Roman Reigns is a good wrestler. Time to admit it @ everyone

[slik]

I'm not going to resist Roman like I did Cena. His push will happen regardless.


He has good matches. I embrace him as the new face of WWE. He's definitely not my favorite...but if this were the late 80's and I existed as an adult rasslin fan then, I probably would have thought Rick Rude/Randy Savage should be the face of the company...meanwhile Hulk Hogan was beating Akeem in the main-event. It is time @tpww dot net, to embrace Roman Reigns as the future of the company for another decade. We've got at least ten years of Roman pinning his opponents after a Superman spear/punch to end ppv's ahead of us. Let's #embrace it.

[Sixx]

NO!

[#BROKEN Hasney]

He might be. I don't know, I haven't watched a minute of him since that ambulance match with Braun which was hilarious. The only interaction I've had since listening to nL talk over PPV events because they are hilarious.

No need to #embrace anything. There's better things to do with life than watch WWE right now.

[slik]

Fignuts knows what I am talking about. Am I right @Figgy_Wit_It

[Fignuts]

Always said he was a good wrestler. Not a great wrestler. Though he can have great matches with the right person.

[Sixx]

I think Cena is a better wrestler. They just both have very dull personas. Cena's is still better imo.

[Sixx]

Was there a time WWE didn't have a "face of the company" at all?

[Fignuts]

early 90's?

Bret and Shawn were the top guys, but they weren't mainstream popular enough to be the face of anything.

[Sixx]

Well, when for instance Stone Cold was the face of company it was because people pretty much chose him. Reigns? They're forcing it. I don't like where this is going.

[Rammsteinmad]

Roman Reigns is as good as the person he's in the ring with. He's certainly no slouch, and he's athletic as hell, but he's just not good enough to carry a match himself. Reigns vs. AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins etc are incredible matches, Roman Reigns vs. Big Show or Triple H are fucking shite.

[Tom Guycott]

Being a "good wrestler" wasn't really ever the point of contention.

You could see WWE had big plans for him ever since is wholly unconvincing "I'm the man." promo in NXT. As part of The Shield, Ambrose had the immediate chops to do the heavy lifting while Rollins had time to "find himself" (thank goodness he got the heel turn), but the camera time was increasingly being fixated on Roman. By the time they got their entrance down to a science, the steadycam guy was all up his nostrils. "He's the big deal, here, we should all be focusing on him". Literally. As much effort to show him on the apron as the match in the ring, then all the attention to him at the hot tag, et cetera...

On the singles run, he kept all the over and familiar elements of The Shield- the music and the crowd entrance, and I guess the flak jacket to make him look more massive, I dunno. Even with a wellness policy violation and an extended hospital stay, the company tried to act like that had no bearing whatsoever on his upward momentum. They had the guy who was *really* over (DB) endorse him, they had The Rock endorse him, just whatever they could to try to get the crowd to get behind him, and it was false and transparent every step of the way.

I'm one of those who is all for "taking the ride" with someone, but there was no "ride" with Roman. Currently, the only weaker path to elevation was Jinder, who was suddenly booked like "boom, yer instantly super legit now". Cena had a ride, and while I'm not solidly in the camp of "he should turn heel", the problem there is that he's the same guy he has been for years. Even Undertaker went biker for awhile. Cena's just stale and predictalbe, and it's like those are the qualities WWE is trying to reproduce with Reigns.

But neither one are actually bad wrestlers. Not the greatest, either (though Cena can be argued- he actually *is* good, but when your go-to checklist and the dreaded "five moves of doom" can get you by on the regular, why do you *need* to go further?), but their abilities between the bell has not been what is so unattractive about rooting for either dude.

[slik]

Roman Reigns is as good as the person he's in the ring with. He's certainly no slouch, and he's athletic as hell, but he's just not good enough to carry a match himself. Reigns vs. AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins etc are incredible matches, Roman Reigns vs. Big Show or Triple H are fucking shite.

To play Devil's advocate, the same could be said for Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Goldberg, STING, Brock Lesnar, Andre The Giant, etc.

[Maluco]

To play Devil's advocate, the same could be said for Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Goldberg, STING, Brock Lesnar, Andre The Giant, etc.

All of those guys were tremendously charismatic though and got people up on their feet reacting.

Reigns tries to come off as "chill", but he comes off as bland and uninteresting. His sludgey music and action figure attire make it worse.

