Stop Booing Roman Reigns – A TDM Editorial
I know, you saw the headline and immediately went straight to “oh f*** this guy”, but hear me out. I was in Dallas for WM32, and I was with the 105,000 strong trying to boo him out of the room. It neither did any good, and as I’ve come to realize and honestly believe, wasn’t really warranted. The fact of the matter is that the reason you hate him is in your head, it’s made up, and I’ll explain why.
Look at the dude
Calm down, Mom. But seriously. Do you remember when Sons of Anarchy started and everyone went crazy about it, but after the first season you never really heard anyone talk about it other than women? Roman Reigns is basically the WWE version of Sons of Anarchy. He’s like a hybrid of Charlie Hunnam and The Rock. That puts asses in seats and helps with the demographics of the overall fanbase. Do kids love wrestling? Hell yeah they do. Who takes them to shows? That’s right. Put something on screen for Mom to enjoy and she’ll spend twice as much at the merch stands for the kids, she’ll let them watch Raw and Smackdown, she’ll sign them up for the network. His look alone is that of a top guy, this on top of the fact he’s athletic as hell and he’s a legacy.
Legacy
I’m not even going to explain this one. If you don’t see the unparalleled talent in his bloodline from just that picture, just stop watching wrestling now because you don’t even remotely get it. The rich history of the Anoa’i family in professional wrestling may only be closely matched by The Hart Family.
He seems like a damn good dude
We’ll go back to the look for a minute, because that’s some straight up Mom porn. But seriously, he just seems like a good dude that is out there every night taking an ass kicking trying to get you to show him at least a shred of appreciation. The last time Raw came through Atlanta, Roman wrestled in a dark match after the show, and when the match ended (which he won, not that I have to tell you that), he walked around shaking hands and taking selfies for probably 20-30 minutes, to the point where ushers were literally trying to force us to leave the arena. He’s articulate in interviews, which in this day and age is a rarity for athletes, and he’s a valuable asset for the image of the company (and we’re going to give him a pass on the positive testing because reports say it may have been something along the lines of Hydroxycut, and if you look back at the picture of what he’s up against genetically, let him take his damn hydroxycut if he needs a little help).
Want more proof? Go to YouTube and search Roman Reigns Make A Wish. There’s a bunch of them, so I’ll wait.
He can wrestle
This one is one of those obnoxious things, like the CM Punk chant at every damn event (it’s been 3 years, he’s said he’s never coming back and I don’t think Vince would take the risk on him again even if Punk changed his mind. He’s not that good for business, ask Dana White).
No, I didn’t think he was all that good for a while, and he still doesn’t go all in on Raw episodes, but when it counts, he’s Big Match Joe. Go back and watch any of those matches with AJ Styles. The entirety of the feud with Braun Strowman (ignoring the attempted murder part)? The fact of the matter is, as much as you want to think he can’t wrestle, he’s just as good if not better than 80% of the roster. Accept it.
It’s not his fault they won’t let him escape The Shield
Dean doesn’t have his hair slicked back so you can see his Eddie Munster hairline anymore. Rollins isn’t rocking the Cruella De’Ville anymore. You love those guys. Don’t try to tell me you don’t. The difference with Roman is that they didn’t let him part ways with The Shield, even though he was reduced to a faction of one. His music is essentially the exact same thing it is with The Shield. His attire has only changed in that his logo is now on the vest and glove so they can sell them at the merch stand. He came through the audience for the longest time until the stopped all of that. I could probably come up with about 100 more things here, but you get the point. The other two were given a change, even if just slightly, and they ran with it. I think it took a little longer for them to feel quite as confident about main event level runs with Ambrose, and all things considered, he wasn’t as enjoyable at the top because your scrappy underdog was now the cocky champion and it didn’t work for me, but Roman was destined to shoot up the card in a singles capacity.
The Superman Punch isn’t going anywhere….sorry
I hate punches as finishing moves too. I get it. But the fact of the matter is, this one got locked in as soon as they decided they could sell those gloves at the merch stand, and they sell a ton of them. It’s mostly to kids, but as long as the glove sells, that move isn’t going anyhwere, so just try to accept it.
In a few years, you’re going to decide you love him anyway
This is the last guy that got the Roman Reigns treatment. He didn’t deserve it anymore than Roman, and we’ve come to realize that. The fact of the matter is that the guy that is the root of the reason you want to boo these guys gets unreal pops every time he shows up. When you hear “No Chance, that’s what you got” you get amped up and cheer like hell. But everything that you take to Twitter or your blog and bitch about is his fault. Nothing happens in the WWE that he doesn’t have a hand in.
What you really need to come to terms with is that the only person on the roster they’re going to let beat Brock Lesnar is Roman Reigns, and if you’re not sitting around hoping and praying that they’ll finally take the belt off Lesnar so that we can move on with our lives then you’re in the wrong place and I’m a little curious why you started reading or at the very least why you haven’t stopped reading this article well before now.
The level of talent in the WWE right now is such that you don’t need to back a money truck up to the farm in North Dakota or wherever the hell Brock Lesnar hides during the majority of the year. You don’t have to make roster cuts and cost us talents like Emma when you could just as easily pay four or five people annually with what you pay Lesnar for 10 appearances a year.
Roman is the new John Cena, and not just at the top of the card or in the protected Superman role. Roman Reigns is being asked to carry a baton that is so heavy and burdensome that most wouldn’t even want it were it offered. When John Cena can’t quite do it anymore, and I still think that’s a long way off but it’s clearly something he’s been thinking about lately, Roman is going to have to take on everything that Cena has been doing for years now. Cena has spent nearly 20 years building and cultivating a brand around himself as an extension of the WWE. The Rock may have distanced himself from it, but he’s always The Rock. He’s not ever just going to be Dwayne Johnson, and as long as he’s The Rock the extension of the WWE reach will still exist.
Roman is being asked to do all of that, while showing up every night and putting his body on the line, and simultaneously killing himself trying to figure out what it is that he’s doing wrong that you all want to boo him relentlessly every time he throws a punch, and honestly, there’s nothing he can do. Your mind was made up well before he stood a chance. So now ten years down the line, when he takes on the other part of the role he’s being asked to handle and starts working to get new talent over in the company, you’re going to appreciate him and you’re going to wonder why you didn’t just do that all along. And really, if you’d just start taking the Vince kool-aid every time he tries to drown you with it, he wouldn’t work so overly hard to prove himself right. It’s all a cycle, and every time you immediately react like he expects, because its what you’ve done every time before, you’re telling him that he’s right.
So let’s skip steps and start appreciating Roman. He’s not doing anything wrong, he’s only doing what he’s asked to do. And wouldn’t it be the greatest of trolls if we just started obscenely cheering for Roman. Vince’s head might explode.