Posted in: Mr. Tito
MR. TITO STRIKES BACK - The Definitive Roman Reigns and His WWE Title Push Column (MUST READ!)
By Mr. Tito
Feb 1, 2015 - 11:23:24 PM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

Welcome back to the Excellence in Column Writing, which lately, there's been lots of agreement with regarding the topic of Roman Reigns. Most wrestling fans get it, which is why the extreme majority of fans in Philadelphia during Royal Rumble 2015 hated the Rumble match and why #CancelWWENetwork trended so strongly. The criticisms keep coming from many fans online and from the handful of wrestling fans I know around my area, they aren't thrilled with Roman Reigns either. It's nothing personal against Roman... The issue is about timing. He's not ready to be a Main Eventer... YET. Maybe in a year or with a stronger singles resume... But NOT YET. Most fans liked his work with the Shield but actually believe the other 2 members, not Roman, are ready for prime time in Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Yet, the WWE has been actively booking Dean Ambrose to lose...

However - There is this pocket group of dedicated, loyal WWE fans who are drinking the McMahon Koolaid and nodding their heads with Roman Reigns as the selected pushed wrestler for 2015. They are suggesting that the angry, outspoken fans about Royal Rumble 2015 are impatient on Roman Reigns or that they've never tried a Roman Reigns WWE Title reign before. These are the type of fans who are complete "yes men" to the WWE and completely beholden to them with their WWE Network subscriptions and wouldn't even think STOP WATCHING or STOP GIVING WWE THEIR MONEY. Not a chance... In fact, their only criticism is that Vince McMahon has become too senile and that he should give full decision making power to Triple H. Seriously... Vince McMahon made the pro wrestling business grow significantly TWICE, once in the 1980's and another time during the late 1990's... They do realize that Triple H has help run the WWE since the early 2000's, right? He was attending WWE Production Meetings as early as 2002 which was revealed when Steve Austin spoke out about it as one of his reasons for walking out.

Again - Most fans see it clearly... It's a matter of TIMING... Roman Reigns could eventually become the next coming of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Rock, or John Cena for all we know. But each of those top, top guys, it took years for them to get there or in the case of the Rock, was blessed with God-given talents on the microphone and crazy amounts of charisma shown after year 1. You HAVE to get naturally over on the way up to the top by the fans... You need to convince fans that you're the next greatest thing in pro wrestling and that you'll draw them into arenas.

Problem is that WWE Management, mostly comprised of Vince McMahon as the CEO and top manager backstage, Kevin Dunn as the executive producer, Stephanie McMahon as former head of creative, and the man wearing many hats now (live events, creative, and talent) Triple H have made many BAD decisions selecting the next Main Eventers. Much of it involves the cheap gimmick known as Money in the Bank that has anointed many wrestlers too early in their careers to be considered for a WWE Title shot. The other has been, especially in recent years, the Royal Rumble match. Now, the Rumble match has been used to prepare Wrestlemania, but the timing has been better in the past than it has now. I thought the Sheamus Rumble win was a stretch, last year's Batista win didn't return Batista to his past glory, and now, they've used it to "make" Roman Reigns.

Funny thing is that many of the WWE loyalists who LIKE the Roman Reigns push have pointed to the 2014 Rumble Match to "prove" that Reigns was ready. Huh? The issue was that fans were against Batista winning that match. They knew that Randy Orton vs. Batista for Wrestlemania 30 was about to be shoved down their throats, hard. The fans in Pittsburgh (where Royal Rumble 2014 was held) would have taken anybody to win over Batista at that point. They were furious over the Daniel Bryan omission as an utter disrespect of their fan favorite. Nobody in their right mind wanted Orton vs. Batista at Wrestlemania 30. Nobody!!!

Getting back to WWE Management (Vince, Dunn, HHH, and Stephanie), they haven't selected the next Main Event wrestler well since Batista during 2005. That was the last of the "Class of 2002" developmental call-ups and the timing was perfect. Batista did great in the midcard during 2003-2004 with Evolution, improved greatly as an in-ring performer, and was getting some face pops as sort of a "cool heel". The timing was right to pull the trigger on Batista at Royal Rumble 2005 and then Triple H did amazing business with Batista at Wrestlemania 21. WWE has a credible Main Eventer on their hands for years and because of that success, WWE management though they could replicate it during 2014. Ooops!

