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Do they tell Roman Reigns NOT to use more moves?

9K views 49 replies 39 participants last post by  Kostic 
#1 ·
One of the common criticisms of Roman Reigns is his very limited moveset. Punch, punch, punch, kick, kick, kick, jumping clothesline, corner clothesline, Samoan drop, basement dropkick, Superman punch, Spear. That's pretty much it. Every once in a while you may see him do a powerbomb or a tilt-a-whirl slam, but it's been ages since I last saw him do that. I don't remember the last time he did that suicide dive too.

And if you take a look at his matches in developmental, he's not AJ Styles but the guy has such a bigger variety of moves he uses. I'm talking dropkicks (regular, not basement), elbow drops, running crossbody, spinning back elbow and some submissions such as full nelson and rear naked choke.

It's obvious that the problem isn't him not being able to do these moves. We've seen him do them, and the guy is pretty athletic. But for whatever reason, he either doesn't want to, or is instructed not to do them. I mean, freakin Braun Strowman does a dropkick now every match, and Roman Reigns, who actually has a great leap, never does them?

Is it because he's a "brawler" so they tell him not to do athletic moves?
 
#2 ·
IMO, the guy has a fine moveset. It plays to his strengths with his power and athleticism and in big matches with the right opponents he'll break out a couple of moves he doesn't use that often.

People IMO harp too much on movesets. It's not the amount of moves you do, it's getting the most out of the ones you do. AJ Styles doesn't even do as much as he possibly could in a normal match but he executes them perfectly. That's what matters.

The only thing I'd change is his use of the Superman Punch and Spear. They're 2 very similar moves, and to use one as a set up move and one as a finisher doesn't look right to me.
 
#10 ·
He doesn't need loads of moves.

To quote Raven 'I only had about 4 or 5 moves and I considered sitting down in the corner to be one of them'.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I dont know. Maybe, but I doubt it.

The main problem that I have with your premise here is that you point to moves he did in developmental but doesnt do any more, then you speculate about whether the company is limiting him. If movesets in developmental is what we are going on, you could ask your same questionabout a ton of guys.

Rollins did a bunch of moves in developmental that he no longer does. So did Ambrose. A bunch of guys did a litany of moves in developmental that dont really do anymore. Why not ask if they are being limited?
 
#13 ·
I dont know. Maybe, but I doubt it.

The main problem that I have with your premise here is that you point to moves he did in developmental but doesnt do any more, then you speculate about whether the company is limiting him. If movesets in developmental is what we are going on, you could ask your same questionabout a ton of guys.

Rollins did a bunch of moves in developmental that he no longer does. So does Ambrose. A bunch of guys did a litany of moves in developmental that dont really do anymore. Why not ask if they are being limited?
Everyone is being limited, it's how WWE operates. Look at any former indie guy before he came to WWE and you'll see a bunch of moves. The problem is, they will strip away the exciting, yet risky and dangerous moves to create their WWE safe style. But here I'm talking about simple shit like a dropkick, or a vertical suplex. It's like if they told Seth Rollins, "hey don't ever do an enzuigiri anymore". It's a rather simple move that looks pretty good, so why would they do that?

He doesn't need loads of moves.

To quote Raven 'I only had about 4 or 5 moves and I considered sitting down in the corner to be one of them'.
Yeah but that makes sense if you can compensate for it, or if your 4/5 moves are so iconic that you simply don't need anymore. Randy Orton has the RKO, the draping DDT, and the scoop powerslam. Everything else is filler. But damn, does the crowd pop huge for every one of these moves. Brock Lesnar nowadays hits only suplexes and knees, but the crowd is loving it and chants Suplex City and whatnot. Nobody is gonna do the same for Reigns' freakin clothesline. The most they do is count his corner clotheslines. But it's not like he has some real exciting moves that captivate the crowd and make it unnecessary for him to add more.
 
#6 ·
I'm not a guy who says somebody needs a diverse move set. Many Wrestlers throughout history have done great work with less.

That being said, it is odd that he really does have nothing of value to help him tell a story inside the ring given how limited he is.

Cena, Taker, Austin, and Rock all added different styles and added to their arsenal over time. He is still green, so hopefully over time he will add on a bit. As of now his matches come off as more of him selling until he gets to his spots.
 
#11 ·
All the wrestlers have a 6 moves of doom that Vince & Co. want done in every match. They will also limit the moves someone can do for various reasons such as Face/Heel alignment, the type of match they want it to be, injuries, etc. It also depends on the comfort and familiarity the wrestlers have with each other.
 
