Lets state this upfront: If WWE felt like it had to bring in the Rock to offset anticipated negative backlash against Roman Reigns, thats a major sign that having him win the Rumble is the wrong move. Period. This isnt about the fact that Bryan should have won the Rumble, this is about sending Reigns out to get verbally crucified by the fans. You really have to feel for Roman, who is a talented star who should have a bright future in WWE. But instead of bringing him along smartly and letting him grow into a huge star, WWE is trying to strap a rocket to him and its failing miserably. Weve already seen his awful promos, and he hasnt had a really good one-on-one match yet. Sunday, the next major cracks in the armor came when Reigns won the Rumble despite fans overwhelmingly turning on the supposed babyface. And while this happened in front of the notoriously tough and smart Philly fans, this isnt going to be an isolated incident. No amount of damage control is going to offset the hatred Roman will likely receive because hes being pushed down fans throats. The only thing you can hope for as a fan is that the venom is really directed through Reigns at WWE brass and that Roman gets another chance to truly shine, because it wouldnt be fair for him to be written off due to the companys tone deafness.
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.
