So 'Head of the Table' Roman Reigns is really just channeling Lebron James, huh?

[JaegerDice]

I'm obviously late to the party on this. I bounced of pro wrestling awhile ago, around 2011 or 2012, after being obsessed with it, particularly from 1997-2001.

Got invited to a buddy's place to watch Survivor Series 2023 and it was pretty fun, so he let me use his WWE Network info to go back and watch some older stuff.

I figured I'd start toward the end of the pandemic, cause I feel like wrestling needs a crowd, so I went with Wrestlemania 37 and then backtracked about a month to hit the major promos leading up to it.

And wow. Heel Roman Reigns is awesome. He's basically like peak douchey 'the decision' era Lebron James, dialed up to 11. He's got his little posse of sycophants, he has complete confidence in his abilities, yet drips with insecurity and pettiness when it comes to other people evaluating him (Acknowledge me!), and his ring work is just so much better as a heel. What a revolting, entertaining mix of the best and worst a human can be. I love it.

I told me friend, and he tells me 'yeah, the character stays great but the matches start getting repeditive' which is a shame. But man, for right now, I am loving this character and blasting through 2021 at a fever pace.

Click to read more...

 

[GKJ]

Yeah, you’re definitely going through it at its best.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Yeah, you’re definitely going through it at its best.

Ehh. 2021 was just OK. Late 2022 through mid-2023 was the peak, and probably the best TV WWE has done in 20+ years.

God-willing, we get back to that with him losing, going against Solo, and then hopefully going away for awhile and coming back for a babyface redemption run. And by babyface redemption I essentially mean he's the same character coming back to reclaim his spot as Tribal Chief. No shaking hands and kissing babies. No "everything is all good" with all the people he f***ed over. Same character, except now he's a douchebag to heels.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Personally over the whole thing and Reigns entire reign as champ lol it was certainly hot a year ago. Him being champ for however long it has been losing most of its meaning when he shows up like 5 times a year lol

 

[GKJ]

I took a break from wrestling back like early 2000’s, the rise of Cena was kind of in tow. One day I put Smackdown and Bradshaw is the god damn WWE champion. Thought about that when I thought about this thread.

 

[TD Charlie]

Personally over the whole thing and Reigns entire reign as champ lol it was certainly hot a year ago. Him being champ for however long it has been losing most of its meaning when he shows up like 5 times a year lol

I'm ok with the champ being a special attraction. It leaves room to elevate others, and makes the champs appearances worth paying for. They are a little too sparse with the Roman Reigns TV time though.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I took a break from wrestling back like early 2000’s, the rise of Cena was kind of in tow. One day I put Smackdown and Bradshaw is the god damn WWE champion. Thought about that when I thought about this thread.

Hopefully you didn't think of it as a comparison, because Roman is a much bigger draw than JBL ever was.

My biggest complaint is he's one of the biggest/fittest guys in the company and can't win clean. Ever. I get you've gotta establish heat but at least mix it up with some clean wins at some point.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Personally over the whole thing and Reigns entire reign as champ lol it was certainly hot a year ago. Him being champ for however long it has been losing most of its meaning when he shows up like 5 times a year lol

Yeah he should have more screen time, but I love that WWE is finally treating the belt/champ like an attraction above the rest of the roster. For years my biggest beef is the belt changes hands way too often and its become cheapened from it. I never thought they'd have the balls to do a multi year run with 1 guy at the top, but they did and it was desperately needed.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Personally over the whole thing and Reigns entire reign as champ lol it was certainly hot a year ago. Him being champ for however long it has been losing most of its meaning when he shows up like 5 times a year lol

Honestly though... It's been immensely beneficial for ratings. That Trial of the Tribal Chief episode was probably the biggest TV business WWE has done in over a decade.

That probably doesn't happen if Roman is treated as a weekly character rather than a special attraction. This really should be the end game goal. Building enough special attractions that you can rotate them in and out and guys don't need to be there every week.

 

[Habsrule]

Roman has done a fantastic job as the champ but I am getting stale of him for a while now. The last time I was fully invested in a program with him was against Sami Zayn.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Roman has done a fantastic job as the champ but I am getting stale of him for a while now. The last time I was fully invested in a program with him was against Sami Zayn.

