Let’s look now at what Roman Reigns did do in 2015 leading up to last Sunday at Royal Rumble:
3/29 WrestleMania 31 – Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) and Roman Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar had one of the all-time great matches in Wrestlemania history. In what should have been Reigns’s moment of triumph, instead Rollins “cashes in” his Money in the Bank title shot there and then to steal the glory. I had no problem with the booking at the time, but it robs Roman of what should have been an EXTREMELY important win for him: a victory over one of the few big names that the WWE has that would mean anything.
4/6 WWE @ Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center Roman Reigns pinned the Big Show with the spear at 10:40; the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy was ringside for the match
Not a bad way to try to get his heat back a bit, but he’s not the champion, Seth Rollins is. So this means less than if he’d have won.
4/7 WWE @ Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center Smackdown! – 4/9/1 WWE IC Champion Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, & Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus, Wade Barrett, & the Big Show at 15:11 when Reigns pinned Barrett with the spear as Barrett attempted the Bull Hammer
Somewhat buried in a six man here. Possibly looking to give him a rub from being associated with the more over Daniel Bryan.
4/21 WWE @ Providence, RI – Dunkin Donuts Center – April 21, 2015 Main Event Dean Ambrose fought WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (w/ Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble) to a no contest in a non-title match when Ambrose fought off an interfering Luke Harper, Mercury, and Noble before the opening bell; moments later, Roman Reigns ran out to make the save, with he and Ambrose clearing the ring
Yes, it makes sense given that Rollins screwed Reigns so …
4/26 Extreme Rules 2015 – Chicago, IL – AllState Arena (announced at 14,197; sell out) Roman Reigns defeated the Big Show in a last man standing match at 19:46 after toppling the announce table onto Show and standing on top
Why is he facing The Big Show here and not Seth Rollins? Randy Orton got the title shot.
4/27 WWE @ Green Bay, WI – Resch Center Roman Reigns & Randy Orton defeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (w/ Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble) & Kane at 18:41 when Orton pinned Rollins with the RKO after the Superman Punch from Reigns; after the match, Kane took the mic and revealed the WWE app poll results in which the fans chose both Orton and Reigns to face Rollins with 78% of the vote; Reigns then immediately took down Rollins with the spear
Instead of being annoyed about it, Roman instead tags with Orton. And … Orton gets the pin over the champ. Not Reigns, Orton.
5/4 WWE @ Montreal, Quebec – Raw – Roman Reigns fought Randy Orton to a no contest at around the 6-minute mark; prior to the bout, Jamie Noble announced himself as the guest ring announcer, Joey Mercury as the timekeeper, Kane as the enforcer, and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins as the guest commentator; late in the contest, Orton was attacked on the floor by all the Authority members, with Reigns then diving onto all of them; moments later, Orton and Reigns were beaten down until Dean Ambrose ran out to make the save, with Rollins being chased around the ring before sustaining Reigns’ spear; Orton followed by hitting the RKO on Reigns and Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Orton
Not only can’t Reigns beat Orton, he needs his old buddy Ambrose to bail him out. Think of the difference at this point between where Dory and Backlund were three months into their respective runs and where Reigns is here.
5/11 WWE @ Cincinnati, OH – Raw Roman Reigns fought Kane to a no contest; the match never officially began, as Kane attacked Reigns at ringside; after several minutes of fighting, Reigns laid out Kane behind the commentary table
As if to add insult to injury, he can’t beat Kane, he did beat him a week later, but with a lot of shenanigans going on around the match. How about just a straight win?
5/17 Payback 2015 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena (sell out) WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (w/ Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble) defeated Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose at 20:51 by pinning Orton with the Pedigree, moments after Orton hit the RKO on Kane; Kane sat ringside for the bout and interfered throughout on behalf of the champion; late in the bout, Orton hit the RKO on Mercury and Noble; after the match, Triple H came out and raised Rollins’ hand in the aisle
If I didn’t know any better, just from looking at the result, I’d have thought that it was Randy Orton who was getting pushed here, not Roman Reigns. In several TV appearances and two PPVs since Wrestlemania, Reigns has had a grand total of two pinfall wins, and … this is his first title shot. He’s starting to look like someone who is happy to let someone else (Randy Orton) take his opportunities.
5/25 WWE @ Long Island, NY – Nassau Coliseum – The final wrestling event at the venue Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns defeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (w/ Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble) & Kane in an impromptu match at 12:53 when Ambrose pinned Rollins with a backslide
On this historic night at the Nassau, DEAN AMBROSE pinned the WWE champion Seth Rollins. Not future-babyface-ace Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose. Can you imagine Hulk Hogan letting Brutus Beefcake get the pinfall over a heel champion he was chasing? Can you imagine Steve Austin taking a backseat and letting Mick Foley pin Vince McMahon instead of him? What weak-ass millennial bullshit is this? Reigns is starting to look like a bitch.
