5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Oct 8)

2. Roman Reigns Forces The Issue

Roman Reigns Paul Heyman
WWE.com

It's the little things that make Roman Reigns stand out from the crowd.

The way he palmed off those "Suplex City" chants to talk about his own "Island Of Relevancy" was a thing of beauty. Also, the way he raised Paul Heyman's head so he could look into his 'Wise Man's' eyes as Paul scrambled to explain Brock Lesnar's free agency in the Draft was amazing.

A few folks on Twitter referred to this as a functional segment. That's true, but functional is good when the performances are this tightly focused and well-executed. Brock was never going to be there every single week for the build to Crown Jewel, so the onus falls on Reigns, The Usos and Heyman to deliver.

They did exactly that here. Nobody should ever discount how commanding a presence Reigns has become since turning heel - if anything, he's excelling even more since live crowds returned to the stands too. This was just another example of that poise.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.