#21 ·
It's not the amount of moves you have but how you use them.

Austin, Hogan, Rock didn't have a gazillion moves but they know how to use them effectively. It's about in-ring psychology.

Rock/Hogan is a classic example. It maybe had 6 individual moves in 15 minutes but it was the psychology of the match which got it over.
 
#14 ·
Name me someone on the WWE roster who does more than 4-5 moves ?

Unless in PPV somethimes, everyone is on the same boat.
 
#15 ·
i think its insane that some of you excuse his moveset which is the absolute bare minimum. i mean c'mon cant he add atleast 3 moves? he does 0 submissing moves and does no grapple moves. its pathetic and the face some of you are ok with it (the same fans who wwe serves crap on a plate too and love it) is pathetic.
 
#18 ·
To be honest, in WWE, pretty much any wrestler uses a fraction of their potential moveset except when it comes to the headline matches, if you break out everything in every match, then the big moves lose their effectiveness. It also largely depends on the guys he's wrestling (E.G he's not likely to do the deadlift powerbomb or the black tiger bomb while wrestling someone like Strowman)

That said, Reigns' matches when he's not using these moves to tend to be tiresome due to the amount of clotheslines he uses.
 
#27 ·
I doubt his lack of moves is do to do with him. Probs so they can take less risks with him. He does do the superman punch a bit much but other then that he is good in the ring. His ring work is far from a problem and it is about how you do the moves not how many
 
#29 ·
Umm...every single wrestler in WWE has a limited moveset. Its the style. Why do people shit on Roman/Cena for this when everyone is quiclty of it? Even the likes of Angle, HBK, Styles, Hart, etc have their "5 moves of doom" and limited movesets for TV matches.
 
#30 ·
WWE has always done this. They like their guys to have a limited but recognisable moveset for most matches. They want the fans to be familiar with the comeback sequence and trademark spots. I'd also imagine the wrestlers themselves would like to save some stuff for big matches and not give everything away at once. It sells the importance of a PPV title shot if you see somebody bust out a rarely used move or two.
 
#32 ·
I believe they tell him what moves to use, and what not to. In NXT, wrestlers can pretty much do whatever moves they want, but when they get to Raw, they are limited in what they can and cannot do.

For example, when The Road Warriors made their way to the WWF, they were told not to use the gorilla press slam, since that was The Ultimate Warrior's move.

John Morrison also said he can do a lot more in Lucha Underground because WWE wouldn't let him do certain moves, since they were deemed as being too dangerous.
 
#34 ·
If I were to try to fix Roman Reigns the first thing I would do his work on his conditioning. Dude should be hitting the treadmill..especially since he wants to be known "as the big dog" and shit...hard to be the "big dog" if you spend half the match sleeping and the other 48% in head locks.

Id teach him to do some basic power moves and to use them more often. He doesnt need a huge move set but some more power moves would just fit well. A triple powerbomb would be cool or something.

Id also work on his mic skills. He is just unlikable and you can literally see him trying to remember what to say. Id have him do like a toastmasters course and then maybe some stage acting classes. Id also let him never say more than 5 words at a time. Give him a decent catch phrase too.

He then should work on being more cocky. He doesnt have to be bad, just be super cocky. No more screaming and shit, just smile after a superman punch or make a cocky expression.

Id have him eating apples all the time too. Nothing says cocky asshole more than a motherfucker eating an apple.

Then I would fire him because hes trash and annoys the fuck out of me and im sick of seeing him on my television.
 
#35 ·
They kinda tell everyone not to do more moves :draper2

The rational might be 1) they want the audiance to recognize the moves so they'll know when to cheer or 2) they think limiting who does what makes people's move sets more unique thereby making the whole show more exciting and less repeatitive...

Whatever the reason it's stupid and wrong.
 
#38 ·
It seems ALL of the guys have a specific moveset and the WWE rarely let them move away from that unless they are stealing each other's signature of finisher moves, there needs to more freedom in that sense as well.

Roman doesn't suffer from a lack of moves, i just don't happen to be a fan of the moves he does use. The Superman punch is the corniest move right now and it makes it worse that he "loads it up" and attempts it a few times every match.

Just like Cena used to have lots of random threads made about him Reigns is now the guy taking over. Lots of people still deny it but the smarks are helping to build a star for the future that they claim to hate. I wish they invested as much time in their favourites as they did with Reigns.
 
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