He is a good athlete, but I wouldn't say he is a great wrestler

[Sixx]

All of those guys were tremendously charismatic though and got people up on their feet reacting.

Reigns tries to come off as "chill", but he comes off as bland and uninteresting. His sludgey music and action figure attire make it worse.

He is a good athlete, but I wouldn't say he is a great wrestler

Yeah, I mean, is he constantly expecting someone to shoot him in the ring?

[Sepholio]

Joke thread.

[Simple Fan]

Really thought his and Cena's match sucked. Don't feel like they cliqued well together. Was boring and anticlimactic.

[Maluco]

Yeah, I mean, is he constantly expecting someone to shoot him in the ring?

Honestly, it's the worst thing about him. I get that when he was in a "gang", it was just their look, but now? Running around by himself in a flak jacket, while his fellow "gang" members have moved on. It looks sad tbh

[Big Vic]

Feel like owenbrown might actually try to shoot him.

[Rammsteinmad]

The match with Cena was pretty dull, especially because pretty much the exact same match move-for-move happened between Cena and AJ Styles not too long ago, yet for some reason this was the one touted as the "big match". Reigns won clean so he's officially "The Man", whereas AJ beat him clean last year and was never seen in the same light.

[Destor]

The match with Cena was pretty dull, especially because pretty much the exact same match move-for-move happened between Cena and AJ Styles not too long ago, yet for some reason this was the one touted as the "big match". Reigns won clean so he's officially "The Man", whereas AJ beat him clean last year and was never seen in the same light.
What? It put AJ on the map as a top guy for the company...

[Simple Fan]

I don't see how Cena/Reigns was move for move to Cena/Styles either. Styles pulls off stuff in the ring Roman could only dream about.

[Big Vic]

I was kind of impressed by Romans phenomenal forearm last night.

[Destor]

I was kind of impressed by Romans phenomenal forearm last night.
Dragon rana off the top was sick af

[slik]

Feel like owenbrown might actually try to shoot him.

We need whereabouts on a man in somewhere, Kentucky, brown hair, some height and weight and eye color. He responds to the name 'Owen Brown'. If you see him he might be armed and dangerous. Please do not mention any of the following things: Roman Reigns, John Cena, Gertner, The Cast of this year's Big Brother.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I think Roman is pretty good.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

https://i.imgur.com/hHyY0ZV.png

[owenbrown]

Feel like owenbrown might actually try to shoot him.

We need whereabouts on a man in somewhere, Kentucky, brown hair, some height and weight and eye color. He responds to the name 'Owen Brown'. If you see him he might be armed and dangerous. Please do not mention any of the following things: Roman Reigns, John Cena, Gertner, The Cast of this year's Big Brother.

Both of you seek help. For real.

[slik]

Oh owen!

[Stickman]

Roman is very average in the ring. His moveset is dull, nothing looks high impact like it should. His match with Cena was actually dull and boring. I was never a big Cena fan but he is a huge step above Reigns. I don't see positives in pushing Reigns like they are.

[Emperor Smeat]

Going to say no. He's not terrible but he's also not that good for someone meant to be the next mega star in the WWE.

Biggest problem is the WWE pretty much skipped the midcard phase/years of his star building which is arguably the most importance phase. Them also trying to force the already tired Super Cena persona for his character and the lack of development with his promo skills have just made things worse for him.

In terms of ring skills, he's not bad but him spamming the Superman punch exposes how limited he is since its his fallback move whenever he doesn't know what to do next. Same for almost every big match has to involve a table spot since its his fallback for getting the crowd to pop.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Fell asleep during their match. Too formulaic.

[slik]

In ten years he will go to hit a superman punch on the new leading star of RAW and they will reverse it into w/e their ridiculous finisher is...maybe a snap-mare takedowm

[Rebecca Reigns]

NO ONE will ever beat Reigns and you are guys are fools if you think he will ever lose. He is WWE's lifetime star because he is the best wrestler in WWE history.

