WWE’s 10 Worst Choke Artists

4. Roman Reigns

Sasha Banks Alexa Bliss
WWE

John Cena might have ordered 'The Big Dog' to learn how to cut a promo in order to hang with the main eventers during their tense Monday Night Raw standoff, but 'The Champ' may as well have reviewed the former Shield member's dalliances with the WWE Title as a better gage for his topline appeal.

It's been dwelled upon before, but for a man the company have been mind-numbingly desperate to elevate to Cena's level since 2014, WWE haven't half made things difficult.

Following The Shield's split, Roman Reigns quickly found himself orbiting the same 'split crowd' planet 'Big Match John' has effortlessly navigated for over a decade, but a host of failures at the highest level completely vindicated his haters. Reigns is a fiercely exciting in-ring competitor too, but like everything else about his presentation, threatens to get lost amongst some inexplicably bad booking.

After almost literally fighting with audiences to get him into the WrestleMania 31 main event, WWE booked him to take an ungodly sh*tkicking from Brock Lesnar and take a pin from Seth Rollins. His Survivor Series 2015 ascension was punctuated by a Sheamus Money In The Bank cash-in, which made him look stupid for not aligning with Triple H and the evil Authority. As it did when he lost his second title at 2016's Royal Rumble, despite not wrestling half of the match thanks to a poorly-conceived injury break.

Finally and conclusively the chosen one after downing 'The Game' in a rancid WrestleMania 32 show-closer, a Wellness failure knackered him yet again, and raised as-yet-unanswered question as to if he really is 'The Guy' at all.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 over 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 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana 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