What the WWE loyalists who nod their heads in support of Roman Reigns cannot explain is WHY Roman is ready to assume the Main Event role. They cannot explain it with any rhyme or reason! And it's hilarious! They suggest that the Philadelphia fans from Royal Rumble 2015 were just "ECW Marks" and the Internet is just negative. Huh? Then please educate us on how Roman Reigns is not just ready to be WWE Champion, but qualified to look credible against Brock Lesnar. You WWE marks did just watch Brock Lesnar defeat Triple H, CM Punk, Big Show, Undertaker, John Cena, and John Cena/Seth Rollins in the past 2 years, right? That is some bigtime talent and in many cases, he dominated those guys. I've argued that WWE has built up Brock Lesnar to be TOO STRONG that it would make almost anybody look ridiculous beating Lesnar, let alone someone with a thin resume.

But let's look at Roman Reigns resume... He has no prior pro wrestling experience before signing a WWE Developmental contract during 2010. He debuted during September 2010 for Florida Championship Wrestling (before there was NXT) and by November 2012, he's appearing alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins at Survivor Series 2012. As "green" as you could argue Roman Reigns was in 2012, he was at least part of a stable that could hide any inexperience of ability. And he fit well with the group... He has a great look and he always had that big powerbomb spot that the Shield could use to destroy about anybody, large or small, through a table. Reigns worked mostly with Seth Rollins as a tag team while Dean Ambrose was trusted as the singles wrestler of the group. Reigns and Rollins had a nice 5 month Tag Title run during 2013. Then, the 3 members of the Shield did some work with the Authority as a group and went on to feud with the Wyatt Family and Evolution for a series of exciting 6 Man Matches.

Roman Reigns mostly worked Tag matches as a Shield member... He did have 1 RAW match during early 2014 against CM Punk, which didn't get rave reviews at the time. Hard to say if CM Punk's heart was into it or not at the time, but in my opinion, Reigns didn't step up against a guy who is very willing as a bumper (unlike Orton later). People during early 2014 weren't exactly in "awe" that Roman Reigns was the only Shield member to ever defeat CM Punk in a singles match. However, WWE was and that's probably why Roman Reigns was runner-up at the 2014 Royal Rumble. After the Rumble, it was lots of Tag Team wrestling until the RAW after the WWE Payback 2015 Pay Per View when Seth Rollins turned HEEL and joined the Authority. In my opinion, especially with hindsight of more than 6 months away from that incident, the 1 wrestler mostly hurt by the Shield's break-up was Roman Reigns. Now, he has to do the work of getting over and wrestling matches by himself! Rollins and Ambrose are proving to be very capable singles wrestlers.

But let's look at that WWE resume since that RAW following WWE Payback 2015.

- Money in the Bank 2014: Actually placed in the vacant Money in the Bank match for the WWE Title. Seriously... Now, I could rip Reigns, but the WWE also put Sheamus, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, and Bray Wyatt in that match, who are also debatable choices to be up for the title. Kane was in that match, whatever. Randy Orton was there. WWE was thin on talent by that point with Daniel Bryan now hurt and CM Punk obviously not there. Batista was out promoting Guardians of the Galaxy, Brock Lesnar wasn't contracted for that event, and Undertaker just wrestles Wrestlemania now.

- Battleground 2014: In a WWE Title match against John Cena, Randy Orton, and Kane. Seriously. That's TWO WWE Title shots since the Shield broke up. Does anybody remember Roman's performance that night?

- SummerSlam 2014: Defeated Randy Orton in a singles match. This was supposed to be the big put-over match for Roman. What, the previous WWE Title matches weren't? If you want to step up, do as Seth Rollins just did at Royal Rumble 2015. Everybody remembers that match and nobody will remember the 2 WWE Title matches or this match against Randy Orton. This Orton match was DULL. Many will argue that Orton is very controlling in the ring, as would I... But again, you as a wrestler need to step up. You can't just wait around the ring and hope that the veteran will spoon feed you to a great match. Most of the top publications rated this match quite poorly considering how much WWE tried to hype it.

Quite an early push after the Shield's break-up, but then Roman Reigns was OUT with an injury from September through December for surgery to repair a hernia. Reigns just so happens to be backstage at the RAW of the WWE Slammy Awards to hilariously win the "WWE Wrestler of the Year" award despite WWE refusing to release the voting results. But whatever... Reigns returned and now he just won the Royal Rumble 2014 match to now become the #1 contender to challenge for Brock Lesnar's WWE Title at Wrestlemania 31.

