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I just want to make it clear right now: I don't want to be ruled by the "Roman Empire". Plans remain set in stone to have Roman Reigns defeat Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I see nothing but DISASTER in this decision as Roman Reigns has done NOTHING to prove that he's worthy of carrying the WWE on his back as a top guy or to appear legitimate to beat Brock Lesnar. Despite the many failed pushes to the top that the WWE Creative Team has given us within the last 10 years, they never learn... Apparently, they aren't paying $9.99 to watch their own WWE Network to see what works and what doesn't. Real quick update on Roman Reigns... Insider reports expects him to return by Royal Rumble 2015 and even if that's not the date of return, he'll still find a way to get the WWE Title shot against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31. That's despite any ring rust that he could have recovering from the injury and for the fact that he wasn't exactly lighting things up when healthy... But consider what the Pro Wrestling Insider, a legitimate news reporting website who has inside WWE sources, reported (as transcribed through LoP on 11/8/14): - Regarding Roman Reigns taking acting classes from coach Howard Fine, PWInsider notes that WWE officials feel that Reigns needs to work on being more rounded as a character. And by the way, acting coach Howard Fine has repeatedly Tweeted about giving Roman Reigns acting lessons: @HowardLFine: Coaching WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. @HowardLFine: Teaching 2nd day of a 3 day "Acting Intensive" for WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. @HowardLFine: Teaching final day of a 3 day "Acting Intensive" for WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. Seriously, the WWE sent him to an acting coach. By WWE's own admission, Roman Reigns lacks character and they are paying top dollar to an acting coach to help him improve. Right... Reigns is almost 30 years old and he'll suddenly learn personality, charisma, and how to act in a matter of 3 days with Howard Fine? Yeah, no stubborn tendencies obtained within someone's first 30 years of their life. Acting aside, Reigns hasn't impressed in the ring. Can anybody name me any match of his that actually approaches 4 out of 5 stars as a singles wrestler? Sure, it was easy to look great in spots in brief moments when tagged in with the Shield, but it's another matter to carry a 15-25 minute main event match that captivates a Why can't Roman Reigns prove himself in the MIDCARD first and then move onto the Main Event next? What is the sense of urgency of moving him to the top of the promotion? I understand that you want to keep the Rock happy about treating his cousin well, but the guy is clearly not ready for prime time. Why can't he prove that he could draw with a Midcard title first, like the United States Title or Intercontinental Title, and then promote him if he's successful. Where's the risk in that? It almost seems as though the WWE wants another Sheamus who was an utter failure as a rushed WWE Champion. Now, poor Sheamus's career is in reverse as he went from Main Eventer to Midcarder as a guy who now fights over the US TItle instead of the WWE Title. In fact, it's not just Sheamus... Miz - This guy was a pretty good midcarder and was actually popular during 2010. WWE thought that he was "the guy" and gave him the Money in the Bank briefcase. He cashes in the briefcase on RAW and wins the WWE Title. You would figure that Miz would have a high profile match with the guy he pinned in Randy Orton, right? Oh no... WWE Creative thrust him into a feud with Jerry "the King" Lawler, an announcer in his 60's. It made Miz look minimal as WWE Champion that it made the WWE go back to John Cena as the security blanket for the WWE Title. Alberto Del Rio - During 2011, Del Rio actually had a good run chasing the World Heavyweight Championship on the Smackdown brand. But then, after Wrestlemania that year, the WWE moved Alberto Del Rio to the RAW roster. It was reportedly Vince McMahon's "master plan" to make Del Rio become WWE Champion at SummerSlam 2011. WWE was about to tour Mexico during the Fall and wanted to impress. Problem was, however, was that Del Rio didn't do much on RAW in the months leading up to SummerSlam and CM Punk was red hot as WWE Champion after the Money in the Bank 2011 Pay Per View. Also on that show, Del Rio won the briefcase and at SummerSlam 2011, he cashed in to win his first WWE World Title. He never recovered and the WWE repeatedly tried to get Del Rio over as World Champion multiple times after this. CM Punk - Yeah, I'll put him there... But I'm talking PRE-2011 stuff here. He won Money in the Bank twice and just didn't feel right as World Heavyweight Champion at that time. Hey, I'm seeing a theme here... Money in the Bank briefcase.... Jack Swagger - Speaking of that Money in the Bank briefcase, there's Jack Swagger. Rushed to the World Title after being an "ECW" wrestler. There was nothing at the time that validated that he was ready and he has been glued to the midcard ever since. 