5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 30)

2. Roman’s Overall Confidence

The entrance, the way he laughed at Cena impersonators in the front row, the poise, the continuity jokes about missionary position that linked back to last week - everything about Roman Reigns is working at the minute. He is, by quite some margin, the best character in pro wrestling today.

If anything, Reigns is even better in front of a live crowd.

The 'Tribal Chief' has a stunning ability to appear aloof and dismissive without properly taking a dump all over potential opponents. For example, he put Finn Bálor over as a huge threat to the Universal Title but made sure to say he'd "smash [him] and send [him] back to NXT" if he signed that contract.

Behold a headliner who is comfortable in his own skin, maybe for the first time. Roman knows he's killing it, and he's aware that fans are in on the fun. This isn't contrived, pavlovian-style heat. It's not even forced one bit. Reigns is in his element, and so are crowds when they're booing him.