The problem is, once he beat Cody, you know he's not gonna lose until Wrestlemania.

He had 4 months of great programs with Jey and Jimmy, but only one title match in that time. And Jey vs. Roman was actually a great program... But again, nobody thought Jey was winning.

 

[JaegerDice]

The problem is, once he beat Cody, you know he's not gonna lose until Wrestlemania.

He had 4 months of great programs with Jey and Jimmy, but only one title match in that time. And Jey vs. Roman was actually a great program... But again, nobody thought Jey was winning.

He had a match with Cody at a WM? Nice. Definitely looking forward to that.

Did they do like a ‘my bloodline is better than your bloodline’ thing given Rhodes is from a family of legends too?

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

He had a match with Cody at a WM? Nice. Definitely looking forward to that.

Did they do like a ‘my bloodline is better than your bloodline’ thing given Rhodes is from a family of legends too?

They essentially played it respectfully while Roman and Heyman took subtle digs at Cody with claims Dusty said Roman was the son he always wanted, Dusty was too busy focusing on grooming Roman to groom Cody, etc.

It was never really a blood feud. More of Heyman and Roman building up Cody only to kick him in the balls with "Your Dad was so great. Your Dad made stars. Your Dad didn't bother with you because your Dad knew Roman was the one."

It was good, but wasn't great. Roman/Sami and Roman/Jey/Jimmy were better considering the story steered them to those feuds, rather than with Cody, WWE wanted to make that story, so the steered it toward that feud. That may not sound right... What I mean is those ones felt like organic feuds whereas Cody was what the company wanted and pushed toward.

 

[JaegerDice]

They essentially played it respectfully while Roman and Heyman took subtle digs at Cody with claims Dusty said Roman was the son he always wanted, Dusty was too busy focusing on grooming Roman to groom Cody, etc.

It was never really a blood feud. More of Heyman and Roman building up Cody only to kick him in the balls with "Your Dad was so great. Your Dad made stars. Your Dad didn't bother with you. Your Dad knew Roman was the one."

It was good, but wasn't great. Roman/Sami and Roman/Jey/Jimmy were better considering the story steered them to those feuds, rather than with Cody, WWE wanted to make that story, so the steered it toward that feud. That may not sound right... What I mean is those ones felt like organic feuds whereas Cody was what the company wanted and pushed toward.

I see. Was Cody at least over as a face, or were people largely indifferent?

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I see. Was Cody at least over as a face, or were people largely indifferent?

Nah he was over for sure.

They honestly were lucky that Elimination Chamber happened to be in Montreal, because it gave them a cop out of not doing Sami vs. Roman at Mania. It can sound logical to do that match in Sami's home town, but the reality is Sami was the most over babyface (Peak) in the company in probably 5-10 years and probably should've been the Mania main event.

Most people wanted Sami worked in but knew it wouldn't happen because they were going with Cody to end Roman's run... Which made sense right up until Cody got pinned lol.

 

[GKJ]

Nah he was over for sure.

They honestly were lucky that Elimination Chamber happened to be in Montreal, because it gave them a cop out of not doing Sami vs. Roman at Mania. It can sound logical to do that match in Sami's home town, but the reality is Sami was the most over babyface (Peak) in the company in probably 5-10 years and probably should've been the Mania main event.

Most people wanted Sami worked in but knew it wouldn't happen because they were going with Cody to end Roman's run... Which made sense right up until Cody got pinned lol.

I’m pretty sure that wasn’t an accident.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I’m pretty sure that wasn’t an accident.

Booking it in Montreal?

I dunno how far ahead of the PPV it was booked.

 

[GKJ]

Booking it in Montreal?

I dunno how far ahead of the PPV it was booked.

Not sure how long but it was enough that they knew what they were doing once they decided to keep Sami around Roman. WWE has not been booking venues as far in advance for PPV’s like they used to.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I see. Was Cody at least over as a face, or were people largely indifferent?

Cody was and remains massively over as a face for WWE.

His reactions have only gotten better since he debuted and he is consistently in their top 3 of merch movers.

From a business perspective, they are right to line him up as the top face and guy to dethrone Roman.