Yesterday I tweeted about writing my WWE 2k19 review, fait to say in light of last night’s RAW that column will be pushed to later this week. Instead I wanted to quickly post something short on Roman Reigns and the news of him having to step away to battle leukaemia.
Eventually I’m going to stop staring at this blank screen and get my words in order.
This absolutely sucks. Puts everything into perspective… some things are bigger than wrestling.
There’s no question about the work the man behind the mask of Roman Reigns has put into improving and getting to that level of genuinely feeling like the top star he was positioned to be. That doesn’t happen overnight, nor without a hell of a lot of hard work.
Kudos Joe Anoa’i, you proved me wrong.
I did a complete 180 on the man after his fantastic feud with AJ Styles. I’d crap on Reigns and his push with Burn on LOP Radio and at the time my weekly RAW columns, but in that feud the man proved to me how seriously he was standing up to the task of becoming that top guy.
I suddenly saw the potential, the man behind Roman Reigns proved me wrong twice.
Don’t worry, it only took half a year till I was full on crapping on the character once again. Kinda funny looking back at it now. Towards the end of 2017 some of us fine folk at LOP were talking the 2017 matches of the year and Owens vs Reigns from the Royal Rumble came up. Really the perfect scenario to sum up the Roman character. A damn great match where both guys showed they belonged in that main spotlight, however it was also surrounded by an ‘interesting’ take on TV writing.
Owens, Reigns and Jericho gave everything to create something great with what they were given. I can respect that. Even if what they were given was simply not very good, at the end of it all I was laughing my ass off at the ‘Sexy Pinata’ as Reigns speared Owens through a table. I have fond memories of that match. So ultimately who cares what I thought of the Reigns character at the time?
I’ve seen more folk than I thought I would on Twitter saying if you’ve crapped on Reigns then you can’t do a 180 and support Joe now. I’ll just say, supporting a man battling leukaemia is not really comparable to cheering/booing a character written for television. Of course you can give your absolute full support for Joe as he goes through this difficult time, no matter your opinion on the Roman Reigns character.
Supporting a man battling cancer is supporting a man battling cancer. If you feel the need to clarify your stance on the Reigns character first then that’s perfectly fine, you’re still showing support for a man who’s battling cancer.
To be fair, that was something what was somewhat wonderful to see waking up today to the news. The majority of the wrestling world was unified, fan or not everyone was together in their support. From Japan to Essex to Rhode Island, wrestlers, commentators and fans were alike in giving their thoughts & well wishes.
Not forgetting, at the end of RAW itself one mighty angle was set up between Shield mates Ambrose & Rollins. Roman Reigns’ absence won’t be quiet and will be well and truly felt within the WWE, both behind the curtain and in front of the cameras.
As I said earlier, some things are bigger than wrestling. Cancer is certainly one of them.
He started his promo by stating that he felt the need to apologise to us fans, you don’t need to apologise for anything. In response the crowd chanted, “Thank you, Roman.” Normally divided, there was a reason the fans were together in chanting.
Go kick leukaemia’s ass, Joe Anoa’i.
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Email Imp – theimplicationsyt@gmail.com
Links to Imp’s latest columns:
Imp’s WWE Adventure – Saudi Arabia: Should WWE Leave The Deal?
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Imp’s Adventure: ALL IN and the List of Pointless Comparisons
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