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Roman Reigns needs a overhaul

13K views 114 replies 71 participants last post by  Lothario 
#1 · (Edited)
The crowd is just completely rejecting everything about him, and everything he does. He NEEDS to develope an actual character for himself because thats whats killing him imho. Drop the Shield Catchphrase, Drop the Shield Theme Song, Drop the Shield Outfits, Drop the Shield Entrance and stand out and form a character for yourself as Dean and Seth have. Carve out a slot for yourself and step out of the shadows of the Shield.

I'm not one of those people who just blindy hate him, and I see his potential to have a good future, but simply put THIS, just isn't working. No body wants to sit through 6 more months of Roman running through the Roster to a chorus of boo's with the same monotone look on his face. I DO believe he can succeed if they give him a major overhaul. Whether it's a heel turn, and letting him take on a new cocky/talented heel persona, or whatever, but he needs something to freshen him up.

He can be so much more, and better then he is now, but it's gonna take some work, and that work needs to start ASAP.

I sincerely hope they change alot of things with him both for his sake, and the mere sake of good television. Because if not, it's gonna be another year of completely the same.
 
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#17 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Also, the longer Reigns keeps this Shield reject gimmick, the more it ruins any Shield reunion down the road. If he's gonna keep the entrance, music and gear, then it stops it being special when all 3 do it in a couple of years.
 
#38 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Also, the longer Reigns keeps this Shield reject gimmick, the more it ruins any Shield reunion down the road. If he's gonna keep the entrance, music and gear, then it stops it being special when all 3 do it in a couple of years.
Good, I don't want to see a Shield reunion. Ambrose already looks bad enough, having to stand next to 2 former WWE Champions and be publicly acknowledged as the failure of the group (through no fault of his own, obviously) isn't something anybody needs to see.

Reigns needs to just go away, it's clear as day he doesn't have it, and don't give me that "he lacks experience" bullshit. There's plenty of guys who've turned in great results with that level of experience, by this point, he's basically peaked.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I saw what they did for him the day after that crazy ass kicking and went :ha

I just love how Vince manages to get everything wrong with him. This man can book something like last night's main event and that boss ass Lesnar segment tonight.

But couldn't be arsed to think of something meaningful for Roman to do. They legit had a perfect reset button for him. He could have came out during the night with some great character development and a segment to actually give people a reason to be interested.

There is an image from last night of Roman leaving the ring and he has his vest in his hand and looks like the world tore him down.

That would have been a perfect time to symbolically tear down what Roman used to be. Whoever he walked in as that night, got laid out in the ring by Lesnar. It was time for a new Roman who was an individual and much more himself than "lol let's have Cena clone".

I'm amazed how Vince just can't get it. How easy it is just book this man, but still screw the pooch. Even after Roman didn't win, Vince managed to screw him up the next night. Just how? :lol
 
#27 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I saw what they did for him the day after that crazy ass kicking and went :ha

I just love how Vince manages to get everything wrong with him. This man can book something like last night's main event and that boss ass Lesnar segment tonight.

But couldn't be arsed to think of something meaningful for Roman to do. They legit had a perfect reset button for him. He could have came out during the night with some great character development and a segment to actually give people a reason to be interested.

There is an image from last night of Roman leaving the ring and he has his vest in his hand and looks like the world tore him down.

That would have been a perfect time to symbolically tear down what Roman used to be. Whoever he walked in as that night, got laid out in the ring by Lesnar. It was time for a new Roman who was an individual and much more himself than "lol let's have Cena clone".

I'm amazed how Vince just can't get it. How easy it is just book this man, but still screw the pooch. Even after Roman didn't win, Vince managed to screw him up the next night. Just how? :lol
To me it's as if Vince thought "Maybe last night garner some sympathy for the guy, so tonight i will do jack shit to make people care about the guy at all since he survived Lesnar and that should be enough to get cheers."

Tonight he booked Reigns like the Wrestlemania main event never happened and he just shrugged it off yesterday's beating like it was nothing.
 
