The Problem With Roman Reigns That Nobody Wants To Talk About

WWE, almost a full decade after Super John Cena peaked, has pushed a full-time talent with the utmost conviction.

This is what WWE fans were aching for amid so much oppressive part-timer 50/50 meaninglessness. WWE has allowed through Paul Heyman a big-time player to tap into his inner self. Reigns is now the Roman that Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho were mystified that WWE couldn't adapt onscreen. He is the cool guy you were told by people that would know was cool when you just couldn't believe it. Roman embodies the fundamental change fans were desperate for. WWE has done exactly what you asked them to do. The problem is that you asked them to do this in 2015, and it's 2021. The format - the same, ancient format WWE has operated under since 1999 - is predictable and deadening.

That he is able to transcend it some weeks by delivering compelling promos is far more impressive than it is entertaining, vital, must-see. WWE doesn't really do angles. They tell stories - emphasis on the tell - but within a low-energy standstill format heavy on recap, exposition and volleys of long conversation. That Roman Reigns excels at a dead format doesn't make the format any less dead. Roman is producing high-end, unfashionable work in a genre detached entirely from the zeitgeist. He's doing grunge in the 21st century. It's the same thing most weeks. Roman and Heyman talk, and talk very well, and are interrupted. A main event is set stemming from said opening segment. And on it goes.

WWE being WWE, these programmes go on and on too.

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