6/1 WWE @ San Antonio, TX – Raw
- Roman Reigns pinned Wade Barrett (mystery opponent) with the spear at 14:08; Reigns’ spot in the Money in the Bank match was at stake in the contest; the MITB briefcase hung above the ring for the contest; following the commercial break, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon congratulated Reigns backstage before saying he would also face Mark Henry later in the night
- Roman Reigns defeated Mark Henry via count-out at 3:45 after hitting the Superman Punch to Henry outside the ring; Reigns’ spot in the Money in the Bank match was at stake in the contest; after the contest, Henry dropped Reigns with the powerslam and followed with a splash before leaving the ring; the MITB briefcase hung above the ring for the contest; following the commercial break, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon congratulated Reigns on his win before saying he would face Bray Wyatt later in the show for his own MITB spot
- Roman Reigns pinned Bray Wyatt with the spear at 12:13 after sending Wyatt into Kane, who was on the ring apron; during the bout, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, Kane, Joey Mercury, and Jamie Noble appeared at the entrance stage; during the final moments of the bout, all of the men walked ringside; the MITB briefcase hung above the ring f for the contest; after the bout, the Authority circled the ring before Dean Ambrose, with the WWE World Heavyweight Title, came out of the crowd; moments later, Ambrose and Reigns cleared the ring before Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Rollins and held up the title belt; Ambrose and Reigns then celebrated in the crowd with the title belt
So you can see what they are going for here, and this is a bit more like it. But it’s now JUNE. This is too late already, the horse has bolted.
6/22 WWE @ Indianapolis, IN – Raw Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns via count-out at 16:38 after Bray Wyatt appeared on the big screen and implied he was having a tea party with Roman’s daughter, then daring Roman to come find him; after Roman left the ring and ran backstage, the camera panned back to show only an empty chair beside Wyatt; following the commercial break, Roman was shown finding Wyatt’s room backstage, decorated with pictures of Roman on a wall beside a sign reading ‘Anyone but you’
Bottom line: it’s yet another occasion where we see Roman on TV not pinning someone and not beating them in a match.
6/29 WWE @ Washington DC – Verizon Center –Raw – WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (w/ Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble) & Kane defeated Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose in a No DQ match at 11:47 when Rollins pinned Ambrose with the Pedigree; late in the match, Bray Wyatt appeared and attacked Reigns before he was sent backstage by referees; after the contest, the Authority attempted to put Ambrose through a table with the Sheild triple powerbomb, with Reigns then making the save before he sustained the chokeslam from Kane; Reigns again fought off the Authority, again sustained the chokeslam, and then a powerbomb from Rollins through the table set up in the corner; moments later, Rollins dropped Reigns with the Pedigree; as the Authority left the ring, Wyatt returned to the ring and hit Sister Abigail on Reigns
And yet again. Look it’s July already. By July, both Dory and Bob had so many wins over so many guys under their belts. We can literally count Roman’s pinfall wins on one hand.
7/6 WWE @ Chicago, IL – AllState Arena – Raw Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns via count-out at 11:15 when Bray Wyatt’s music began to play and Roman left the ring to attack who he thought was Bray; moments later, Roman pulled the wig off the man, with Wyatt appearing on the big screen and laughing at Roman’s mistake; after Sheamus was announced as the winner, Randy Orton came out and attacked Sheamus at ringside; the fight went into the ring, with Orton dropping Sheamus with the RKO
And again.
7/19 Battleground 2015 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center – Bray Wyatt pinned Roman Reigns at 22:08 with Sister Abigail after a mystery man jumped out of the crowd and kicked Reigns on the floor behind the referee’s back; after the match, the man revealed himself as Luke Harper and stood beside Wyatt in the ring
Fucking hell!!!
I’m just going to stop here. I think the point is made.
So what was I trying to do with this exercise? Namely to demonstrate that if a promoter has chosen someone they want to be a star, and if they have faith in that person, they can see it through no matter what any fans say, or no matter what any wrestler says. Sam Muchnick pushed Dory Funk Jr through in 1969 and he put him over anyone who was anyone. Vince McMahon Sr made Bob Backlund his champion despite having possibly the hottest commodity in all of wrestling in Billy Graham coming off many back-to-back sell outs at MSG. Vince Sr put him over anyone who was anyone. And, despite what Dave Meltzer will tell you, for the vast majority of his run Bob Backlund was over.
Vince – Vince Jr that is, our Vince, Mr. McMahon – he knows this. Vince McMahon Sr was his father. He was THERE commentating on the action right through Bob Backlund’s entire reign. He also would have been well aware of how Muchnick had booked Dory Funk Jr. and, subsequent NWA champs. His entire life is wrestling. We also know that Vince understood it from direct experience, because it’s exactly how he booked Hulk Hogan in 1984, 85 and 86. It’s also exactly how he booked Ultimate Warrior. It’s how he booked Austin. It’s how he booked John Cena.
I am not going to tell Vince how to do his job. He’s made more money from wrestling than any other human being, possibly ever. So what’s the point? Simply this: we are told that Vince McMahon (Jr) has hand-picked Roman Reigns to be his star for the future. And fans seemingly boo Reigns because of that fact. My article is really just an attempt to prove that nothing could be further from the truth. No aspect of his booking has suggested that he has an iota of faith in Reigns to carry the torch. And no aspect of the way he was booked after last year’s Wresltemania suggested that he was being groomed to be a successor to John Cena. Not even for a single second. The evidence is in the results. It’s in the fact that he’s not a winner. If you want to know why Reigns was booed at the Royal Rumble last week, it’s all there. He hasn’t been booked like THE FUTURE, so no one can really be surprised if he is rejected as “the future” by the fans. I don’t think he was ever seen as such by Vince, or if he was, he changed his mind the night he heard all the fans booing him at Rumble 2015.
