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Roman Reigns as the ace post-Wrestlemania


FMKK

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This is straying from my original intention but I wonder if Roman actually doesnt have that great a body. It is very strange that hes basically never appeared topless on WWE TV

 

You would think they would use tearing his gear apart as part of a particularly brutal match or angle by now, even if just once. I don't buy that its due to concerns about his body, but am not sure why they've avoided going that route at some point.

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Are people forgetting the second Evolution match? The heels removed Roman's vest during that beat down. I only remember it because a few podcasts covered it at the time, and a lot of them suddenly shifted their thoughts on the subject and were all, "Uhhhh yeeeahhh. He basically looks like the third Uso without the vest."

 

I really couldn't care any less either way. I understand that they want him to have a definitive, distinctive appearance. I have more of an issue that they don't protect him enough. If this Mania rematch was supposedly this great idea all along, then why the hell was he being booked to take actual pinfall losses to the fucking Miz on consecutive weeks of television as recently as January? It's just 'nanners.

 

I know diehard fans would play outraged on Twitter or whatever, but imagine how much more this Brock match would appear to matter if it were two protected, strong streaks colliding. Instead, Roman had practically no momentum before he just won one single match and got the shot. Then everyone was suddenly shouting to the rooftops about how it's been this amazing journey and such great storytelling.

 

Except that it really hasn't been. It's barely been addressed at all since their first match. I mean, sure. They've teased going back to it, but no more than they've teased Brock/Joe, Brock/Braun, or any of his other programs. If you actually just watch the TV and don't subscribe to the insider talk, then you wouldn't really view Roman as anything exceptional lately. He went from losing a lot to getting the Mania shot.

 

The booking is a much bigger detriment to Roman's top guy status than anything he wears or the way he walks.

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Agreed and agreed.

There's nothing to the Roman character that is compelling. Everything is based on the fact people know he's the chosen one IRL.

 

And yeah, the Shield music is just lazy, he never got his own thing. Remember when the Rock broke from the Nation, he had a tweeked version of the theme which evolved into his own.

Everything about the guy just screams "Well, he's just supposed to be the Ace, basically", but you never get the feeling that he actually is like Austin, Rock or Cena were. It's hammered, it's booked, it's executed, but it isn't actually *happening*. And apparently, it doesn't matter because the McMahons are happy the way things are, and the less special their guy on top is, the stronger the brand is to them. They should be thankfull the pro-wrestling crowd is the most faithfull, forgiving bunch out there.

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Super positive reactions don't matter to the people that counts-the McMahons. If it mattered, you know we'd be about six months into a long Braun title reign by now.

 

That's pretty sad, because that's what pro-wrestling was about. Watch who gets over and push the hell out of them. Rusev could be a hot act. Braun should be the Monster Champ. Honestly, this all is a product of the monopoly. With WCW kicking their tale, there's no way WWE spends three Mania main events in a row on Reigns "becoming the Ace".

 

 

This is my biggest thing when it comes to Reigns. I don't love the guy, but I think he's a great wrestler and has improved as a promo by leaps and bounds. But so rarely does any wrestling promotion go with the hot hand or stray from the plan. There's no telling what they could have done with Braun if they made him the guy.

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We're something like 5 years into this thing and they're still trying to get him over the hump. We can say he is the ace going forward but we could be in the exact same situation next Mania with everyone saying "this time is for real."

He is over the hump in terms of getting the loudest reactions, having the best matches etc. He's in a cadre with Lesnar, Cena and Strowman who are guaranteed to have their angles do 1 million plus views on YouTube every week for example. All they have to do is actually book the title run everyone has been expecting. Otherwise he's there.

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If he came out to a new theme on the Raw after Mania that would really signify that he's cemented as the top guy now imo. But so many of their recent themes have been dogshit that I kinda wouldn't trust them to do it unless they licence a real song.

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Are a lot of people shitting on the new music? Is that a thing? Because I've really dug a lot of the new tunes. It's one of the few things that doesn't require a truckload of prefacing or explanation for me to enjoy. Cue the music. Let the guy or gal do his/her entrance, and they tend to nail it. I feel like they've actually got a pretty great track record in that category, actually.

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My issue with Roman has always been how he's booked like a square peg in a round hole. He was supposed to be the next great babyface, but everything about the guy screams heel charisma. In any other company in any other era they would have turned him heel and made bank, then when he started getting cool heel face reactions turn him back and become the hero. Vince on the other had pretty much turns into the world's oldest toddler when fans don't react the way he wants them to and has a tantrum needing to prove he knows what they want better than they do.

