Instead of developing a reputation from outside the company, Reigns was brought in as a prospect that we were told immediately to look out for. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it is indicative of WWE’s mentality of telling fans what to think instead of letting them develop their own opinions.
He, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were indeed able to become very popular as The Shield, and everything seemed to be going well, but somewhere along the way, it became glaringly obvious that WWE wanted to make him the top guy, and not everybody was on board with that. Admittedly, some of that animosity seemed to have come from people who preferred Ambrose or Rollins and thought Reigns had the look, but not the in-ring or mic skills to warrant his position over the others.
Rather than taking that criticism and applying some changes to the formula to fix them, WWE doubled down on what was already there. He was the one to keep the music and the ring attire from The Shield, while Rollins and Ambrose were left to fend for themselves. In retrospect, that was better for them, as they established different identities and fans could see them as evolving, while Reigns was stuck in a loop.
When Bryan had gotten flat, he and Kane turned into Team Hell No. He played both a heel and a face. Sometimes he was a coward. Sometimes he had a lot of heart. Hell, he even did a love story angle with both Bella Twins, Gail Kim AND AJ Lee.
Meanwhile, Reigns has remain steadfast as the same exact tough guy he’s been since day one, prompting more doubters that he could be trusted as the top of the food chain.
Bryan had scratched and clawed his way to the world title with several disappointments along the trip, whereas Reigns has had a career of instances like winning the Intercontinental Championship just so they could strike that off the list of accolades, breaking Kane’s Royal Rumble elimination record, being one of only two people to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania (in what seemed like his retirement match) and holding a world title three times while consistently being booked strong.
There’s no underdog story to tell here, and it’s baffling WWE thinks there is!
In what world is he being kept down when he loses to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, but immediately gets another rematch? This is a match, mind you, that he is shown to win—to prove the point that he is great to any doubters who were disappointed from Mania—and instead of getting any actual controversy out of being called the loser of the match, WWE undercuts it the very next night by having the referee apologize and acknowledge that Reigns is the rightful winner.
Then, just to make sure if you thought for a minute that he wasn’t capable of beating anybody at any point, just because of those two technical losses, Backlash ended with the horrendous match where he defeated Samoa Joe—someone who does have fan support, despite being a heel, has accomplished nothing on the main roster, and desperately needs to get some big wins. It was more important that Reigns got a win to illustrate that he isn’t weak just in case anybody thought that.
An underdog story like Daniel Bryan’s was a story of a guy people wanted to see win, but was being held back. You can’t have that with someone who the fans DON’T want to see win, but does.
Next Page: Roman Reigns Isn’t Daniel Bryan & Never Will Be (cont.)