So pretty much... Since WWE Payback 2014, Reigns has 2 WWE Title shots, 1 big Pay Per View Win over Randy Orton, and a Rumble Match... In other words, extremely favorable booking by WWE Creative. Just baffling...

In other words, Roman Reigns is the next OVERPUSHED wrestler that WWE Management (Vince, Dunn, HHH, and Stephanie) have tried. Instead of letting wrestlers get naturally or organically get over with the fans, the WWE have just anointed wrestlers or used their Pay Per View gimmicks to strong-arm wrestlers into top spots. Things were actually worse when the WWE had 2 World Titles in the WWE Title (RAW) and World Heavyweight Title (Smackdown) to really throw darts at the board.

Let's look at WWE's track record on pushing wrestlers since 2005, which as I suggested above, was the last success of WWE Management in hand-selecting Batista to be the next guy (note: CM Punk in 2011 and Daniel Bryan in 2013 got over on their own, in my opinion, and not with WWE Management's help):

- CM Punk during 2008-2009 - Still too new to mainstream WWE fans but yet the WWE had CM Punk win the Money in the Bank match during back-to-back wins. His World Title reigns felt rushed and cheap and it wasn't until he built his character up through the Straight Edge Society and then as the leader of the Nexus where his character was ready to complement his in-ring ability. Then, he did the "pipebomb" speech. But it was a bad decision to push him the World Title this early in his WWE career.

- Jack Swagger - ECW branded wrestler at first, which he did OK at, but then joined RAW in 2009 and then Smackdown during 2010 after winning that year's Money in the Bank briefcase. Swagger cashed in during an episode of Smackdown to defeat Chris Jericho. He just didn't wow anybody which is pretty much why he's been a midcarder ever since.

- Alberto Del Rio - WWE appeared to be starting MEGA PUSH for Alberto Del Rio during Royal Rumble 2011 when Del Rio won that event. However, Del Rio actually lost the Wrestlemania title match against Edge. Then, after Edge retired, Del Rio was unable to capture the vacated World Heavyweight Championship. He could have kept chasing the title on the Smackdown roster but the WWE moved Alberto Del Rio to RAW. It was planned, immediately after Wrestlemania, that Alberto Del Rio would win the WWE Title at SummerSlam 2011 to then tour on the Mexico trip as WWE Champion. Problem was that Del Rio's "written in stone" title reign was to interrupted the "Summer of Punk" momentum that CM Punk had that year. WWE fans openly rejected Del Rio. In my opinion, Del Rio should have STAYED on the Smackdown roster to keep chasing the World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio was never the same.

- The Miz - WWE roster was thin during 2010 and the WWE was in serious need of some mainstay to step up. WWE liked Miz's midcard work and his ability on the mic and gave him a try. Granted, Miz immediately feuded with a 60+ year old Jerry Lawler to start his WWE Title reign after Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Miz worked with John Cena afterward and it didn't help Miz much, even with some good mic conversations with the Rock even involved. WWE soon realized their mistake and moved on... While Miz hasn't been much of a main event player since, WWE has given him many chances in the midcard to succeed. In this year alone, he competed for the Intercontinental Title, US Title, and then the WWE Tag Titles.

- Damien Sandow - Winner of the 2013 briefcase (well, one of them), but he just wasn't even in the discussion to become a Main Eventer. His biggest resume bulletpoint was tagging up with Cody Rhodes and those break-up matches were decent. But building up someone to become World Champion? Thankfully, the WWE came to their senses and cooled down Sandow. Sandow cashed his Money in the Bank briefcase and attempted to defeat an injured John Cena in a pretty damn good match to start RAW. But the WWE Creative team kept cooling Sandow down for much of 2014 until he began tagging with the Miz as a stuntman.

- Daniel Bryan during 2011 - Just not ready for the World Title yet. He won the Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed it in during TLC 2011. WWE Creative didn't have serious plans for him, either, as he didn't win as World Champion. Then, Sheamus destroyed him at Wrestlemania 28 in 18 seconds. That galvanized fans to cheer for him and that momentum grew when Daniel Bryan actually had great success with his tag team with Kane. Seriously, Kane owes much to Daniel Bryan for revitalizing his career. By 2013, thanks to his success on the midcard and getting over from there, he was ready to be World Champion.