4 years ago... Dolph Ziggler - WWE's whipping boy even after he won Money in the Bank, he still kept losing. When he finally won the World Title, a bad concussion derailed him. Did the WWE give him his spot upon returning? Hell no. He was poorly built up to become champion and couldn't succeed when he finally won the belt. And what happens when each of these wrestlers fail, repeatedly, with their World Title pushes? The WWE brings out the security blankets known as John Cena and Randy Orton, and while he was around, Edge. Don't believe me? Cena has 15 World Title reigns, Orton has 12, and Edge had 11 World Titles. That's CRAZY and within 10 years. That's in addition to reigns given to Batista and Triple H mixed in there. Because of a lack of proper build-up and talent assessment on each of the wrestlers mentioned above, they failed and the WWE had to resort to giving yet another title reign to John Cena, Randy Orton, or Edge... And now, Brock Lesnar. WWE really loves that "Class of 2002" developmental class. "THOSE WHO DO NOT REMEMBER HISTORY ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT!" I know that many within the Internet will instantly label me a "hater", but I see utter failure with Roman Reigns if he's pushed to become a Main Eventer for 2015 especially by defeating Brock Lesnar. With his lame offense, I just don't believe that Reigns looks credible enough to defeat Brock. Worse yet, the WWE has built up Lesnar to be too strong. Normally, heels in pro wrestling are consumed by power and thus lose focus to create vulnerabilities for babyface wrestlers to exploit. However, Brock Lesnar is beating the living shit out of everybody and showing no intimidation for anyone. What has Roman Reigns done in his career to appear credible to defeat Brock Lesnar? And as champion, how does the WWE market him? What happens when he's speaking on the mic or at corporate events and he struggles? Can he actually give us 4-star or above matches as WWE Champion? I don't think so... I just don't see it, at least for 2015. If the WWE showed patience on Reigns and allowed him to get naturally over, I'd believe it... But for now, it's forced just like Miz, Swagger, CM Punk before 2011, Sheamus, Del Rio, etc. It's not like the WWE has a short bench... In my opinion, the other Shield wrestlers are showing more potential and talent than reigns. Seth Rollins is showing personality and charisma as a heel in addition to his strong in-ring ability. Dean Ambrose just oozes with personality and is a great in-ring performer. Bray Wyatt received MEGA PUSH at first, but the guy has size and legitimate in-ring ability. The guy can talk, too... Luke Harper has size and a good knack for producing good in-ring matches. Rusev is growing on me... And the WWE just made him United State Champion and are thus taking a breather with Rusev to let him draw first as midcard champion. That should make Rusev more convincing for when he eventually gets that reported John Cena feud. For the life of me, I don't understand what the WWE Creative Team sees in Roman Reigns that they are not seeing in Cesaro. Cesaro is extremely talented in the ring and yet the WWE Creative team is doing everything in their power to destroy him. Conversely, the WWE Creative Team is doing everything in their power to make Roman Reigns look strong. I don't get it... I really don't. In my mind, the guy who has real star potential is Dean Ambrose, but I just don't see him as a strong drawing babyface. I see better potential for him as a heel. I just don't know how Corporate WWE could sell his look. If there's anything Roman Reigns has, it's his look... Dean Ambrose looks more like a regular guy while Reigns looks like he could be straight out of Comic Books. He reminds me a lot of Azazel from Marvel's first X-Men prequel film. Vince McMahon and Triple H are so impressed by Reigns's look that they are willing to overlook other intangibles in the pro wrestling industry. Sure, Reigns has no charisma, personality, and has a subpar in-ring ability for singles matches... But damn, he looks great on a poster!!! There's still time to correct for the upcoming Wrestlemania 31 mistake. In my opinion, the guy to BEAT Brock Lesnar should be... Wait for it... Wait for it... You're not going to believe this from my written word... Bray Wyatt. Bray is ready for prime time and would appear credible enough to defeat Brock Lesnar in a match. He could easily play mind games with Lesnar but Bray Wyatt has (a) the size and (b) potent offensive skillset to appear legitimate on possibly hurting Brock Lesnar. By beating Brock Lesnar, who beat the Undertaker at the Wrestlemania event 1 year earlier, Bray Wyatt effectively becomes the Undertaker-like wrestler. Otherwise, I'd run Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 31 instead. I know, I'm going back to the security blanket known as Randy Orton, but WWE has backed themselves into a corner by building up Brock Lesnar to appear too strong. Randy Orton has the offensive skillset to make it appear that he could legitimately hurt a former UFC fighter. Kick to the head, DDT through the ropes, and of course, the RKO... I could believe in that match. But Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar? Utter disaster... Patience, WWE, patience... 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 - 1998-2014
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