WWE News: Roman Reigns' promo last night was NOT in the script

What’s the story?

After Brock Lesnar no-showed for WWE Raw last night, Roman Reigns was left to go solo in the ring rather than face-to-face with 'The Beast' to build their upcoming Universal Championship match at WrestleMania.

Now, the decision to have Reigns go solo was taken so late that an original segment between him and Lesnar had already been scripted, but it has now been revealed that wasn't the case for Reigns' last-minute solo promo as he seemingly shot at Brock Lesnar.

In case you didn’t know…

Well, Brock Lesnar had been advertised for the post-Elimination Chamber edition of RAW for several weeks with Reigns' involvement being confirmed after his win at the pay-per-view.

The Big Dog had been set to confront Lesnar right up until the very last minute but the former UFC star did not appear on last night’s edition of Monday Night RAW and was not backstage, leaving Roman Reigns to cut a scathing promo on Lesnar and his attitude towards the business.

The heart of the matter

Well, after the promo that saw Reigns get probably the most favorable reaction he's had out with The Shield in at least three years, the internet was abuzz with questions of whether the promo was scripted or if Reigns shot- as he believably hinted at.

While the promo was incredibly effective in getting Reigns over as a face, knocking Lesnar for a lack of respect for professional wrestling and criticising Lesnar's poor attitude and tendency to only show for the big events.

As per PW Insider, the promo was not originally planned as part of the original segment and, even more surprisingly, was not scripted as such.

Roman Reigns' passion for the business came across particularly well, with him comparing him making the small towns to Brock not even bothering to make most of the bigger shows.

It's noted that the majority of the promo was not scripted, but most of the verbiage used had been approved by officials with Reigns filling in the blanks on the fly.

What’s next?

Brock Lesnar’s next advertised appearance for WWE is at a live event on March 3rd.

His next televised appearance is Monday 12th March in Detroit, Michigan. Will he confront Reigns in two weeks on Raw? And what will Reigns have to add next week?

Author’s take

I think this was probably my favorite Reigns promo of all time, even better than the short promo 'The Big Dog' cut on Raw after his WrestleMania victory over The Undertaker.

Last night's segment, whether scripted or not, was a true stroke of genius and might have achieved the seemingly impossible in getting Reigns a great deal of respect from the hardcore fans.

To find out whether the promo wasn't entirely scripted only makes it even better- and puts Reigns on a whole new level as a performer if he can continue on this form!

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