10 Must-See Matches, Moments, And Segments From WWE This Week
7. Roman Reigns Wins The Mid-Card Title…Two Years Too Late?
Roman Reigns is hardly a mid-card act: that much has been continually reinforced since he returned from his Wellness Policy suspension. Though never winning the top prize or even a match to earn a shot at it on PPV since losing the Shield Triple Threat in July, Reigns has continued to factor heavily into the main-event scene on Raw.
Yet, now he finds himself the United States Champion, having defeated Rusev at Clash of Champions, seemingly on the brink of another month of feuding with the Bulgarian Brute considering the way that their rematch on Raw ended.
Add “representative of the United States of America” to the growing list of ways that WWE has attempted to get Reigns over as a babyface since The Shield dissolved in 2014. It was almost comical in the beginning because of how far outside of Roman’s hard-hitting, cool-demeanor comfort zone he was pushed (see “Sufferin’ succotash, son”); it remains almost comical because now WWE is attempting a trick from the 1980s – figuratively drape the man in the red, white, and blue and dare people to boo him.
It has been generally agreed upon that Reigns would have been best served to have a mid-card title run in 2014 or 2015 before his main-event ascent, so it is surreal to see him moving backwards to the US Title in 2016 in an apparent attempt to move him forwards.