8 Ups & 13 Downs For WWE In 2021
1. Roman Reigns
There are two sides to the Roman Reigns: Universal Champion story, and it’s time for the positive one. Even with a few caveats, it's impossible not to acknowledge all that he does.
For better or worse, nobody could have done this job in WWE at the moment - or certainly nobody as well.
Reigns performs with such incredible menace that he goes some way to smashing the theory that weekly episodic monsters can’t really exist. He wrestles like a hybrid powerhouse but his aura is that of a seven foot super heavyweight. He doesn’t tolerate sh*t despite working in a universe smeared in it. He doesn't lose ever (not even when he could justify the odd one or two) in an organisation where even the winners are booked more to "steal" their successes than earn them.
He's a rule-proving exception that should in fact be the f*cking rule, but it's to his credit that he remains that way regardless. A WrestleMania crowning of a brand new star in his stead feels more mythical than topical, but that's not Reigns' problem.
Not yet, anyway.