10 Facts To Silence The Roman Reigns Critics
Believe them.
WWE eviscerated the Roman Reigns character on this week's RAW.
It was astonishing stuff. John Cena, ahead of their match at No Mercy, was directed to assassinate him. "[The crowd] go back and forth with you," Cena said, "because when they look at you they see what I see: a cheap-a**, corporately-created John Cena bootleg. This chump right here, he ain't The Guy. He's just a guy. A guy trying so desperately to fill shoes that you never will." Cena even buried the d*mn Undertaker to underscore the message. "Listen carefully, young man: I'm not the Undertaker. I'm not a battered veteran at the end of his career with a bad hip. I am the fastest, strongest and hungriest I have ever been in my entire life - and the reason you won't sign that [contract] is because you know, if you do, your Roman Empire"...
Cena then blew figurative dust from his fingers. It might as well have been Reigns' ashes. He didn't so much bury him as burn him alive.
Sympathy ploy? Pressure test? Involuntary, counterproductive fit? Regardless of the intention, it reinforced everything the fans think about the character. But how accurate is that perception?
10. He CAN Talk
Roman Reigns is a far better promo than many would have you believe. It's strange. Even John Cena accused Reigns of being a John Cena clone on this week's RAW. He selectively ignored the fact that Reigns is scripted to use words with the same brutal economy as his in-ring arsenal in 2017.
On the post-WrestleMania RAW, Reigns conducted the orchestra of drunks with the manipulation of a master. He raised the microphone to his mouth in parallel with their toxic volume. He lowered it to yet more jeers. He raised it to yet more. He signed off a psychological masterclass with four heartbreaking words to the nostalgic hardcores interrupted from their Undertaker tribute reverie: "It's my yard now."
He no glibly longer recites fairytales to The Big Show with dismal comedic timing. He shows up. He demands what he has earned. He speaks with a measured calm and a low-key hilarious bitterness. The character is shown to have reacted to his perception, and has subtly delighted in trolling the naysayers. You can imagine the guy onscreen is the same guy owning Twitter trolls on the regular. He doesn't suck up to crowds. He isn't a John Cena clone. Finally, there's some authenticity about him.
Wasn't that the problem?