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Roman Reigns has speared his way to the main events at WrestleMania for the last three years, and yet the WWE Universe takes it with a pinch of salt when he claims it’s “his” yard. He has been offered everything; from John Cena to the Undertaker and from cage match to the Royal Rumble match. Still, there is something missing as fans still don’t quite acknowledge him as “The Guy”.
WWE has been hell-bent on cementing Roman Reigns as the face of their company, but Reigns is far from that zenith. He is nowhere near in terms of intensity and the emotion that used to transpire from the last face of WWE.
It’s high time for the powerhouse of the Shield to deliver; otherwise, there are plenty of guys in the locker room who could get the job done. Here are the top things which Roman Reigns needs to do to become the “legitimate” face of the WWE.
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#7 Crisp mic skills
Which one is your favorite John Cena promo? I am sure there would be quite a lot. How about the Rock? Or think of your favorite promo of Shawn Michaels, or Stone Cold Steve Austin, or Hulk Hogan, or Triple H, or CM Punk.
Which one is your favorite Roman Reigns promo? I bet you won’t need all fingers of your one hand to count that. That’s the problem.
Promos are the place where emotions are stirred. Make no mistake, I am not taking anything away from in-ring performance. But I dare say; if a fight is a body, what leads to it is its soul. It is the background of the fight that makes us feel connected to it.
And speaking of Roman Reigns, when it comes to promos, he just can’t cut it. No offense to his talents but just note the shoes he is willing to fill here (the list is mentioned at the top).
If you look at the current roster, there are many guys who would beat Reigns hands down on this skill. Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose and Samoa Joe are just to name a few. When the face of the company speaks, it should be such that the fans would hang on to his every word. Alas, that’s not the case with Reigns.
If Reigns still wants to be known as the face of WWE, it’s time for him to speak up (or step down, for good).
#6 Long lasting rivalries
Roman Reigns certainly has a fair share of great matches under his belt. The Undertaker, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, he has faced them all. But it’s one thing to face (or defeat) someone in a match, it’s a different ball game to be part of a heated rivalry.
Speaking of rivalries, how about Stone Cold and Triple H; or Triple H and Shawn Michaels; or Rock and Austin; or Edge and Matt Hardy? Every major draw in the history of this business has had multiple engrossing rivalries.
Rivalries make stories, and stories become historic. That’s the reason people would still love to go on the internet and relive the best of those rivalries.
Coming back to Roman, he has got decent matches, but, that longevity in his feuds is missing (maybe an exception to this is his rivalry with Braun Strowman). But with that being amiss, a good match is just restricted to the PPV on which it happened. It loses its value over time.
It takes a rivalry to glue them all together, and that’s what makes it worth watching again and again.
#5 No more shielding behind The Shield
Not a single face in this business has done it with a faction. A lot of faces have been part of a faction in their way to the top, but they have stayed on the top all by themselves. The Rock, Hulk Hogan, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, the Undertaker; all of them were (and still are) a one-man show.
The Shield has truly been one of the most dominant factions in the history of WWE. And that’s what factions are for, to give Superstars a platform on which they could (and should) build. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins have both capitalized on the platform which Shield provided them.
WWE has already revived the Shield once, and we all know who benefited the most from the reunion. But with that, out goes the final lifeboat for Roman Reigns. He did get some windfall on his side, but unfortunately, Dean’s injury ensured that that was all he was going to get.
It’s time Reigns shows that he is an A+ player on his own.
#4 A submission manoeuvre
There is no doubt about the talent of Roman Reigns. Spear, Superman Punch, running apron kick, Samoan drop; the man has got a whole bunch of moves in his arsenal. However, I do believe adding a submission move to his move-set would help him in the long run.
Not only it would bring out a different flavor in his matches, it will also open up a lot of possibilities for his story lines. With his agility and ability to lock his opponent into a submission hold, it will be a breeze of fresh air, helping Reigns sail his ship further.
The STF, Ankle Lock, Hells’ Gate, Sharpshooter, Crippler Cross face, Figure Four leg lock, Anaconda Vise; these are a few of the top submission moves used by top guys of the company in the past. There are historic matches which were decided by these moves.
The beauty is that I didn’t mention the names of the Superstars who used any of them, because I didn’t need to, you already remember them all.
#3 Get tough, and get beat
Truly speaking, wins rarely have anything to do with getting fans on your side. A good competition, a good match is all that matters. The wins are actually a by-product which you get because the fans love to see you win. Once you are the legitimate face of the company, your losses are cherished as well. Every time you lose, fans feel that a part of them has lost.
The resilient effort of Steve Austin when he refused to submit at WrestleMania 13 jet packed his career. Brock Lesnar was a hated heel, till he was double-crossed by Paul Heyman at Survivor Series 2002. Daniel Bryan competed in two matches on various Monday nights on live television before he ultimately fought the iconic two matches at WrestleMania 30.
I can’t help but quote from Rocky Balboa here, “But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward.”. It seems to apply to the pro wrestling industry as well. Let's face it, everyone loves an underdog.
Let Reigns be in a storyline where the odds are genuinely stacked against him. He must dig deep and his gold mine will be waiting there to be found.
#2 Intensity and persona
Be it Austin, or Triple H, or John Cena; one thing they all have in common is the intensity that they bring to the ring along with them. The way they carry themselves creates an aura around them. The Undertaker is the Holy-Grail on this one. He doesn’t even need to say a single word, his presence says it all.
That’s the level of “soaked up” one has to be in his character. Only then will the fans connect to them. In other words, you have to believe in your own character first, the fans will follow. Believe that.
The events that transpired at TLC 2015 come to mind. After Rusev and Del Rio cost Reigns the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in his match against Sheamus, Reigns snapped and took down Triple H along with the other three wrestlers. When he won the championship back from Sheamus, it was the one of the first times he got vociferously cheered, in a long time.
Moments like this gets inked in the memory, not because of the sheer brutality, but because of the emotions that pour out.
#1 Let the fans decide, period
It’s been really long hearing Roman Reigns come out every night and claiming it’s his yard. Sometimes, he comes off like he couldn’t care less about people’s opinion.
Truth be told, please let the fans decide.
No face has ever become the face of the company by telling the people that he is. It’s ironic that the company is trying their best to set him as a face, but he is doing the perfect things to get established as a heel.
The Rock is a classic example. People were so much in his corner, that at one point it didn’t matter whether he was the WWE Champion or not, for them he was always the People’s Champion. Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are the recent examples who cruised to the top after fans accepted them with open arms.
Once you win people’s heart, not even WWE can stop you from being the face of their company.