- Dolph Ziggler - Just no serious plans to push this guy. He won the briefcase during 2012 and lost repeatedly before finally cashing in during the RAW following Wrestlemania 29. I would blame this more on WWE Creative having no idea how to push this guy or maybe just having a major lack of options for Money in the Bank 2012. Seriously.

- Sheamus - Probably the only non-Money in the Bank winner on this list, but he won the Royal Rumble during 2012 unexpectedly... After his developmental stay, Sheamus debuted on the ECW roster during June 2009. He was then moved to RAW by October 2009... By December 2009 at the TLC Pay Per View, he defeated John Cena to become WWE Champion. Did you get all of that? 6 months and 2 roster moves, he was WWE Champion. And by the way, Sheamus won the 2009 "Breakout Superstar of the Year" Slammy shortly thereafter. Bombed as WWE Champion and merely because he was rushed to the title. Had WWE been patient with Sheamus, given his good in-ring ability, look, and OK personality, he would be a HUGE superstar today. Foolish booking in 2012 set him back further!

MANY, MANY MISSES by WWE Management (Vince, Kevin, HHH, and Stephanie)... Meanwhile, that has caused the WWE to repeatedly go back to their security blankets in John Cena, Randy Orton and Edge who have 10+ title reigns each for the past 10 freakin' years. Lots of title inflation, but mostly caused by BAD TIMING and POOR SELECTION of the next Main Event wrestlers. Again, WWE Management needs to own those mistakes.

Meanwhile, they'll depush your fan favorites... CM Punk was crazy over during 2011, they depushed him immediately following SummerSlam 2011 to get Del Rio and Triple H's COO positon over. Daniel Bryan during 2013 was depushed in favor of yet another Randy Orton push and also trying to elevate Bray Wyatt. Dolph Ziggler has been repeatedly crapped on, but the concussion sustained during his 2013 Title run ruined him. However, after Ziggler was victorious at Survivor Series 2014 against the Authority, the WWE sought to "punish him" for a stand-up gig and quickly ended his Intercontinental Title Reign and disposed of him quickly in the 2015 Rumble match. I'll never understand what WWE Creative doesn't see in Cesaro. He was crazy over through Wrestlemania 30 and won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, but depushing ever since. How Shelton Benjamin never became a HUGE WWE Superstar, I'll never know... That guy could flat-out wrestle.

With Roman Reigns, the argument is simply that Reigns is not ready to become a Main Eventer or WWE Champion... YET. It's all about timing.

Don't believe me? Then watch your own WWE Network. You have libraries of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), your own tapes, to watch and see how wrestlers are properly built up to become top guys. Then, you have the entire libraries of American Wrestling Association (AWA), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), among many other libraries purchased by the WWE. GO WATCH THOSE AND SEE HOW WRESTLERS GET OVER! And I say that not only to WWE Officials (Vince, Dunn, HHH, and Stephanie), but to the WWE loyalists as well. Watch the WWE Network that you pay $9.99 to each month and see how it's done.

No, I'll make it easy for you... Keep reading the Excellence in Column Writing and I'll prove to you how wrestlers got over as midcard singles wrestlers first to become Main Eventers later. Oh, you have exceptions for me?

The exceptions that I've already heard are Yokozuna, Kurt Angle, and Brock Lesnar, easy ones to explain. Yokozuna is one of the worst drawing WWE Champions ever, period. No disrespect to the deceased, but he did nothing for WWE business during 1993-1994 which made WWE soft to be challenged by WCW during 1995. Kurt Angle was a freak of nature, but he worked mostly as a midcarder during 2000 before getting regular WWE Title shots. But nobody can deny the quality of matches and his amazing microphone skills that got him over quickly. Then, there's Brock Lesnar... MEGA PUSH from the start but the guy had the talent as a larger wrestler to pull it off. As you can see since his 2002 debut, in hindsight, Lesnar was very talented. He was an even bigger freak of nature athletically as seen by his UFC success and now his big WWE comeback. Between Wrestlemania 18 and SummerSlam 2002, Lesnar did have 4 months to prove that he was worthy of beating the Rock for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. His impressive headlining of the Smackdown roster from 2002-2004, which regularly BEAT RAW in the ratings during that time, speaks volumes of him being the big exception to the rule.

But let me just prove to you that the greatest WWE Champions need to get (a) over first as midcarders to (b) earn the Main Event spot. This should hopefully shut the WWE loyalists who actually think pushing Roman Reigns NOW is a great idea. And I shall name MANY wrestlers here...

