5 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Payback 2017

2. Sympathy Is Earned

roman reigns
WWE.com

Channeling Ken Shamrock (in this vein) is going to earn you a “down” automatically. Biting on blood packets and spitting up blood was the World’s Most Dangerous Man’s gimmick, but Roman Reigns looks to have appropriated it.

Reigns went into his Payback match against Braun Strowman at well less than 100%, with a (storyline) separated shoulder, bruised ribs and (waif for it) internal injuries. By the end, Reigns was flat on his back looking up at the lights, battered and ineffective. Then Braun brought steel steps into the ring and abused Roman some more.

Fans started chanting, “Thank you Strowman” for obliterating Reigns, leaving him with blood coming from his mouth. Backstage after the PPV, he was handed a blood capsule or packet and spit it up on camera to really drive the point home. But none of that really helped build sympathy for Reigns… at least, not because WWE throws these obstacles on his path to becoming a four-time world champ and/or the dominant force on Raw.

Sorry Roman (and WWE), you have to earn sympathy, not manipulate it from us.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.