Here we are for the second year in a row questioning the outcome of the Royal Rumble, and wondering if Wrestlemania plans will be changed again. The WWE made the wrong move giving Roman Reigns the win at the Rumble.
As I said in my column last week: There is a time and place for Roman Reigns in the future of the WWE. He can still be a big time main event player and have a strong impact for years to come. But the WWE brought back Daniel Bryan before the Royal Rumble. They hyped up his appearance in the Rumble as a big deal, and even put his spot in the Rumble on the line at one point. They brought Daniel Bryan back early and got the fans’ hopes up. And the WWE let them down again. And the backlash fell on to Roman Reigns.
Now here we are on the Road to Wrestlemania and Roman Reigns Title shot at Wrestlemania is on the line. So for the second year in a row, the Royal Rumble has turned into a meaningless match. It doesn’t matter if the WWE screwed up or not, doing what they have now done two years in a row has hurt the mystique of the Rumble match. Even if Roman Reigns wins and keeps his Title shot, it doesn’t change that fact.
So here we are going into Fast Lane, with Daniel Bryan taking on Roman Reigns. With the winner facing Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania. So what was the point of the Royal Rumble again? I have a feeling that because of how things ended on RAW, Seth Rollins will find his way into the match to make it a Triple Threat. But even if that doesn’t happen, the WWE is once again showing at least some hesitation about Roman Reigns going into Wrestlemania. And that is just another reason why the fans will struggle to get behind him.
I’d be very surprised if the crowds leading up to and at Fast Lane end up siding with Roman Reigns. So not only did you have some of the crowd against Reigns to begin with, you now risk alienating more fans and having them turn against Reigns in the build up to Fast Lane. The WWE has screwed up Reigns since he broke away from the Shield. They were able to hide some of his flaws when he had Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins next to him. Roman Reigns needed to be pushed like Goldberg. Keep his promos very short, or don’t even let him talk at all. Keep his move set as it is and make all of his offense look impactful.
But instead the WWE is trying to turn Reigns into John Cena. And that is where the backlash is coming from. Every wrestling fan, whether you are a smart mark or casual viewer, wants to see new stars at the top of the WWE. Roman Reigns IS a new star. But the problem is that the WWE is trying to turn him into their current top star. But that man is someone the WWE fans are sick of seeing. Roman Reigns needs to be made into his own character. If you try to make the next John Cena, the crowd is going to react to him like he is John Cena.
If the WWE really wanted to push Roman Reigns and give him the win at the Royal Rumble, then they shouldn’t have brought back Daniel Bryan before the Royal Rumble. And if Reigns goes over Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane, gets his hand raised by Bryan after the match, and STILL gets booed, then the Wrestlemania main event is in serious jeopardy of being a disaster.
Unfortunately for Roman Reigns, he is in a lose/lose situation. If he wins at Fast Lane, the fans will still resent him because he beat their hero Daniel Bryan. And a lot of fans will still feel like Reigns has taken Bryan’s spot. If Reigns loses at Fast Lane, then his confidence will take a hit because the WWE has lost some faith in him. But the WWE is who put Reigns in this position in the first place. And it was because of their own shortsightedness that they have set up a potential top star to fail before he has even begun.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
