10 Facts To Silence The Roman Reigns Critics
9. He CAN Wrestle
This is where pure, selective bias creeps in.
Roman Reigns is often the recipient of the dreaded "You can't wrestle!" chants, suddenly held in unfair comparison to a Dean Malenko or a Rey Mysterio. Reigns is a power guy, fundamentally. He doesn't trade submissions and perform countless majestic aerials because it would betray the psychology that informs his character. If he did, then you could make the argument that he doesn't know how to wrestle. He performs the same moves because A) every wrestler does, to an extent and B) it's all a guy of his presence and power should need, at least initially. It's only when his character is challenged and becomes desperate that he deviates from that strategy, by smashing opponents with spears through the barricade and his frankly jaw-dropping over the top rope plancha to put the match over as a proper contest. He can tell stories in the ring. He isn't Jinder Mahal, typecast as a chickensh*t heel. He used power to escape the looming technical threat of Daniel Bryan at Fastlane 2015. Opposite The Big Show at Extreme Rules 2015, he used guts en route to glory in a match that proved he didn't require carrying. He conveyed an authentic brawling nous at TLC 2015 in a unique TLC bout opposite Sheamus in the titular 2015 headliner.
Braun Strowman can't wrestle, by the same logic, and he doesn't receive the "You can't wrestle!" treatment. That would shatter the false narrative.