- Hulk Hogan - Go see Hogan in the late 1970's with the WWE. Heel to start, but he wasn't in the WWF Title mix during that time. Hogan had to get out of the WWE and spread his wings in order to figure out his career. Didn't hurt that he also did the Rocky 3 film... He was crazy over in AWA by 1983 and the WWE noticed. Vince McMahon Jr. brought him back and the rest was history.

- "Macho Man" Randy Savage - Ohhhhhhh yeah! Got over as a heel Intercontinental Champion through 1987 and was convincing enough to give the WWF Title during 1988. Great business decision because Macho Man, along with Miss Elizabeth, helped make Wrestlemania 5 the biggest Pay Per View of all time until the Monday Night Wars boosted WCW & WWE buyrates during the late 1990's.

- The Ultimate Warrior - Won the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam 1988 and drew strongly as a micard sensation for the rest of that year and 1989. WWE could actually run 2 houseshow tours with Hogan drawing on one and Warrior on the other. Made great business sense to promote Warrior to WWE Champion during 1990.

- Bret "the Hitman" Hart - Worked for years as a Tag Wrestler with the Hart Foundation through the late 1980's, then fought hard over the Intercontinental Title through 1992... When the WWE needed someone to become WWE Champion when the WWE roster suddenly thinned out, Bret was ready to become champion. He was ready again to be champion in 1994... And then during late 1995.

- Shawn Michaels - Same career path as Bret Hart. Tag team wrestling as a Rocker, many years fighting over the Intercontinental Title, and then the World Title. With Michaels, they made him chase the WWE Title for more than a year before finally capturing it in 1996.

- Undertaker - Yeah, I went there... Debuted during late 1990. Actually, he had a brief career in WCW before joining the WWE. But he had almost a full year under his belt and people really liked his "Deadman" gimmick immediately. I would argue that his Survivor Series 1991 title reign was more for storyline purposes, but most people agreed that Undertaker was worthy of the title. He would actually wrestling in the midcard for years until 1997 when he was granted another WWE Title reign at Wrestlemania 13. So there you go...

- Steve Austin - Extensive WCW resume... But Austin wrestled mostly in the midcard from 1995-1997. Austin won his first WWE Title at Wrestlemania 14 in 1998, but he was the Intercontinental Champion for much of the latter half of 1997.

- The Rock - Roman Reigns's cousin, yo... Rock wrestled exclusively for the Intercontinental Title through SummerSlam 1996 after he debuted during 1996. Oddly enough, WWE pushed him immediately as a babyface as Rocky Maivia. It wasn't until the Rock returned from an injury where he turned heel and became "the Rock" that he was then worthy of holding the Intercontinental Title. By Survivor Series 1998, he was ready to be WWE Champion.

- Mick Foley - Years upon years of ass kickings before the WWE gave him a World Title during early 1999. Just watch how much pain and suffering he had as Cactus Jack in WCW, Japan, and ECW and then as Mankind during 1996-1998. He has to be hurting in the morning at his age...

- Triple H - Midcarder for YEARS between 1995 through early 1999. It wasn't until Triple H was getting over under the babyface version of DX that WWE management took notice. I would argue further that it took a stroke of booking genius with the Stephanie McMahon marriage angle that truly got him over and then his amazing match with Mick Foley at Royal Rumble 2000. Lots of ladder climbing to get to the top for HHH, for sure...

- Randy Orton - Orton did well during his first few years on the WWE roster during 2002-2003. He did well as a midcarder for Evolution and was a solid Intercontinental Champion. He followed the model but in my opinion, his push to the World Title was botched. WWE rushed him to the title without reason but also tried to immediately turn him from a snobby heel to a babyface. It just didn't fit... Still, midcard success probably helped convince WWE Management that Orton was possibly ready to become champion. Maybe if he remained heel and it put a strain between Evolution members?

- John Cena - WWE call-up during 2012... WWE did give him an honest chance to get over early by having him square off against Kurt Angle and then with Chris Jericho (actually beat him at WWE Vengeance 2002... Like Fandango at Wrestlemania 29?). As luck would have it, John Cena dressed up as a rapper during the Smackdown Halloween episode and fans responded positively to it... It gave the clean-cut Cena wrestler a personality that fans could connect to. As a heel, the rapper gimmick gave him confidence to challenge anybody including Brock Lesnar during 2003. WWE saw what they had and turned him babyface. John Cena could have easily won the WWE Title during 2004 because he was legitimately drawing as United States Champion but the WWE patiently waited until 2005 to crown him WWE Champion at Wrestlemania 21. He has been THE MAN ever since that day.

