Broken Road to Wrestlemania: Part 5
Truth be told, Roman Reigns as WWE world heavyweight champion was always the plan.
His family lineage is well documented and we all know his cousin is the Rock, but what you should really know is, Roman Reigns is the future of the WWE.
Reigns was handpicked by Vince McMahon to be his next big superstar, and honestly, who could blame him. 6'3, 265, strong as an ox, athletic, and the looks of a superstar the ladies would love. To the eye, Reigns has it all.
Reigns was trained in Florida Championship Wrestling and later was on the inaugural NXT roster. His in ring ability was always limited at best, but a perfect formula got Reigns "over" to a top the level. His weaknesses were hidden, and his positives spotlighted. No better way to do that, than in a tag team.
Reigns wasn't put in just any tag team, he was put in the Shield. The Shield was comprised of Reigns and two former Independent wrestling standouts, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. The Shield were called up to the main roster and immediately feuding with main eventers. They always got the best of the top talent they faced, and they never lost any matches clean. They were booked strong, and nobody was booked any stronger than Roman Reigns.
Reigns would get tagged in, do his signature moves, which included a few clotheslines, a superman punch, a spear and the Shield's finishing move, a triple power bomb. Whenever he hit the ring, he was dominant, and the crowd loved him. It was brilliant. Reigns was not overexposed, and the little the crowd saw of him, was action packed and allowed him to look like a million bucks.
So much so that at one point the Shield were supposed to break up in January of 2014, but they were so popular with the fans, Vince decided to keep them together until June. Reigns was getting a hell of a following and at the Royal Rumble 2014, he dominated, eliminating 12 guys, the 2nd most in history. Although he lost, the seeds were planted for the future run Vince had in mind.
The Plan
As we discussed in part 4, the plan was for Brock Lesnar to dominate the Undertaker, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena in his three contracted wrestling dates for 2014. Bryan's injury changed the plan slightly, as the match with Cena had to be moved up to Summerslam and Brock wrestled Cena with his 3rd date at Night of Champions as well. All the while, Reigns was lined up with feuds with Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and the Big Show.
On paper, the plan was good. Both Brock and Reigns would win their feuds, all while staying apart, building up a huge confrontation at Wrestlemania 31. It all made great sense.
Well, in the wrestling business, there is one thing every promoter must take into account when making long term booking plans. Give the people what they want, not what you want.
The Problem
Reigns got hurt, which took him off TV. Brock was rarely on TV. So the weekly TV show was focused on Dean Ambrose, John Cena, and Seth Rollins. When Reigns returned, he feuded with the Big Show, in slow plodding, boring matches. Smh. Nobody wanted to see that. Also, Reign's promos were the absolute worst. They gave him lines out of the old Batman TV show and he said phrases like succotash. Completely corny, and it turned off the demographic of male viewers who he should have captured as fans. It was a disaster.
But the nail that completely closed Reigns casket was when they brought back Daniel Bryan before the Royal Rumble. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Check back tomorrow for part 6, as we look at the latest hostile fan takeover of a WWE PPV, which led to Vince changing his plan, only to really never change it at all.
His family lineage is well documented and we all know his cousin is the Rock, but what you should really know is, Roman Reigns is the future of the WWE.
Reigns was handpicked by Vince McMahon to be his next big superstar, and honestly, who could blame him. 6'3, 265, strong as an ox, athletic, and the looks of a superstar the ladies would love. To the eye, Reigns has it all.
Reigns was trained in Florida Championship Wrestling and later was on the inaugural NXT roster. His in ring ability was always limited at best, but a perfect formula got Reigns "over" to a top the level. His weaknesses were hidden, and his positives spotlighted. No better way to do that, than in a tag team.
Reigns wasn't put in just any tag team, he was put in the Shield. The Shield was comprised of Reigns and two former Independent wrestling standouts, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. The Shield were called up to the main roster and immediately feuding with main eventers. They always got the best of the top talent they faced, and they never lost any matches clean. They were booked strong, and nobody was booked any stronger than Roman Reigns.
Reigns would get tagged in, do his signature moves, which included a few clotheslines, a superman punch, a spear and the Shield's finishing move, a triple power bomb. Whenever he hit the ring, he was dominant, and the crowd loved him. It was brilliant. Reigns was not overexposed, and the little the crowd saw of him, was action packed and allowed him to look like a million bucks.
So much so that at one point the Shield were supposed to break up in January of 2014, but they were so popular with the fans, Vince decided to keep them together until June. Reigns was getting a hell of a following and at the Royal Rumble 2014, he dominated, eliminating 12 guys, the 2nd most in history. Although he lost, the seeds were planted for the future run Vince had in mind.
The Plan
As we discussed in part 4, the plan was for Brock Lesnar to dominate the Undertaker, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena in his three contracted wrestling dates for 2014. Bryan's injury changed the plan slightly, as the match with Cena had to be moved up to Summerslam and Brock wrestled Cena with his 3rd date at Night of Champions as well. All the while, Reigns was lined up with feuds with Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and the Big Show.
On paper, the plan was good. Both Brock and Reigns would win their feuds, all while staying apart, building up a huge confrontation at Wrestlemania 31. It all made great sense.
Well, in the wrestling business, there is one thing every promoter must take into account when making long term booking plans. Give the people what they want, not what you want.
The Problem
Reigns got hurt, which took him off TV. Brock was rarely on TV. So the weekly TV show was focused on Dean Ambrose, John Cena, and Seth Rollins. When Reigns returned, he feuded with the Big Show, in slow plodding, boring matches. Smh. Nobody wanted to see that. Also, Reign's promos were the absolute worst. They gave him lines out of the old Batman TV show and he said phrases like succotash. Completely corny, and it turned off the demographic of male viewers who he should have captured as fans. It was a disaster.
But the nail that completely closed Reigns casket was when they brought back Daniel Bryan before the Royal Rumble. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Check back tomorrow for part 6, as we look at the latest hostile fan takeover of a WWE PPV, which led to Vince changing his plan, only to really never change it at all.