WWE is pitting the Big Dog Roman Reigns to carry their brand forward in the years to come. For a man as stubborn and persistent as Vince McMahon, the recent disapproval of Roman Reigns by the WWE Universe is not going to deter Reigns' push on Raw.
After having tried literally every angle Vince could pull on Roman, there are rumours of the WWE trying something that has never been done before to get Roman over with the crowd.
The combative worlds of MMA and pro-wrestling have begun to more than just cross paths. With owners of both promotions being inclined towards experimenting, it would make monetary sense for both of them to pull an insane stunt.
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It began a few months ago when Conor McGregor took a serious jibe at WWE Superstars for not bringing as big a game as they boast. McGregor was quoted as saying:
"For the most part, those WWE guys are pussies, to be honest,” McGregor said.
“They’re messed up pussies, if you ask me. Fair play to Brock [Lesnar], he got in and fought, but at the end of the day he was juiced up to the fucking eye balls, so how can I respect that? And then what’s the other guy?
The other guy [CM Punk] hasn’t fought yet, so I don’t know about him yet. There’s some dons in that wrestling game, The McMahons, they’re dons. Triple H is a don. The Rock is a don. But the rest of them are pussies.”
For fans, this was the first indication to fuel the rumour wave. Articles and videos about a possible crossover stunt started flowing across the web.
Then a little later, WWE wrestlers, one by one, replied to Conor's brutal verbal jab. From Big E to Ric Flair to Roman Reigns to Conor's countryman Sheamus trashing Conor McGregor with their responses.
This added fuel to the fire that had already been ignited. The rumours kept predicting Conor to be a part of various PPVs, but that hasn't happened so far.
Also read: 5 reasons WWE should make the Conor McGregor - Roman Reigns feud happen
However, rumours of Conor’s possible crossover flared up the day WWE's official social media account uploaded a video titled "Is Triple H bringing Conor McGregor to WWE?"
Now to have Conor be a part of a world he's always been an outsider to will be interesting. And pitting him against the immensely disliked Roman Reigns may get unexpected reactions from the fans.
Thus, we bring you 5 Reasons why Roman won't get over with the WWE Universe even if Conor McGregor was brought into the equation:
#1 Conor's stardom
Conor McGregor prides himself with a sea of fans spread around the world. Even countries as disconnected with UFC as Russia and Eastern Europe have seen a recent hike in UFC viewership thanks to McGregor’s popularity.
The thing with Roman, on the other hand, is that more people boo him instead of cheering him, even with him being a face. Conor, on the other hand is too far ahead of Roman in this regard. And despite his nasty jabs at the WWE, the WWE Universe still respects and likes Conor McGregor.
No matter what the WWE try to do with the Roman-Conor angle, both MMA and pro-wrestling fans will back Conor in the act.
#2 Roman's mic skills
With Conor McGregor, Roman will step into an unknown territory that will take some getting used to. But with Conor's unexpected verbal jabs and his lack of respect for restraint, we can certainly expect Roman to be outspoken by Conor.
Knowing Roman, his lack of mic skills are most likely to expose his weaknesses. We can imagine the crowd booing him even more, should Roman ever end up cutting a live promo against Conor.
Roman is a great in-ring performer but I think we can all agree on the fact that the audiences have made it pretty clear that they don’t like him.
#3 The PG instructions
Yes, the WWE claims to have left the PG era behind them and that they've entered a “New Era” now.
However, there are still phrases and words that you can't say in the WWE.
For example - profanity, something that Conor frequently utilises in his promos and interviews. Should the WWE try to restrict Conor from speaking his mind the way he wants to, the WWE Universe will take it out on Roman Reigns.
There's no way in the world that the WWE Universe will let WWE or Roman Reigns get away with screwing over Conor McGregor.
#4 Roman's trial by fire
To even stand and deliver next to Conor in the same promotion, Roman would need to be really really good. Not just on the mic, Roman would need to condition himself to tackle Conor McGregor's lightning fast jabs, despite the scripted outcome.
What happens on paper is one thing and what happens in the ring is a whole other ballgame. Thus, it would require Roman to unlearn everything he has learnt so far and start from scratch to deal with the authenticity of Conor McGregor.
#5 Vince's persistence
Vince McMahon is an extremely successful businessman who has achieved way more than what he originally set out to. A large part of that is because of Vince being persistent in life. However, sometimes, this persistence turns into stubbornness and wrestling suffers as a result.
Roman Reigns still gets booed even after Vince has been trying to push him down fans’ throats for years. From arranging a segment with himself against Roman to having Roman decimate Triple H, Vince has tried everything.
WWE fans know that Vince has never pushed someone as hard as he is currently pushing Roman to the audiences. Even Rocky Maivia wasn't pushed and subsequently booed as much as Roman is.
Bringing in the world's best MMA fighter only to fight against a wrestler that the audience thoroughly hates is not going to go down too well with the WWE Universe.
Vince's previous efforts to push Roman in our faces have failed miserably. The WWE Universe has made it pretty clear that they do not like being told what to do. Thus, Roman's career's biggest push hangs in trouble.
After receiving the biggest push he would ever receive from Vince McMahon, in facing Conor McGregor, the WWE Universe would only be expected boo Roman more than they already do.
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