5 Ups And Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 5th)

1. Not A Good Start For The Roman Empire

All signs point to Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble later this month, heading to WrestleMania and winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. If Reigns is indeed the next big thing, then he is going to need some help fast. First, Reigns€™ interview with Renee Young contained everything that is wrong with him right now: the hokey Superman analogy written for him, the smug look, the hair flip and the pursed lips at the end. Roman looked more like he was trying to get women to squeal than he was going to destroy Big Show. Reigns is at his most effective when he succinctly says that he is here to decimate. No posing, no vamping, no trying to get a reaction, because the reaction will come naturally. Compare Reigns€™ promo to the Bray Wyatt one that immediately followed. In promoting his ambulance match with Dean Ambrose, Wyatt closed his talk by saying that the devil €œis suffering, he is pain. And tonight he walks beside me. RUN.€ The match itself against Big Show also was a bad call, with a lengthy segment of Reigns getting beaten down, having to sell for Show for what seemed like the vast majority of the match, before Show got himself disqualified. If Roman Reigns is going to main event WrestleMania in three months, then he needs to mow through people like Big Show, not selling beatings for more than half a match. He could have a competitive match with Show, but he should be able to plow through him, especially if Reigns is supposed to take on Brock Lesnar at Mania.