[TSI]

If they would change his music, lose his vest and not use the superman punch like a kid playing a video game who only knows one move, he might be more over

[#1-norm-fan]

I figure Vince thought he'd be dead by the time the fans that are left are forced to just bend over and accept his shitty face of the company.

slik drinking the Kool-Aid so soon.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/11-23-2015/UiyVHS.gif

[#1-norm-fan]

Reigns is fine but unexciting in the ring. Everything about him comes off as manufactured though. He's far less charismatic than any face of the company they've had and those promos against Cena were telling. He was out of his element. When Cena and Rock had their promo wars, Cena somehow managed to go toe-to-toe with him which is crazy to think of. Reigns came off like a fake try-hard. And I don't think that's all Reigns' fault at all. But the character is... not good.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Reigns has got a motor on him. He's been involved in some great matches. The dude's ring game is not really the problem. He's still "bad" on the mic and doesn't have babyface charisma. He still dresses like a kid playing army man and is pushed in a way that feels treacly.

Instead of just accepting it, how about more people just continue to switch off?

[#BROKEN Hasney]

https://i.redd.it/fv63wk5d24oz.gif

[Jordan]

The dude is awesome in the ring, truly... aaaand he was really good in the Miz TV segment, hopefully he maintains that aspect of his personality because you can't really boo a guy who talks like that. It was pretty cool.

[Jordan]

Roman is very average in the ring. His moveset is dull, nothing looks high impact like it should. His match with Cena was actually dull and boring. I was never a big Cena fan but he is a huge step above Reigns. I don't see positives in pushing Reigns like they are.

I gotta disagree, his work is snug. His punches have force, his move set is really quite exciting. From the superman the drive by drop kick, the samoan drop WITH AUTHORITY, and one of the best spears ever... I just gotta disagree.

[Arrogance]

Cena is a good wrestler as well, it's WWE's writing and book that screws up everything. Their match calling could be better though. :y:

[Stickman]

I gotta disagree, his work is snug. His punches have force, his move set is really quite exciting. From the superman the drive by drop kick, the samoan drop WITH AUTHORITY, and one of the best spears ever... I just gotta disagree.

I can agree with his Samoan drop, the driveby is good.. A spear should only be done by Goldberg and Rhyno. A jumping punch is not a finisher. The problem I have is he doesn't really do anything else. He must throw more punches than anybody else in a match. I really am struggling to explain it, he just seems dull to me. He seems lazy. His matches don't really have any flow because he is always looking for a punch. He is a big strong dude, start wrestling like one. Powerbombs, vertical suplex, slams, anything please, just do something.

[#1-norm-fan]

lol The Superman Punch is horrible.

[Tom Guycott]

https://i.redd.it/fv63wk5d24oz.gif

Which was my exact reaction to Cena singlehandedly beating Nexus after being dead for a 9 count outside the ring and still making the 10 count, then going full Superman.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

See, this is annoying:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FTOP-_lbDOI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is really good and Romans delivery is utterly fantastic as a natural personality, which he just isn't when he's scripted and in the ring. The end of that video is pretty heelish in a way that would make for an interesting character. Of course we won't get that either.

[#1-norm-fan]

It's also a Goddamn well made video. A video like that would take up 5 minutes of that entirely-too-long Raw, it would build a character and if a non-wrestling fan tuned in, they'd be impressed with what they're watching.

And I'm guessing this wasn't shown on Raw last Monday nor will it be anytime soon?

[#1-norm-fan]

Of course, the downside is as soon as they send him to cut a live promo it would all fall apart. But still.

[Maluco]

They, as a company, seem to be against anything creative or different. Jericho has just given an interview in which he says he had to argue "with HHH and others" pretty much the whole day, to get the festival of friendship on air. That is a 20+ year veteran with a great relationship with the company and the initiative to make a story more interesting and come up with novel ideas...and he STILL has to fight every step of the way to make it happen. Apparently they just wanted him to "get attacked"

Reigns is unpolished, uncertain, has an underdeveloped character, terrible music and attire. His catchphrase is something an elderly woman would say and his moveset is bland and repetitive (seriously, the spear, in 2017, as a new guys finisher)

A guy like him only has good looks and his athleticism, he needs every bit of help he can get from writers, not just to hide his faults, but to help him develop his persona and to have interesting stories and varied feuds to help build him the right way.

Raw is probably the most boring 3 hour stretch in television. What hope does he have, really?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Honestly i turn off usually if i see him speak. What is hos current catchphrase?

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Honestly i turn off usually if i see him speak. What is hos current catchphrase?

BALEEEEEE DAT

[#1-norm-fan]

Thought it was "This is my yard." Or something equally generic and possibly written by a three year old.

[#1-norm-fan]

"I'm not a good guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm THE guy. (Ideally I'd be a good guy if WWE was capable of booking a good guy anymore but since they are so out of touch with the audience, I'm tasked with making this failure sound like it's intentional)"

Something like that.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Roman Reigns isn't a bug, he's a feature!