- Batista - Almost the same plan as Randy Orton, although he worked tag matches with Ric Flair often. You could just see it in the ring with Batista. He not only had the main event look, but the in-ring ability just kept improving. Then, working with Ric Flair was a great influence on Batista's personality and mic skills. The guy was getting over by late 2004 despite him remaining a heel under the Evolution trio with Triple H and Ric Flair. WWE pulled the push trigger at Royal Rumble 2005 and the fans bought it. Then, Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at Wrestlemania 21 and the rest was history. Batista was a made man!

There you go... I have presented to you, the readers and the WWE loyalists, the simple roadmap on what WORKS and what FAILS for pro wrestling pushes. Roman Reigns, in my opinion, is following the wrong pattern. 1 year from now, Old Man Tito will be adding Roman Reigns to the list of FAILED WWE Champions along with Sheamus, Miz, Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk during 2008-2009, Daniel Bryan during 2011, and Jack Swagger who were prematurely given the World Title. It's completely LAZY BOOKING as my good friend and fellow LoP Columnist Chrisssss would say. WWE assumes that the Money in the Bank and Royal Rumble gimmicks along with a World Title reign automatically gets wrestlers over. No, that's NOT how the wrestling business works. Again - use your WWE Network subscription and watch how Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Steve Austin, Triple H, Rock, Mick Foley, John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista became Main Eventers. YEARS of working singles matches on the MIDCARD.

THE MIDCARD...

And not just wrestling Tag or 6 Man Matches in the Midcard...

I'm just calling it now... Roman Reigns will be an UTTER FAILURE as a Main Eventer and WWE Champion if he walks away from Wrestlemania 31 as WWE Champion by defeating the unstoppable Brock Lesnar. As I've argued in another column, the best scenario is for Seth Rollins to STEAL the Wrestlemania moment from Reigns. Rollins just earned his spot as as a Main Eventer at Royal Rumble 2015 along with the amazing in-ring work during 2014 as a singles wrestler and massive improvements in personality/mic skills to connect with fans as a HEEL. Rollins is the best thing going in the WWE today, period.

Seth Rollins MUST cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase to SAVE Wrestlemania 31 and become WWE Champion!

I challenge the haters to respond down below in the COMMENTS section along with any columnists who have already taken shots at me for my Roman Reigns stance. Read my column and then refute it. I have fact upon fact stacked in this column to not only show you why history shows why Reigns will fail but also his extremely thin resume. Just look at WHO the current WWE Management (Vince, Dunn, HHH, and Stephanie) have tried to push and how past WWE Superstars have made it to the Main Event. Last time I checked, John Cena didn't have to initially win the Money in the Bank or Royal Rumble matches to show fans that he was worthy to become WWE Champion. He got over from YEARS of hard work and earning his keep with fans...

Time is ticking... WWE will have to do more than giving away free months of WWE Network to retain their fans if they follow through with this 2015 MEGA PUSH of Roman Reigns during 2015. Let me him grow as a wrestler... Let us, as fans, enjoy his climbing of the ladder. Don't assume that he was the reason why the Shield got over. Certainly sounds like it with the way he's retained the Shield theme music and look... I don't see Rollins and Ambrose needing the Shield gimmick to be a crutch for their careers.

Nothing personal against Roman Reigns... Overall, I like the guy and with time, I could agree that he's the next superstar. But for 2015, there are many in line ahead of him, in my opinion. Obviously John Cena and Brock Lesnar, but both of his former Sheild buddies, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are way ahead of him as performers. Bray Wyatt has earned my respect with the he performs in the ring. Amazing worker... Wyatt gimmick gets out of hand and sometimes holds him back. Rusev is actually following the correct model right now by working as a midcarder and had a great Royal Rumble 2015 performance. Dolph Ziggler was on fire through Survivor Series 2014 but the WWE has cooled that down quickly. And of course, Daniel Bryan... He's the MOST OVER wrestler right now. If only WWE Creative got behind him.

And when those wrestlers mentioned above burn fans out, then maybe it's time for the "Roman Empire" to rule... But now? Yikes...

I'm being honest as a wrestling fan and stating my case. Hope you enjoyed it...

SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE!

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