This isn’t about Joe Anoaʻi, the man who plays Roman Reigns.
Or maybe it is. In fact, unless it is, it’s difficult to see how the way WWE is presenting Reigns right now is supposed to change anyone’s mind about the character a loud percentage of the people in the Superdome didn’t have much interest in seeing in WrestleMania 34’s main event on April 8.
Since he lost to Brock Lesnar in the last match of the night at The Showcase of The Immortals, we’ve heard rumors Vince McMahon decided to deviate from the plan to have Reigns win the Universal Title only days before ‘Mania, then saw Roman deliver a worked shoot promo feeding into those rumors.
Other than that, The Guy has relied on the same lines he used on the way to F5 City: Brock’s a part-timer, while he’s there all the time. If those didn’t convince detractors to join The Roman Empire before, why does anyone think they’ll work now, with the added disadvantage of having a guy who sounds like a real badass in Samoa Joe interrupting him to remind everyone Lesnar beat him down in New Orleans? Do the writers really think Reigns calling Joe “fat” will sway people who weren’t impressed the first time he used those arguments?
The only possible explanation I can think of is this... Vince and company believe presenting Roman as vulnerable will further endear The Big Dog to his ride-or-die supporters, while gaining real life sympathy for the performer behind the character from enough “smart” fans to turn stadiums full of boos into, at a minimum, the 50/50 reaction John Cena often gets.
Let us know what you think, and check out the video above from the team of Cain A. Knight and Stephanie Hatala for another perspective on sad Romey.
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