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I don't have a problem with his inring work. I think he's kind of dull but I think a lot of guys are dull. Where I get annoyed with Reigns is the fact that they got handed far more interesting storylines and possibilities throughout the year. And we weren't allowed to enjoy any of it because we just had to have that Lesnar/Reigns rematch that no one really wanted and they didn't really make you want to see through the year,

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It is nuts that this will be his fourth WM main event in a row.

 

Yeah, that's the crazy part when you think they are still *trying* to have him cheer and basically have a coronation. No matter what anyone says about him getting the biggest reactions (hell, if he didn't after such a sustained push on top, it would be downright embarrassing. Again, this is the Triple H syndrome, push a guy long and hard enough, people will surrender, but not to the point of making him a real Ace like Hogan, Austin, Rock or Cena), the fact we're even discussing about how Reigns can have his big Ace championship stint after 4 Mania main events (did Rock even main event Mania four times ? Austin sure didn't. Hogan was one Mania removed from "passing the torch" after his fourth main event) tells everything you need to know about this issue.

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Super positive reactions don't matter to the people that counts-the McMahons. If it mattered, you know we'd be about six months into a long Braun title reign by now.

 

That's pretty sad, because that's what pro-wrestling was about. Watch who gets over and push the hell out of them. Rusev could be a hot act. Braun should be the Monster Champ. Honestly, this all is a product of the monopoly. With WCW kicking their tale, there's no way WWE spends three Mania main events in a row on Reigns "becoming the Ace".

This is my biggest thing when it comes to Reigns. I don't love the guy, but I think he's a great wrestler and has improved as a promo by leaps and bounds. But so rarely does any wrestling promotion go with the hot hand or stray from the plan. There's no telling what they could have done with Braun if they made him the guy.

I don't wanna come across as a guy who only complains about WWE. I mean, I am pretty excited for WrestleMania this year...

 

... but ...

 

I am somehow 100 percent confident that, if they had decided to make Braun the guy they would have done it in such a way that at least half of us would hate Braun now. You know, book him as a Superman instead of a monster, or try to make him into the next Austin-style guy who is succeeding despite being held down (while forcing him down our throats) or have him find an old ventriloquist dummy that gives him advice...

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Super positive reactions don't matter to the people that counts-the McMahons. If it mattered, you know we'd be about six months into a long Braun title reign by now.

 

That's pretty sad, because that's what pro-wrestling was about. Watch who gets over and push the hell out of them. Rusev could be a hot act. Braun should be the Monster Champ. Honestly, this all is a product of the monopoly. With WCW kicking their tale, there's no way WWE spends three Mania main events in a row on Reigns "becoming the Ace".

This is my biggest thing when it comes to Reigns. I don't love the guy, but I think he's a great wrestler and has improved as a promo by leaps and bounds. But so rarely does any wrestling promotion go with the hot hand or stray from the plan. There's no telling what they could have done with Braun if they made him the guy.

I don't wanna come across as a guy who only complains about WWE. I mean, I am pretty excited for WrestleMania this year...

 

... but ...

 

I am somehow 100 percent confident that, if they had decided to make Braun the guy they would have done it in such a way that at least half of us would hate Braun now. You know, book him as a Superman instead of a monster, or try to make him into the next Austin-style guy who is succeeding despite being held down (while forcing him down our throats) or have him find an old ventriloquist dummy that gives him advice...

Not sure about that. Braun (and Rusev really) have shown an ability to rise above the material given to them. How many times have we seen the silly "fake twin" angle to tepid reactions? But Braun turned Brains into something people enjoyed. Rusev's even better, considering what he has to work with.

 

That said, I will admit that I think the WWE should not always react to crowds on every guy they have. Otherwise we'd have a failed Fandango title reign in the books by now (remember the Fandango craze?) But they need to do a better job pulling the trigger when they can confirm that a guy is really over and not ironically.

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The thing is, the Cena experience taught Vince McMahon not to listen to crowds. And seeing as how he has finally achieved his dream of creating a product where the brand rather than any individual wrestler is the draw, he has no incentive to change course. As long as Reigns doesn't completely tank business or do anything to embarrass the company, he's The Guy for the foreseeable future.

 

As a side note, I rather dislike the use of the term "ace" to refer to the top guy in WWE. It's too much of a Japanism for my tastes. I blame jdw for popularizing it.

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The thing is, the Cena experience taught Vince McMahon not to listen to crowds. And seeing as how he has finally achieved his dream of creating a product where the brand rather than any individual wrestler is the draw, he has no incentive to change course. As long as Reigns doesn't completely tank business or do anything to embarrass the company, he's The Guy for the foreseeable future.

 

As a side note, I rather dislike the use of the term "ace" to refer to the top guy in WWE. It's too much of a Japanism for my tastes. I blame jdw for popularizing it.

why do hate the term ace its is adopted from tennis its not a Japanism at all

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