WrestleMania 32: 12 Booking Steps For John Cena vs. Roman Reigns

While he was getting manhandled by the Authority alongside Cena, Reigns kept improving his in-ring work. Realizing that there’s more to putting on a match than his usual power moves, Reigns realizes he needs to learn to do a lot of different things, and do more than just throw Superman punches and hit a Spear.

Over the second half of 2015, Reigns begins having better and better matches, which leads to fans getting behind him more. He begins to use a wide variety of different maneuvers and starts using more ring psychology, which leads to his matches becoming more dramatic and less one-sided. He even begins to speak more naturally, which really amplifies his ability to connect with the crowd.

When he gets defeated, he sells the offense more realistically, and instead of this cocky babyface who’s always ahead of the Authority, Reigns becomes more of a sympathetic character who just keeps fighting and tries to overcome the odds.

By the end of the year, Reigns is much more comfortable both in the ring and on the microphone, and he has much more fan support. Finally, to cement his transformation and improvement, at TLC, he debuts a new finisher which, brings him far more success and makes him a more legitimate Superstar: the Vertical Suplex Side Slam.