Why Vince McMahon Won't Push Roman Reigns

It's been their biggest week in years, but WWE have barely let 'The Big Dog' out.

Vince McMahon Roman Reigns
WWE.com

It can't have escaped your attention that this has been the week to be a North American wrestling fan in 2019.

WWE have nearly concluded their "Premiere Week", a set of shows designed to hype new sets, new commentators and in SmackDown's case, a brand new network. There's a lot of style over substance on the main shows because the company can't magic incredible booking and matches from pre-existing stories that range from rotten (Rusev blows, his wife blows Bobby Lashley) to riveting (Seth Rollins is absolutely f*cked when he faces The Fiend), but an abundance of pyro, promos and The goddamn Rock were reasonable flexings of WWE's marketing muscle.

All Elite Wrestling launched their weekly show Dynamite on TNT, still steadfastly promising to "Change The World" with a new brand of professional wrestling that looks suspiciously like several old versions combined into something that could eventually be viable. As a two-hour telecast, the new era of NXT on USA Network resulted in one of the finest ever single episodes of wrestling television ever...and were pounded into the dirt by the new juggernaut when the ratings were revealed.

There's lots of talk of legends and wars and ratings and literally billions of dollars and it's all really exciting. Really - it genuinely can't have escaped your attention that this is the week to be a North American wrestling fan in 2019. Unless you're a Roman Reigns fan. And isn't that a bit odd?

CONT'D...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett