6 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Clash Of Champions 2016

3. The Roman Reigns Charade

Almost none of this is Roman Reigns' fault. He is but a solid wrestler who happens to have a look that Vince McMahon loves, and has thus been made subject to one of the most misguided babyface pushes in WWE history. His Clash of Champions match was a basic but enjoyable showdown that, like everything else Reigns does, was rendered a farce by his miscast role.

Reigns was jeered, and Rusev, the anti-American monster heel, was cheered and chanted for. It's the same story every time the Samoan steps into the ring, but if WWE haven't acted by this point, they're likely never going to. They've handed Roman so poorly that crowds are actively rooting for the company's most obvious boogeyman to succeed against him, and that's a huge problem.

A section of the crowd had started cheering for him by the match's conclusion, but the guy exudes obnoxiousness, and it's tough to tell what a United States title reign does for him. The whole situation reeks of Rusev's US Title run-ins with John Cena throughout 2015, and when Reigns celebrated with his new belt, it was hard not to hark back to the disastrous three-month period that the Bulgarian Brute has never truly recovered from.