There are countless examples from the past decade where Roman Reigns was scripted and booked to talk and act so impossibly annoying that it's amazing the company weren't aiming for rank polarisation from the very beginning.
The nadir of his microphone missteps came as he prepared to tackle Sheamus for the WWE Title at December 2015's TLC pay-per-view. Apparently no longer incensed by Sheamus' robbery of his prize at the culmination of Survivor Series' one-night tournament, Roman instead referred to the Irish star's genitals as "tater tots". Over and over and over and over again.
The promo itself was a torturous watch. Reigns smirking and chuckling at his own joke was excruciating, and as a star-making vehicle, it catastrophically failed the pair of them.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
