An idea for Roman Reigns
 

I had a random idea whilst thinking about the WrestleMania XXX card before, namely how The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family could go down at Elimination Chamber. This got me thinking about an idea that I haven't seen suggested anywhere else.

The WWE is clearly building Roman Reigns up to be a huge deal. And it seems to be going quite well. The WWE wants Reigns to eventually turn face, but the question is when and how. Right now the WWE seems to be in a stage where the WWE is building the credibility of Reigns -- to the point where the audience wants to get behind him as a solo star.

But what if the WWE could keep this going through WrestleMania, build future match-ups and yet not blow their load with Reigns whilst also making him a force to be reckoned with? What if the WWE could keep Reigns' star on the rise, give him main event exposure, yet keep people sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for that face turn? How could this be done?

What if Dean Ambrose's apparent insecurities with Reigns led to him selling out his "brother" to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber?

Think about it: Defeat of The Shield is not merely enough for Bray Wyatt, and his character has been searching for monsters. Earlier this year there were clearly plans for a top babyface to join The Wyatt Family and be the guy that the fans were dying to see break free and turn against the master. Daniel Bryan was put into that role, but he was just too over for it at the time. Roman Reigns, however, is in the process of getting over. He could be perfect as the badass that people want to see break the shackles and cut loose, but disappointingly reaffirms his loyalty to the sinister Bray Wyatt and his mission.

Roman Reigns would become Bray Wyatt's "ultimate weapon." He'd have the powerhouse of The Shield, "The Punisher," and a man that can stand toe-to-toe with anyone in the WWE on any day, and he's backed by Harper & Rowan -- monsters in their own right. Can you just imagine Bray cackling with Reigns by his side. Reigns could even adapt Rowan's line as his own occasionally -- "Run." Perhaps he could even say "Believe in The Family."

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt has been heavily rumored for WrestleMania XXX, and on-air movements were made towards this storyline, with it seemingly being delayed only for the Elimination Chamber. But whilst Wyatt is a fascinating character, his ring chemisty with John Cena remains untested. Perhaps Bray Wyatt could send Roman Reigns into battle against John Cena instead? Perhaps Roman Reigns could actually defeat John Cena at WrestleMania? I'm sure The Wyatt Family could get involved to back him and Bray up.

This would also add heat to Dean Ambrose. He's not only jealous of Reigns, but he sold him out, arguably just out of spite. It's quite the epic act of betrayal, and it's one that Seth Rollins might not take too lightly. Whilst Reigns is not an issue for Ambrose (whose ensuring that Bray Wyatt takes Reigns captive could also be seen as an act of cowardice -- avoiding confronting Reigns over his intended betrayal), Rollins would be free to take exception to Ambrose, disagree with his treachery and Ambrose trying to crawl back to Rollins ("we were the real stars of The Shield"), who goes to battle for his former partner and his friend, Roman Reigns. Heading into WrestleMania, Rollins could even team occasionally with Cena to do battle with members of The Wyatt Family, and at WrestleMania XXX, Rollins can get his shot at Dean Ambrose, who has hidden behind Bray Wyatt and his monsters for so long.

How long Reigns remains in The Wyatt Family is anyone's guess, but it could be a prolonged thing. Rollins could try and snap Reigns out of it, only for them to have a feud. There could be a moment where Reigns seems like he is about to snap out of it, only for Bray to sick Harper & Rowan on him, leading to a Handicap Match where The Family manage to beat Reigns and he remains subservant. Or maybe Reigns even manages to sneak out the win, but still remains aligned with The Family. Perhaps The Rock could even return later in the year (depending on how his health is doing and how he is doing film schedule-wise) and try to remind Reigns of the family that really matters. If they could keep this going until WrestleMania 31, Reigns vs. The Rock could be a huge match that is the catalyst to Reigns' huge face turn. But that's a long time to build an angle.

Or it could end as early as at WrestleMania itself. Reigns beats Cena and then The Wyatt Family look to take Cena as their own and begin a beat-down of him, only for Reigns to turn on The Family and take them out to (presumably) a massive pop, even from the smarky fans.

How does Ambrose just 'sell him out'? Why would Reigns do what Bray Wyatt said?

I'm generally against anyone else joining the Wyatts unless it's somebody who hasn't been on main TV yet.

Reigns is still a year maybe two away from being a top star in this company. He is far too green as a WWE performer.

I would like to see him break away from The Shield, have a good long run with the IC Strap, and see where he is then with his character. A nice slow burn, if he can handle it and stay relevant, than it'll be his time to be a top guy.

I want the Shield to stay together for their entire WWE careers.

I want 1000 Wyatt Family members surrounding the entire arena at Wrestlemania, for the Shield to arrive to the ring via helicopter and fight all of them off.

I just don't see why they have to be split for Reigns to get a push.

Agreed. Let Reigns be a breakout star whilst still being a part of the Shield. It's incredible how the Shield have been around now for a year and a half, and have not at any point during their tenure "lost steam". They've constantly been main-eventing or heavily featured in storylines, and they're still going strong today.

Undertaker should join the Wyatt's and Sting should join the Shield to really get interest for their Rasslemania match.

How has there been 10 posts in this thread and no one went to the "he should snap and become a badass submission machine" well

Because we're evolving as a people.

