Roman Reigns Mega (push) Thread! *SPOILERS*

J. Marston

Roman gets snippy with his "haters"....

Roman Reigns was interviewed this week by Crave Online to promote Sunday’s Royal Rumble. Reigns said that he’s willing to take on any of the three guys in the title match on Sunday (Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Seth Rollins) at WrestleMania 31. Reigns was asked about some of the critics. He said:

[Laughs] Yeah, I think its hard not to pay attention these days with all of the social media networks and all of the different outlets. It’s so easy to connect with fans nowadays. You know, I have a Twitter and things like that. I’m not a crazy Twitter guy to where I’m tweeting out stuff every day and rarely even once a week, do I tweet. But I mean, occasionally, I read some stuff.

The funny part is, you have a guy like me who is kind of getting like a mixed vibe from time-to-time. I get a lot of love and then you’ll get the hate in the middle of it but its just funny, the perspectives you know, the differences between the love and the hate. As far as the hate, it makes me laugh. Everybody is a critic. Every critic I’ve ever had, they weren’t wrestlers [laughs]. Every wrestler I’ve ever had critique me, they were always into my stuff or what I’m doing out there. For a non-wrestler, someone who doesn’t even know how to lock up, and if we did lock up, they wouldn’t know what to do, for them to critique any of us, it really does pop me.

Reigns, when asked about “haters,” said:

That’s what haters do. They hate because they hate their lives.

He also talked about Dean Ambrose, his injury rehab, preparing for Sunday’s Royal Rumble, setting the record for eliminations at last year’s Rumble, getting married recently, and more. Read the full interview by clicking here.

http://wrestlingnews.co/roman-reigns-addresses-his-haters-talks-about-who-he-wants-to-face-at-wrestlemania/?doing_wp_cron=1421962239.8273971080780029296875

Angron

Honestly, that just makes him sound like a bit of an ass.

Machismo Fan

Hater is my least favourite word. It's nearly always deployed to deflect reasonable, constructive criticism.

Moneymaker

I hate the attitude 'oh you never wrestled, what would you know?' or 'you dumbass smarks don't understand the business.'

Oh, just the 20+ years i've been watching Roman. Yeah I know what makes a good wrestler and what doesn't. Does that mean I can do it? Hell no. Doesn't mean I can't tell a good one from a bad one.

veganrun

I definitely think he's lost out the most on the break-up of The Shield. Ambrose seems very popular and Rollins as turned out to be a great heel. He's one of the rare heel's that you want to see him get beat, but don't like him enough to cheer for him.

leggo

I mean, to be fair, fans judge guys more on how they're being booked than how much talent they actually have. And Reigns is a perfect example of this. He has a LOT of upside, he's just having his limitations tested by putting him in the main event spotlight before he's ready. That exposes the weaknesses in his game, which he's always gonna have at such an early stage of his development. He's not a bad wrestler by any means.

So he's not completely wrong in what he says. How else do you marry the fact that this time last year people were dying for him to win the Rumble match and are dreading it now? Has he got less talented? The thoughts he's verbalising there are what he needs to think to get through the day. He can't just be like, "Yeah I suck..." when he's probably going to be put in the WrestleMania main event and needs to give the performance of his life every night. But the fact that he's letting it slip in media interviews shows that it's something that's nagging him and that he wants to bite back.

DM_7

He should be heel. He would be liked then.

The positivity towards Reigns last year was anyone but Batista.

Bryan summed it up recently when he said the fans wouldn't accept anything other than him in the title match at Mania.

The reaction to Brock v Reigns will be horrible unless Brock signs a new deal and puts doubt in people's mind. (He is probably worth resigning now for star power to fill the stadium for 32).

leggo

Ah it wasn't just anti-Batista, I've footage of people watching in Woolshed losing their minds because they thought Reigns would win. He was on a tear last year after Survivor Series. Nobody was disputing that he was the next in line.

beakerjoe

leggo wrote: »

Ah it wasn't just anti-Batista, I've footage of people watching in Woolshed losing their minds because they thought Reigns would win. He was on a tear last year after Survivor Series. Nobody was disputing that he was the next in line.

It was all Anti Batista. Could have been Kofi in there and Id be cheering.

People didnt lose their minds over Reigns potentially winning, just people losing their minds at BIG DAVE potentially losing.

Moneymaker

leggo wrote: »

I mean, to be fair, fans judge guys more on how they're being booked than how much talent they actually have. And Reigns is a perfect example of this. He has a LOT of upside, he's just having his limitations tested by putting him in the main event spotlight before he's ready. That exposes the weaknesses in his game, which he's always gonna have at such an early stage of his development. He's not a bad wrestler by any means.