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I thought he dropped that goodguy bad guy bullshit

[#1-norm-fan]

He may have. I don't know. But the stuff in parentheses still rings true.

[#1-norm-fan]

Seriously think his "official" catchphrase now is Taker's old "This is my yard". Except he's nowhere near as cool/badass as Taker so it comes off very awkward like he's trying to convince himself.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Maybe he should pose it as a question. "This is my yard?". Then when Braun comes out, he says his second new catchphrase of "Oh, my mistake"

[Damian Rey 2.0]

What they thought was wrong with the mostly silent bad ass wrecking machine he was in the SHIELD is beyond me.

[slik]

Seriously think his "official" catchphrase now is Taker's old "This is my yard". Except he's nowhere near as cool/badass as Taker so it comes off very awkward like he's trying to convince himself.

Michael Cole always yells "THE BIG DOG" every time Roman is onscreen.

[#1-norm-fan]

Big dog eats his ass.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Imagine how cool Roman Reigns would be if he just told everybody to kiss his ass, and they all boo him because they're jealous of the perfect specimen he is? It's...right...fucking...there. Then you get babyfaces people actually like, and believe in: AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, one of The New Day, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, Rusev, whoever -- and you make money off them stepping up to him.

[XL]

That’s not far off what he was in NXT. He played a sort of “Franchise Player”, Lebron James inspired character who knew he was destined for greatness and played up his heritage. Put an agent/team around him and have him lean in to what people don’t like about him and I think those people that boo him now still would.

[#1-norm-fan]

If they could build a genuine "appeal to the masses" face (*cough*Fandango*cough*), Reigns would be the perfect guy for him to go over at a WrestleMania.

[Bad News Gertner]

Hate the Spear as a finisher. Wish he'd change it.

[Jordan]

I don't mind his spear at all, probably because the way most of you hate it so much is how I felt when lil ol Edge used that for a finish.

[Bad News Gertner]

I've always just looked at the Spear as a "set up move". Not a finisher. Probably because of Goldberg.

[#1-norm-fan]

Is the Superman Punch any better than the spear though?

[Bad News Gertner]

God no. He should just do the Rock Bottom.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Like Reigns using the Spear and the Powerbomb. Both are fine for him. I'd like him to have some sort of fireman's carry move to continue the line of Brock --> Cena --> Reigns succession. Maybe a modified TKO? He can drop his opponent into a Stunner and sit back with a smug look on his face every time he hits it. That would probably destroy people's knees though. Oh, and he can probably use the Tombstone now that he retired Undertaker.

[Mr. Nerfect]

God no. He should just do the Rock Bottom.

Or that.

[Sepholio]

Superman punch followed by a rock bottom would be OK.

[Stickman]

I don't mind his spear at all, probably because the way most of you hate it so much is how I felt when lil ol Edge used that for a finish.

For all the hate I have of RR, his spear is way better than Edge's

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

My 1 year old nephew's spear is better than Edge's. And I dug Edge's work for the most part.

[Tom Guycott]

God no. He should just do the Rock Bottom.

He should use that short lived around-the-back tornado DDT or whatever it was The Rock used as a finish for like two weeks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I LOVE Christian, but man was it weird seeing him try using the Spear as a finisher tribute to Edge. Again, I repeat -- I LOVE Christian.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, the Christian mark in me used to reason that in kayfabe Edge must have bestowed the secret of a good Spear onto Christian to keep my disbelief suspended. The things we do as fans.

[Tom Guycott]

Doesn't help that the spear was treated like the superkick has been since Young Bucks became a thing. A whole mess of people using it with varying degrees of "impact" everywhere. 7 guys use it as a finisher, some who never win with it, others who always win with it... 5 more use it as a setup, then others just throw it in their match. And that was just WWE! Too overused to really mean anything.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Roman should use the Overdrive as his finish.

[KIRA]

Its kinda weird his Character would brag about beating Taker at 50 yrs old barely moving around and after Brock already did it.

If this had been like Taker in 97 it would be a big deal

[Mr. Nerfect]

They don't age Undertaker like we do. I know you know that, but in their canon he's still as spry as a 30-year-old.

[XL]

Well, until they need to super speed a Reigns/Cena programme, then he’s just some old-timer with a bad hip.