I'm guessing Ambrose walks out on Reigns, allowing Rowan and Harper to beat him down/Bray finish him off. They then carry him away to be "reprogrammed".

Roman Reigns joining the Wyatt's and playing second fiddle to Bray would be an astronomically terrible move for Reigns.

It would damage Reigns' credibility in terms of moving up to the main-events. Atleast in the short-term.

If it was up to me, I'd continue Shield/Wyatt's all the way to Wrestlemania.........and have The Shield split up at Mania.

Hmmm. Can't say that I love it.

There you go.

I said it in another thread but they never split up the Horsemen if someone other than Flair got a singles push, they could keep the Shield together and even turn Reigns face without having to split them.

Essentially this. Reigns could be setting up for a Spear when Ambrose runs in, puts him in a headlock and drags him into the middle of the ring where he drills with him with his finishing move. Ambrose then marches to the back, looking either satisfied with himself or even conflicted (depending on where they want to take his character), and Bray then hits Sister Abigail on Reigns, becomes only the second person to pin in him his career, and then has Harper & Rowan carry him to the back.

Agreed. Reigns wouldn't be playing second-fiddle to anyone though. Reigns would be the most credible force in The Shield (baring in mind that Harper, Rowan and Bray himself are not booked any weaker by the company after this point), and would be going against John Cena at WrestleMania XXX. He would then defeat John Cena at WrestleMania. Wyatt is there to be a mouthpiece and to be a figure that the WWE Universe can't wait seeing Reigns snap and pummel.

Bring him along slowly. They fucked up Ryback rushing him. Reigns needs to develop his mic skills more and I don't want a "mouthpiece" with him. Have him cut promos in NXT and just keep working on it. There's something great here. No need to over complicate it. They need to get the U.S or IC belt on him and put him in feuds where he has mic time and just go from there. He shouldn't be challenging for the World Title for a while. I wouldn't have him go for it until the next Royal Rumble. Have him mow through people at a steady pace and climax it with winning next years Rumble and go from there. Just get him comfortable on the mic before anything starts. Patience for fuck sakes WWE. They haave more than enough upper card guys to keep Reigns busy. Have him do shit with Sheamus and guys like that.

You once called him a vanilla midget.


WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GERTNER?!

He's still got to develop mic skills before escaping that. He was atrocious on the mic when I first heard him. One of the worst I've heard. It's my same issue with Cesaro: impressive as hell in the ring, but if you are going to be a main event guy you have to be able to go out on your own and cut promos. Eventually Cesaro is going to have to break from Zeb and work on his own, and Cesaro at times sounds like he's reading from a script. Wrestling skills can only take you so far. Bryan broke through not because of his wrestling but because he developed a character that connected with the audience. Also, I HATE the spear as a finisher. It's so meh.

So does having good mic skills negate someone being a vanilla midget?

He could bring back tatanka and team with him

SHISEN.

TATANKA IS IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN. DO NOT DISRESPECT HIM.

100 agree

Yes because that's why they are in the first place.

That is true. I apologize to Tatanka and his injuness

Why not? At least for starters as a way to help get him fully entrenched as a legit main eventer, Paul Heyman managing Roman Reigns as he is booked as an unstoppable force would be perfect.

And they didn't fuck up Ryback by rushing him. They fucked him up by suddenly jobbing him out for no apparent reason and willingly killing his aura.

Because here's what happens every fucking time they do this: their managers become a crutch. Ziggler was with Vickie for too long and it didn't allow him to develop. Cesaro is falling into the same thing. They aren't given the mic time needed to develop. Some are naturals, some need time to work on it. Guys like Reigns need to be on that mic every week and not have someone do it for them.

On breaks id hve Reigns go to the Performance Center and do that Presentation class.

He went from Jinder Mahal straight to Punk. Totally bypassed his thing that he was starting with Miz where he could have become U.S champ and got involved in a real feud. Remember, his first actual feud was with Punk and he had only been there since the Smackdown after Wrestlemania.

So Punk and Bryan are no longer vanilla midgets? *strokes chin*

So in this scenario, Bray would play second fiddle to Reigns? (i.e. be the mouth piece).

If that's the case, then this isn't a good scenario either imo.

Neither Roman nor Bray should be playing second fiddle to ANYONE moving forward in the immediate future..............which now leads me to my next thread.

Agree 100% with Gertner. Reigns needs to branch out on the mic on his own. For some guys, like Lesnar, having a constant mouth piece might work. But even Lesnar had to get comfortable enough on the mic to make his face turn work.

I also don't see the need for the Shield to break up at Mania. They have been so ridiculously successful that there's no storyline reason for it. They constantly win. Why would you want to break up? They should just slow burn Reigns as the main guy and let the group self destruct naturally. Reigns has only been on this recent push for a few months. No need to overnight it.

Agree again! Cena being hurt put them in a corner, and having Ryback involved made things worse. Realistically, Ryback should be just now be entering main event status. Instead, he's been forced to take something that is nothing, and turn it into Rybaxel.

Luther Reigns was better. Maybe Roman can learn from his older identical twin brother.

Lol half right.

So sad hearing Gertner say this.

I'll fight the anti-Bryan as champ battle alone. IDGAF.

Bray would do a fair bit of the talking for Reigns (not all), but Bray would still be getting a push in his own right. I'd probably have Wyatt win a Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania or something.

Sorry pal. This is just a bad idea.