So he's not completely wrong in what he says. How else do you marry the fact that this time last year people were dying for him to win the Rumble match and are dreading it now? Has he got less talented? The thoughts he's verbalising there are what he needs to think to get through the day. He can't just be like, "Yeah I suck..." when he's probably going to be put in the WrestleMania main event and needs to give the performance of his life every night. But the fact that he's letting it slip in media interviews shows that it's something that's nagging him and that he wants to bite back.

This time last year he was still in the Shield, not wrestling 1 on 1 matches and very little mic time, i.e his flaws were hidden and hidden very well.

Now he's been shown to be what he is(green as hell) and is being shoved down our throats as Cena Mk2, fans have had to put up with that **** for 10 years now and they are sick of it.

He's 29, he has tons of time. Let him rise up more naturally and organically and pull the trigger at WM32 imo.

thebostoncrab

I still remember the Rumble last year and it certainly was an "anyone but- Batista" mentality. I even remember after Ret came out one of the lads at the table actually said "Well, we aren't getting Bryan then! I'm rooting for everyone to stop Batsia!"

I don't think a single person is calling Reigns a bad wrestler, and I haven't heard anyone suggest that frame of mind. The problem people have is that Reigns will be ready some day, but it's not now. He isn't ready and the fans aren't ready for it either. The fans are still behind Bryan as their number one guy, even after missing so much time in 2014. We have to remember, Reigns hasn't been wrestling for that long in the grand scheme of things, there is still a lot he has to learn before he is given the ball. I mean, we still haven't seen him in a major 1 on 1 feud yet.

rovert

Whosthis wrote: »

When did The Independent start covering wrestling?
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/wwe-mma-wrestling/wwe-seth-rollins-aims-to-defeat-brock-lesnar-and-john-cena-at-royal-rumble-by-hook-or-by-crook-and-face-daniel-bryan-at-wrestlemania-9997785.html

A while. Known Martin going back some time. The articles are aimed at a fairly casual audience so I don't really read them.

Moneymaker wrote: »

This time last year he was still in the Shield, not wrestling 1 on 1 matches and very little mic time, i.e his flaws were hidden and hidden very well.

Now he's been shown to be what he is(green as hell) and is being shoved down our throats as Cena Mk2, fans have had to put up with that **** for 10 years now and they are sick of it.

He's 29, he has tons of time. Let him rise up more naturally and organically and pull the trigger at WM32 imo.

Yeah The Shield's matches were designed to protect Reigns. Also you have the whole make "Roman strong thing".

PR wise this interview comes at a terrible time. Philly fans at the Royal Rumble now know he is "bothered" by him.

The Strawman Argument

Reigns is really facing an uphill battle at this stage, honestly I'm hoping Vonce ignores absolutely everything and pushes him like crazy just so I can see what happens.

He's way more Diesel than Hogan or Cena at the moment, and that alone should be a huge warning sign.

Palo Alto

Reigns' main problem is he comes across as to paraphrase CM Punk talking about Ryback, "dumb as ****". Say what you want about Cena, but the guy has a brain for talking and can react to a situation, he has always had this.

Reigns I believe is genuinely too stupid to make the step up. If this is how he cuts promos after having acting lessons, dear God!

He needs a manager but that only tends to work as a heel I suppose.

Machismo Fan

The problem with Reigns isn't him but how he's booked. Yes he has limitations but clearly from his Shield days when he's protected he's a world beater. But he hasn't been protected since the Shield broke up. They're making do the same promos as everybody else which clearly aren't in his wheelhouse and always seem phoney coming out of his mouth. And they're not protecting him in matches either. Having a competitive feud with Big Show or working 15-20 minute headlock fests instead of explosive 10 minutes matches.

WWE's system is too rigid and set in its way to adapt to Reigns weaknesses and amplify his clear as day strengths.

The Strawman Argument

I don't see how you could sustain protecting him anywhere close to the degree he was being protected in the Shield. He could be one of the top-tier guys but he's shown nothing to imply that he can be THE top guy for any kind of length.

gimmick

Split from the news thread.

Andersonisgod

They booked him so well when he was with The Shield, with the ultra talented Rollins and Ambrose his shortcomings we're masked, he had those cool spots, he came across like a potential superstar.

Since then, the booking has let him down in the biggest possible way. Exposed to lengthy single matches (not his strong point), inconsistent booking (that damn feud with Big Show is enough to kill anyone's momentum) and that long injury lay off has set him off track.

However there was a chance to turn the injury layoff into a positive. A big return, at or nearing the Rumble and there could have been really strong support behind him. Instead they made a bad situation a million times worse, they made Roman talk. It's the weakest part of his repertoire, it's what they should have actively avoided doing but instead they've given him the mic and have given him the most God-awful material that any pro wrestler in WWE has ever been given. The tough, quiet guy in The Shield has turned into someone who recites Jack and the Beanstalk, says "suffering suckatash" and threatens to perform a sexual act on his opponents.

I've heard people suggest that maybe this has been done intentionally, maybe they've given him this stuff to turn him heel. I'd like to believe that's the case, I'd like to believe that this company has the creativity to do such a thing, however I truly think that this is as good as they could do for their next headline star. They've failed him big-time, possibly beyond repair.

JP Liz V1

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Hater is my least favourite word. It's nearly always deployed to deflect reasonable, constructive criticism.

I have Taylor Swift's Shake it Off in my head now with Reigns doing the dances moves

sky88

i dont think hes ready at all and if he went on to win the title wrestelmania and raw the night after wrestlemania could be terrible for him if the crowd turns on him in a Batista level hate from last year.

i actually think hes liked by a lot of the fans and people just dont want him rushed into a place in the card hes not ready for and in fairness to him they have booked him horrendously.

Palo Alto

It's not just the booking. He's genuinely terrible.

brianregan09

They should of held off on him coming back from injury and had him come back the night of the rumble and win it

there wouldn't be any of this talk then

andyman

His promo on Smackdown was a **** tonne better than the rest if his combined.

Hopefully a sign they're just going back to basics on the mic, and none of this looney toon ****e.

DM_7

**Apart from the horrible feuds (Big Show who almost killed off Rusev before) and horrible Promos**


The problem for Reigns is he is not the only shining light in WWE. A couple of years ago a Reigns would be a god send.

Now, not so much, Rollins and Ambrose have come through and excelled, particularly in the time he was injured.

Daniel Bryan was injured for 8 months and has now returned, he is the most universally popular guy in WWE and people want/need to see him in a major spot after so long out.

Then the Network and effort that has gone into NXT makes people look at what amazing talent is coming through after Reigns/Rollins/Ambrose (Zayn, Devitt, Kevin Owens).

Its all about timing and it just looks to be bad timing for him. Summerslam would be a very good time for him as it would give him another few months to catch up on what he missed.

rossie1977

with the amount of heat this guy has online right now its very interesting to see what wwe do. i think many self combusted yesterday after seeing the fake billboard post on twitter/wrestling inc

they could have him win the rumble, beat lesnar and then pin rollins when he tries to cash in (would be first person ever to do that). if they do that he will have nuclear heat and it would then be a perfect time to turn him heel.

the possiblities then would be immense. wwe could keep throwing guys at the unstoppable heel wwe champion reigns like cena, bryan, ambrose, orton, ziggler. later in the year then debut balor and zayn and have one of those guys be the first to pin him for the title.

andyman

Being honest though, I don't want Bryan to win either.

Yes, he should have won or even been in the match last year, but he ended up getting his WrestleMania moment just last year. Is it now a case that he should win the title at Mania every year?

Next year would be a better time for Bryan to win the Rumble, in my opinion.

I think Ziggler should win, personally.

rossie1977

andyman wrote: »

Being honest though, I don't want Bryan to win either.

Yes, he should have won or even been in the match last year, but he ended up getting his WrestleMania moment just last year. Is it now a case that he should win the title at Mania every year?

bryan winning is logical storytelling. he never lost the title and it would the two guys who created history at mania the year previous

reigns, bryan and orton are the only 3 as it stands that make sense. i included orton because they teased that match and orton has a move in his arsenal that nobody has ever kicked out of and puts most out of action. in saying that i think they will do orton vs rollins at mania.

Bounty Hunter

ready for what though? to main event Wrestlemania... I don't think so. I actually wouldnt be against Reigns having a run with the belt next year but him vs Lesnar / Cena or even Rollins is not in any way my idea of a great WM main event.

D.Bryan on the other hand vs Lesnar is he best match they can put on and for that reason alone it should be him.

Reigns to either end Rusevs undefeated run or if they must have Cena in that spot at Mania have Reigns and Ambrose go at it

brianregan09

Whatever happens who ever suggested Rollins losing when he cashs in is nuts, Rollins has to win the title when he cashs in and i would love it be against Reigns at WM

rovert

Palo Alto

JAYSUS.