Your thoughts on Roman Reigns?
- Thread starter Crimson
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I respect Roman Reigns and understand the appeal, know many people who really like the guy. He is phenomenal at the video-game style "lay waste to 6 people with spears" thing, has the impactful entrance and "the look" and is great at coming across as a badass in promos. He has many strengths as a performer.
Problem is, everything effective with Roman Reigns has to be short and sweet, and I'm not sure if either WWE or the fans want that. No point dragging out a match 20 minutes for him to get up and spear eight people. Not only is it ineffective since he's very green (but athletic) in the ring, but it humanizes him which it he last thing you want.
And these promos from him are just cringe. We've seen great promos from the guy before, so either GTFO and let the dude write his own shit or keep his promos short, the "silent but deadly" character worked for him well.
Problem is, everything effective with Roman Reigns has to be short and sweet, and I'm not sure if either WWE or the fans want that. No point dragging out a match 20 minutes for him to get up and spear eight people. Not only is it ineffective since he's very green (but athletic) in the ring, but it humanizes him which it he last thing you want.
And these promos from him are just cringe. We've seen great promos from the guy before, so either GTFO and let the dude write his own shit or keep his promos short, the "silent but deadly" character worked for him well.
Thoughts on Roman Reigns? 
ity:
- The only good promo he ever cut, or should I say the only promo I remember him doing was the one post-Shield break-up.
ity:- The only good promo he ever cut, or should I say the only promo I remember him doing was the one post-Shield break-up.
Thoughts on Roman Reigns?
- The only good promo he ever cut, or should I say the only promo I remember him doing was the one post-Shield break-up.
There was one quote you sigged that showed me the problem was more of WWE.
He was cutting your typical boring, robotic, clearly trying to remember lines promo at the start of Raw, and the fans got bored and started chanting "Cena Sucks" for the hell of it, then Reigns went off script...
Yeah, it was that 'When Roman Reigns is in the house, you're damn right John Cena sucks'. Something along those lines, I believe. He was shitting on Cena, so I loved that and the promo gets better when guys add their own specimen to it.
It's not Reigns' fault entirely, though, it's the WWE trying to micromanage everything. It's just BS.
Roman Reigns isn't unique. Undertaker was in the same boat but was cushioned by the likes of HBK, Steve Austin and Hogan to a lesser extent.
Reigns needs this same cushioning. He needs talent around him, that is far better that prevent his weaknesses from being exposed.
Can anyone imagine the Undertaker being the guy from 91-97? I can't.
He will get better in the ring as Taker did, but he will never be great on the stick. He isn't an extravert; great mic workers are almost always extraverts.
The only introverts any good on the stick were guys like Foley, Punk, Hart (to an extent) and Kane. They all used intuition, Reigns does not.
The post 9/11 superhero worked with Cena. It won't work here, unless Reigns becomes Jack Bauer, which he won't.
Reigns needs this same cushioning. He needs talent around him, that is far better that prevent his weaknesses from being exposed.
Can anyone imagine the Undertaker being the guy from 91-97? I can't.
He will get better in the ring as Taker did, but he will never be great on the stick. He isn't an extravert; great mic workers are almost always extraverts.
The only introverts any good on the stick were guys like Foley, Punk, Hart (to an extent) and Kane. They all used intuition, Reigns does not.
The post 9/11 superhero worked with Cena. It won't work here, unless Reigns becomes Jack Bauer, which he won't.
Correct. Taker had gotten better and better with each year passing by.
Roman Reigns is still green, so to speak. He should be able to get better in the ring as time passes by, but his mic skills will never amount to his cousin's aka The Rock.
He'll always be decent on the mic, with a couple of decent promos here and there. I could be wrong here.
Although, if all of the superstars had free reign over their promos, then we'd see how that one would go.
But, micromanaging being the WWE's 'thing' and all, I'm afraid I've got some bad news...
As far as the other talent covering his weaknesses, well... Ambrose, Wyatt and Rollins would be perfect here, heck, even Rusev, in my opinion.
Another difference between the one Undertaker 'grew up' in and the one Reigns is swimming in right now, would be age and experience.
I don't know Reigns well enough, but Taker is big on respect and had lesser and greater workers around him with far more age and experience.
Right now, there isn't a great deal of talent for Reigns to truly draw from. Big Show, Kane and Jericho each work 50-75% year around.
Reigns, the person may not be the sponge Taker was ready to receive direction and advice from those around him (who aren't exactly legend in their own right).
Taker worked with Snuka, King Kong Bundy, Jake Roberts, Hogan, Flair, Angle and Bret Hart.
Those guys were already established and traveling up and down the road with Taker each night. He learned a bunch.
Yeah, I guess that's another valid point.
But I'm pretty sure there are some people Reigns could learn from. Just like you said, it's pretty much up to Reigns - the person, if he's willing to receive direction from those around him.
We'll see, though.
Of course, he could screw all this up and just become another Batista. I'd love that. Heel Batista is f*cking fabulous.
I loved it when Batista clearly didn't want to be there, when all I wanted was for him to stay there.
Allow Reigns to spread his wings as a face and if he turns out to be a d*ck the way I know he is deep in his heart, then let him be a p*nis.
It took time for Batista to become a diva, but when he finally came out of the closet, I couldn't stop watching.
It won't happen, but I want it to. Rollins is a heel-knipping heel, an opportunist.
Starting at 5:00, watch Batista explain his actions. He says nothing, sits on a turnbuckle, climbs out of the ring, walks around, got back in, was about to speak only to drop the mic on the ground and kept his hand open for about 10 seconds after that..... he then walked out, walked up the ramp, walked back to the ring, picked up the mic and only to drop it again. THIS is heat.
I loved it when Batista clearly didn't want to be there, when all I wanted was for him to stay there.
Allow Reigns to spread his wings as a face and if he turns out to be a d*ck the way I know he is deep in his heart, then let him be a p*nis.
It took time for Batista to become a diva, but when he finally came out of the closet, I couldn't stop watching.
It won't happen, but I want it to. Rollins is a heel-knipping heel, an opportunist.
Starting at 5:00, watch Batista explain his actions. He says nothing, sits on a turnbuckle, climbs out of the ring, walks around, got back in, was about to speak only to drop the mic on the ground and kept his hand open for about 10 seconds after that..... he then walked out, walked up the ramp, walked back to the ring, picked up the mic and only to drop it again. THIS is heat.
I'd have changed the channel after the first drop.
Reigns has the IT factor, and is going to be shoved down our throats something furious. Expect him to go over Lesnar, Rock, HHH, and Cena all in the next 18-24 months. Not great on the mic, but doesn't have to be. He was meant to be like Cesaro, Swag, and tons of other stars who don't say shit but get the job done. No charisma on the mic, do we care?
The issue is that WWE will obviously push him to use mic time every RAW, and it will lead to an Orton-esque deal. Orton sucks on the mic imo, but he has the type to rock face or heel, it just depends on how he is used.
I personally don't like him, nor do i like the fact that his looks get him to where he is. There is plenty of talent that could replace him in both wrestling and charisma.
The thing about thin ice though is that no matter how long you ride it, eventually it will crack and turn into water. Let's see how he does in the near future.
The thing about thin ice though is that no matter how long you ride it, eventually it will crack and turn into water. Let's see how he does in the near future.
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