10 Facts To Silence The Roman Reigns Critics
2. He Is A Megastar
Several factors have converged to make it so - favourable and persistent booking, his own hard work and progression, counterproductive and vociferous fan sentiment - but Roman Reigns is a star.
The idea that he isn't - that WWE desperately wants you to think he's a star, but he isn't - is contradicted every single week. There is something about him. He projects star power and magnetism; if he didn't, he would repel live crowds, and the volume would reduce into apathy. It isn't purely dissent, either; even the lengthiest Reigns matches generate a sustained crowd buzz, which heightens with the exchange of the big moves. The reaction seems involuntary at times - like his charisma literally cannot be denied. Reigns works crowds into a state of excitement better than the vast majority of his apparently superior peers. Contrast that with Jinder Mahal - an act WWE desperately wants you to think is a star, but isn't. Mahal's matches might as well take place in the catacombs of a ghost town.
Reigns is also the biggest full-time merchandise draw in the company. You can actually measure how over he is when traditional metrics are harder to gauge than ever.