Roman Reigns' from 3rd wheel to standout.

[seabs]

It's mesmerising in it's own little way​

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Survivor Series 2012 was the day The Shield was born and I'm sure as a collective we shared the same reaction as below, some may have not but the general gist was:​

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Ambrose - :​

Rollins - :yay:​

Reigns - :idk:​

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I was left shaking my head as he didn't really fit with the other self established independent stars instead wishing Kassius Ohno was to be added to the team instead. Boy oh boy how wrong could I have been, many claim Ambrose to be the most vital member of The Shield and whilst there is a case for that as their voice I can't help but feel Roman is going to be the one who eclipses the success of the others, his look whilst a selling point isn't what I'm getting at here.​

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Roman just has something special about him, even whilst standing in the background looking menacing his body language projects towards the centre of the stage, he looks like a big deal which neither Seth nor Dean can match. Is it the mythical IT factor we're constantly preaching about? It seems like it could easily be, his promos aren't on the level of the other two but he's a very confident speaker and isn't looking too far out of place with 10 year veterans despite only being in the Wrestling System for 5 years. His matches are too short to really say yet but he's shown himself to be an intense athletic powerhouse which is never a bad thing, especially since he can sell facial expressions at a solid level already.​

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In summary Dean will be a psychotic heel at the top end of the card for years to come, Rollins will be a very marketable daredevil babyface but Roman? He'll be the Batista of this group, The Shield will be the group which made Roman a star.​

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So how do you feel about Roman?​

 

[Aydind]

Romans spear is epic.

 

[DK JAMES]

He's great. That spear is wicked and I didn't really like him at first, but I feel like he could develop over time.

 

[Ovaldinho]

He could be this era's Batista.

 

[Lockard 23]

He was never the monkey in the middle to me because I don't keep up with guys coming up through the Independent circuit or development program. If it wasn't for people mentioning/bragging about them or knowing someone because of having a brief knowledge of ROH or whatever, I wouldn't even know of people like Dean Ambrose or Seth Rollins before they debuted either. I'm always skeptical anyway when internet wrestling nerds brag too much on a particular guy coming up from the Independents.

So I was never dead set with any sort of cognitive bias (intentional or unintentional) against Reigns just because of the other two. (I agree with others in a thread about unpopular opinions that people are overrating Ambrose on the mic at least a tad bit.) I could tell based on Reigns' look from the start that WWE would have a hard on for him and that he has all the markings of becoming a star. I've always likened him to a Batista as well as he too had a charisma about him combined with the look, but was usually only passable on the mic most of the time. Reigns already has a better finisher, though. His spear is brutal like Goldberg's spear or Rhyno's gore, and not anything like Edge's watered down spear.

Reigns also may end up having range, as I can picture Reigns easily as either a baby face or a heel, whereas Ambrose seems suited as a heel and Rollins as a baby face.

 

[Stopspot]

Reigns is easily the best of the guys for media. If you look at the interviews from wrestlemania access you'll notice how Roman is by far the best at handling press and speaking comfortably with them. Seth was okay at handling media, nothing special. Dean seemed to stumble over words and kept going "erm" and "Umm" whilst Roman handled them like it was nothing.

Roman has great presence and potential. The fact that he's only been wrestling for about 2 years on a pro level and still look this good is in my mind mind boggling. He will be a big big star.

 

[Crayo]

Never seen Dean stumble personally, I swear Stopspot has this hatred for Dean. You're basing this off of the Wrestlemania interview? :aries:

Anyway, I wasn't scratching my head at Reigns' debut because I was so pumped to see Rollins & Dean, but I wasn't exactly marking either. The guy has an awesome look and will be the stand out guy because of that - WWE rightly has a hard on for the look and build, and Reigns passes the test. Do I think he has been the stand out though? Not at all. Dean has definitely lived up to the hype for me and if I had never known who he was beforehand, I would still say the same. But, has Reigns surpassed my expectations? Definitely. I thought he was some big guy who couldn't work or talk, but now I can see the potential he has. He will be a great main eventer.

The guy is improving on the mic, but is still much better when he doesn't speak. Whilst I think Dean has been the best out of The Shield (and quite far ahead of the rest imo), Reigns will still be the guy who gets the big push. I'm fine with that because of how well Reigns has done though, and I've gone from thinking "Meh, hi Reigns." to "God damn I love you Reigns". He has a great future.

 

[CM Punk]

^ I think that you believe Dean is perfect.

 

[Crayo]

^ I think that you believe that Dean is perfect.

God you're annoying when you post like that.

 

[CM Punk]

God you're annoying when you post like that.

Had errors, I know. Post like what?

 

[Crayo]

Had errors, I know. Post like what?

Make a HQ thread LQ with one lame reply. ity1:

 

[CM Punk]

Was just calling you out on something. I've always said that Reigns was the Batista of the group since they debut. Have nothing to follow up on what Alkaline said.

 

[Crayo]

Was just calling you out on something. I've always said that Reigns was the Batista of the group since they debut. Have nothing to follow up on what Alkaline said.

It was ridiculously immature. If you're going to call someone out, why not do it properly? It just makes you seem rather pathetic when you act so low-quality doing it. Do it elsewhere...

 

[Lingstar]

I have to agree with how much potential he has. I was bigger on Rollins from watching him on NXT, thought the guy was awesome (still do!)
Reigns just has something about him and I can see them using him a lot more.

 

[CM Punk]

It was ridiculously immature. If you're going to call someone out, why not do it properly? It just makes you seem rather pathetic when you act so low-quality doing it. Do it elsewhere...

How is it immature? When you're a mark for any given Superstar, you're always going to claim that he's perfect no matter what. If he has any flaws, you'll protect it.
Alkaline stated that he was using "erm(s)" and "Umm(s)" during the interview, but you're protecting that by saying that it was Wrestlemania Access. I'm not sure what your definition of LQ considering that was a straight forward answer. If I were to go on a long rant, you'd just claim I went Mustafar mode. But w/e