Even (or maybe especially) when WWE wanted fans to root for Roman Reigns, they didn’t.
It’s well-known that WWE failed to turn Reigns into the Hulk Hogan or John Cena of the 2010s, but that was essentially the fault of Vince McMahon, the leader of the company at the time. Misconceptions Roman’s charisma.* He never became the “pray and take vitamins” or “hard work, loyalty, respect” guy, and instead of displaying his usual swagger, “Suffering Succotash” He proved that, for example with his five-word promo after beating The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
Keep in mind, he was still technically playing a babyface at this point.
Moments like this also served as proof of concept for the heel character Reigns returned to in 2020 after a brief hiatus at the start of the pandemic. Roman held WWE’s top title for nearly four years while playing a sort of crime boss figure who used his Bloodline stable to control the company’s fictional world as Tribal Chief. It gave fans a reason in-story to boo a guy they’d mostly been booing for meta reasons, and helped make the “Bloodline Saga” WWE’s primary focus as it entered its hottest period since the turn of the century.
This allowed Roman to be himself (or at least play to his strengths) and fans began to like him, despite constantly chanting “F*** you, Roman” during matches.
As you know, a key chapter in this saga is Wrestlemania 40 In April of this year, Cody Rhodes “Finished the story” And that put an end to Reigns’ historic run to win the belt. Roman hasn’t been seen since, but Bloodline remains as prominent as ever. In Tribal Chief’s absence, his cousin Solo Sikoa took over the group. He brought in outsiders from other companies to do his bidding. As WWE announcers talked about how crazy and dangerous these newcomers (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa from New Japan Pro Wrestling, former MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu) were, we watched as they made their first purge. Jimmy Uso And Raines’ “Sage” Paul Heyman He was brutally removed from the group.
But before the story had even begun, the chants of “We Want Roman” began.
Three months later, Sikoa will challenge Rose for the undefeated WWE Championship this Saturday (August 2nd). Summer Slam In Cleveland. rumor and Sportsbook** I support Reigns’ appearance, and perhaps building to a Bloodline civil war angle over the rest of the year.
Perhaps it will involve Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (ever heard of him?), who joined Bloodline and created a storyline that incorporated as much behind-the-scenes action as on-screen action. Lock Center A version of that story in a documentary they put together here (Or ask your favorite wrestling fan for their opinion and calm down, because you’ll end up feeling like one of the women in the “man explains” meme).
Rock hasn’t been seen since just after Mania. Teased His own rivalry with Rhodes continues, Rock has been revealed as the power behind Secor’s title and feud with Reigns, and there has been speculation that Roman may make peace with the Bloodline members he mistreated as a heel (Jimmy & Jey Uso and Sami Zayn), as well as have a multi-man match before the eventual showdown between Rock and Reigns.
Next work (Benny Safdie Smashing Machine) WrappedWe may see Johnson in addition to or instead of Raines on Saturday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
But that doesn’t change the fact that if Roman makes an appearance this weekend, we could hear one of the loudest “pops” we’ve heard in a long time, which would be truly surprising considering where Reigns was five years ago.
* Originally, this was born out of the audience’s backlash against the “top wrestlers” McMahon had chosen. However, right up until that point, Roman had been extremely popular as a member of The Shield, so it was only natural that he would become popular as a solo artist if his presentation emphasized the cool, stoic personality he showed in the group.
** Yes, you can bet on wrestling. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, as you have to use an international online organization and the betting limits are set at fairly low amounts. But, as with the Oscars and other non-sports prop bets, someone is going to take your money.
