Under AussieFebruary 3, 2015 at 9:30 PM

    This was one year after I was born!

    ReplyDelete
  91. CruelConnectionNumber2February 3, 2015 at 9:54 PM

    "Backflip, what a maneuever!"

    ReplyDelete
  92. CruelConnectionNumber2February 3, 2015 at 10:27 PM

    Shawn is wayyyy too high.

    ReplyDelete
  93. ALL THIS TALK ABOUT SPHINCTERS IS GETTIN' ME IN THE ZONE!

    ReplyDelete
  94. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 4, 2015 at 3:27 AM

    Oh, you kids...

    ReplyDelete
  95. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 4, 2015 at 3:28 AM

    Man, these are good, keep them coming. And I won't lie, I still buy the 500 every year, it's better than Google if you want to try and keep up with the indy guys. But $9? For a fucking magazine? That goes over about as well as a cop in a weed garden in NY. Well, a little better, I still bought it.

    Can't wait for 95-2001.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Adam "Colorado" CurryFebruary 4, 2015 at 3:29 AM

    Not anymore. In 93? Yeah man, he was fucking annihilated.

    ReplyDelete
  97. I have to say, as a marky kid, I did not buy Bret as WWF Champion AT ALL during 92/93. I thought he was out of his depth and not ready for the jump from IC Champ to WWF Champ

    ReplyDelete
  98. He probably should have had a breakout moment after his match with Windham at the June Clash.

    ReplyDelete
  99. I just bought the newest magazine. They lowered the price to 6.99. Which, is far more reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
  100. He looks strangely like Beetlejuice in the picture used here.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment