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For the second straight year in a row, the WWE picked the WRONG GUY to win the Royal Rumble and thereby become the #1 contender for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania. Last year, it was Batista. WWE officials foolishly thought that it was just the "YES!" chant and not the wrestler, Daniel Bryan, who was over. Fans openly rejected the idea of a babyface Batista taking on a heel Randy Orton, especially since it had been years since Batista was a pro wrestler. He was in awful cardio shape and thus couldn't look strong in the ring heading into Wrestlemania. WWE called an audible at Wrestlemania 30 to put over Daniel Bryan strong instead. For 2015, we face a situation that could be far worse. At least with Batista, he has an extensive resume of being a good main event star for 5 years. Roman Reigns, on the other hand, has only been a regular singles wrestler since the Shield/Evolution following Wrestlemania 30 and Reigns was also out for an injury for several months. Yet, that resume is somehow good enough to elist him as the guy who will (a) stop Brock Lesnar and (b) become the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Fans in Philadelphia, PA at Royal Rumble 2015 didn't think so... After Daniel Bryan was eliminated, they went nuclear. They saw the "Roman Reigns will win this" writing on the wall and they protested heavily with boos. Even with the Rock making a surprise appearance to save Roman Reigns from a Kane/Big Show beatdown, the boos were still here. To summarize, let me speak for the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) on why pushing Roman Reigns this fast to the WWE Title is a BAD idea: (1) - Inexperience. Yes, he has been in the WWE since late 2011. However, he has wrestled with the Shield for many of those years whether it was a tag match or a 6 man tag. Not many opportunities to shine as a singles wrestler. Furthermore, he hasn't proven himself as a midcard singles wrestler to elevate to the World Title. (2) - Mic skills are awful. He can't talk, yet... Reason why he needs scripted lines is because his improv skills are weak at this stage in the game. He just can't talk and since his push is so manufactured by WWE management, he has no emotional link to anything he says. Seems to be void of personality. (3) - Can you name a great Roman Reigns singles match? I honestly can't, aside from a few efforts by Seth Rollins to bump like a champion to make Reigns look good. I thought his singles matches against CM Punk and Randy Orton were extremely lackluster. (4) - Failure to evolve. Ever notice how both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have both changed their looks and theme music? Roman Reigns still dresses like he's a member of the Shield, has the same Shield theme music, and still walks through the crowd like a member of the Shield. (5) Being the Rock's cousin means squat with today's WWE fans. While John Cena vs. the Rock drew well as a Wrestlemania "dream match" twice, Rock's other appearances weren't exactly drawing well. In fact, many of the younger fans see the Rock as a movie star trying to wrestle instead fo a movie star who used to be a wrestler. That's the problem with the Rock's return, especially when the WWE rams him down our throats to slaughter the current full time WWE roster. Many WWE fans of today weren't even born or were in diapers when the Rock was a dominant force during hte Attitude Era. (6) Not the best former Shield member, not even the 2nd best. At this stage in the game, notably since the Shield break-up, many can already name great matches that both Rollins and Ambrose have already had. Both are tremendous workers. Ambrose is getting naturally over as a babyface while Seth Rollins is doing well as the Authority's top heel. Roman is lagging behind his 2 former partners in every aspect of being a pro wrestler (in-ring ability, mic skills, personality, charisma). This is NOT to say that Roman Reigns, with time, couldn't become a big WWE Superstar. Please, don't take my criticisms the wrong way. I'm talking in the moment, HERE and NOW, Roman Reigns is NOT ready to be WWE Champion. Furthermore, he does not look convincing as a wrestler to beat someone of the caliber of Brock Lesnar. Have you seen Lesnar's career since his Wrestlemania 29 loss to Triple H? Let me count the ways... Beat Triple H in a rematch, beat the hell out of CM Punk at SummerSlam 2013, crushed the Big Show at Royal Rumble 2014, ended the streak and beat the freakin' Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30, destroyed John Cena at SummerSlam 2014, and then there was that no contest rematch a month later... Blah to that. But NOW, Brock Lesnar just beat 2 of the company's top stars, John Cena and Seth Rollins, in a Triple Threat match. In other words, Roman Reigns must be worth of beating a guy who defeated Triple H, CM Punk, Big Show, Undertaker, John Cena, and John Cena/Seth Rollins ALL IN A ROW! Do you see why the Internet Wrestling Community and Philly fans are upset with the WWE's Royal Rumble match booking? Reigns lacks the experience to look credible against Brock Lesnar. Even though Daniel Bryan looks undersized against Brock Lesnar, you KNOW that Daniel Bryan will deliver a great match against Lesnar. Why? Look at Bryan's resume! Great match after great match, no matter the shape or size of the wrestler. The outcome doesn't matter... You know that Bryan will deliver a great match. However, there is no guarantees that Roman Reigns can deliver a great match against Brock Lesnar. And THAT IS THE PROBLEM heading into Wrestlemania 31 and why the WWE is foolish for putting Roman's inexperience on the line. Most fans can see this ahead of time, hence the boos in Philly or the #CancelWWENetwork trending on Twitter. I'm actually shocked that many wrestling fans even dared to push the "#CancelWWENetwork" movement. I see too many fans acting as sheep and handing the WWE their money at all costs. Why does the WWE often put out an inferior product? Because they have your money already and no competitor is able to raise enough capital and get a strong television deal to compete with them. I guess the "last straw" was pushing Roman Reigns down their throats. Where were you during early 2014 when WWE was depushing Daniel Bryan and when CM Punk walked out of the company out of frustration? How about the depushing Cesaro after Wrestlemania 30's Andre "the Giant" Battle Royal? That's right, the Big Show who was in the Top 3 this year at the Rumble was bodyslammed over the top rope by Cesaro at Wrestlemania 30. Nothing but booking bullshit after that and fans were willing to keep forking over their money to the WWE Network. But the realization of Roman Reigns getting the Wrestlemania 31 push has finally put you over the edge? Welcome to the club, even if it's late. I'm going to be honest... If we're getting the "Summer of Reigns" after Wrestlemania 31, I'm done with the WWE. I can't take it anymore... I've lived through the hard pushes of Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, and the Miz to the World Title even when those guys weren't deserving of the title at the time. WWE tried to push Bray Wyatt too fast and used him to actually get a 100% clean win over Daniel Bryan. Many of the FCW/NXT call-ups have become instant main eventers despite not naturally earning those spots. Besides Brock Lesnar in 2002, who was a freak of nature, the other developmental call-ups (John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista) took several years to become main eventers. Randy Orton was pushed 2 years into his WWE career to the World Title and that was too fast. WWE has become impatient with the "get over in the midcard first, then earn the main event spot next" blueprint that made many of the promotions that air on their WWE Network to be so successful. Could you imagine if the WWE actually booked Daniel Bryan favorably instead of constantly shitting on him? Imagine this... The events of SummerSlam 2013 still happen but in the months to come, Daniel Bryan not only overcomes Randy Orton in a feud but also gets revenge over Triple H before the end of 2013. Instead of trying to ignore fans, the WWE could have embraced the "YES!" movement and tried to cash in. Nobody has shaken arenas like Daniel Bryan has with the "YES!" chants, not since the Attitude Era with Rock and Steve Austin, in my opinion. But yet, the WWE actively destroys him in the booking. Vince McMahon hates his size, Kevin Dunn hates his look, and Triple H hates that Bryan doesn't kiss his ass. When Bryan chewed Triple H out for canceling his RAW match against Randy Orton one night, Triple H got revenge by making an example out of Bryan through bad booking. "B+ player" was born. But you know what, let's stop with the Daniel Bryan love... Obviously, the WWE will NOT give Daniel Bryan back-to-back Wrestlemania main event matches or WWE Title shots. Just not happening, as the Vince/HHH/Dunn seemed unhappy about Daniel Bryan's post Wrestlemania 31 stuff with Kane. They probably blame Bryan for getting injured, on purpose... I just don't see the WWE shoving Daniel Bryan into the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match at Wrestlemania 31. However, thanks to his efforts at the Royal Rumble in a Triple Threat Match against Brock Lesnar and John Cena, Seth Rollins has a real shot at SAVING Wrestlemania 31. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar is happening... You can't just have Reigns win the Rumble and not get the WWE Title shot. Yes, I'm well aware of exceptions out there... But for the most part, the Rumble winner gets the shot. But Seth Rollins STILL has the Money in the Bank briefcase in hand. He could either (a) cash in the briefcase after the Lesnar/Reigns match or (b) be added to the Lesnar/Reigns match for another Triple Threat. I was completely wrong about the Seth Rollins addition to the John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar match-up. For myself, I wanted to see the Cena/Lesnar series end with a clear winner but I began thinking about how unsatisfied I was with the 2 matches held during 2014 between Lesnar and Cena. Seth Rollins is arguably the best in-ring performer in the WWE today and he injected life, personality, great bumping, and chaos into the Triple Threat match. In fact, I would argue that he pushed Brock Lesnar to one of his best matches since his WWE return (CM Punk match at SummerSlam 2013 was amazing!). As bad as the Royal Rumble match may have seemed, you at least endured a 5-Star wrestling classic that was possible thanks to Seth Rollins being added to the match. Just as Seth Rollins SAVED John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2015, Seth Rollins can SAVE Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31. IN MY OPINION, what's BEST FOR BUSINESS is to have Seth Rollins walk out of Wrestlemania 31 as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It saves Roman Reigns from choking as WWE Champion after Wrestlemania 31 and gives Reigns a purpose as the chaser. But I believe your stronger draw is Seth Rollins remaining on top of the WWE as the HEEL WWE Champion while fending off any babyface wrestler who wants some. Ideally, Seth Rollins, backed by the Authority, could fight John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and Dean Ambrose for the rest of 2015 and that's excellent to me. While Rollins feuds with Cena, Bryan, and Ambrose, Roman Reigns can then feud with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Wade Barrett, and Rusev to develop into that eventual superstar that WWE might seek. Then, when we're burned out on Rollins, Cena, Ambrose, or Bryan, start to cycle in Reigns, Rusev, Bray, Barret, etc. By the way, I'm a full believer in Bray Wyatt now and I'm buying more stock on Rusev. Both looked great at the Royal Rumble last night. I've given up on Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro... Both of those wrestlers, along with Daniel Bryan, need to seriously consider LEAVING the WWE. WWE obviously doesn't care to consistently book those guys strong. Go elsewhere and stick it to the WWE for being so wrong on the booking. Ring of Honor, TNA, Lucha Underground, and New Japan might trip over themselves trying to get those 3 guys. Daniel Bryan, especially... He could go to Ring of Honor or TNA Wrestling, right now, and instantly boost those promotions as a draw. And I guarantee they wouldn't depush him. Seth Rollins is the absolute best thing going in the WWE right now... If the WWE fixes their Royal Rumble mistake by putting Rollins over HUGE and letting him dominate the rest of 2015, I'll forgive you WWE... If you shove Roman Reigns down my throat during 2015, I'm done with you. I'll not only keep boycotting your stupid WWE Network, but your entire promotion. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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