#10 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Rollins became his own man, is now champion and top heel, even though fans want to cheer for him

Ambrose became his own man and is consistently over as fuck even with horrible booking.

Reigns didn't evolve and is largely rejected by crowds, even super strong booking (possibly one of the strongest booked ever) can't get him over.


What was it HHH said? Evolve or perish.
 
#21 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

They shouldn't have hyped up a mystery partner and be it Reigns. The crowd was expecting a legitimate surprise and didn't get it. The WWE had an opportunity to get him cheered tonight, and THIS was a complete ass backwards way to try and do it.

He probably will "survive" in more casual cities, but the project may be beyond salvageable at this point. Might as well start brainstorming heel turn ideas at creative meetings...
 
#59 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I think they need to just pull the plug. Give someone else a chance. You know, someone people actually like.
This... really!

Just send him back to mid-card, let him feud with Rusev over Lana or something... just give that push to a more deserving wrestler that people will root for or at least be booed cause he is a heel not because he bore the sh*t out of everybody...
 
#57 · (Edited)
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I don't know why so many guys are surprised, though. I've been saying since he lost last night that the ball wasn't going to just stop. He's still in the main event picture and he will win the belt soon. There is no rebooting going to be done. Vince simply didn't want the biggest show of the year ending in a chorus of boos and pure, unfiltered hatred and resentment.

That cash in was to protect himself as much as it was to protect Roman. Nothing has changed, which is why I couldn't be overly elated with the booking decisions, and which is why he is still being heavily rejected, to the befuddlement of some of our IWC brethren who haven't been paying attention.

Vince is going balls deep. Barring financial ruin and/or ratings plummeting, Reigns is the guy going forward. I don't believe they understand the level of contempt people have for Roman and what he stands for. They slapped a band-aid on a bullet wound and no one will suffer more from their stubbornness than Roman Reigns himself. It's truly unfortunate because while he's not that caliber of entertainer yet, he has potential and could have been tremendous in that top spot if they had allowed it to happen organically.


If he gets the belt before Summerslam, I guarantee he'll be mid to lower mid-card at best this time next year. Vince wants him to be the man so bad that he's willing to walk through hell to achieve that means. They're sending him out to die by putting the belt on him this year and the kicker is when he finally crashes and burns and Vince concedes it isn't happening? He's going to look back at all the ruined main events, rating drops and the millions of $ wasted, point his finger at Joe Anoa'i, and bury in him in mid card purgatory for the duration of his career. The only man he will have to blame is himself, but the man is too proud to ever do so and Roman will fall on that sword as a consequence.

This is 'The Lex Express' and Diesel all over again. I don't get how they don't see that and persist on killing someones career who had amazing potential but will ultimately be considered collateral damage and a footnote in WWE lore alongside the Del Rio's and Sheamus' of the world a decade from now.
 
#7 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I agree. Crowd was so bored they didn't even bother to boo him. The fact that he was able to keep the music, attire, and catchphrase from the Shield while the other two had to find their own way speaks volumes about the crutches the wwe perceives him to need. If he developed something of his own it would really help him.
 
#11 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I agree. Crowd was so bored they didn't even bother to boo him.. The fact that he was able to keep the music, attire, and catchphrase from the Shield while the other two had to find their own way speaks volumes about the crutches the wwe perceives him to need. If he developed something of his own it would really help him.
They booed the hell outta him, the care enough to stop doing chants or making to wave just to start booing him.
 
#16 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I agree with everything except changing the Shield theme. The theme is fine, he just needs to come out of the Titantron and drop the vest. I don't want him to have a jobber theme like Seth. As for his character, all they have to do is let him vent his frustrations on the mic with no filter. Vince is just too much of a pussy to do it despite free reign always bringing desirable results to him in the past.
 
#24 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I agree with everything except changing the Shield theme. The theme is fine, he just needs to come out of the Titantron and drop the vest. I don't want him to have a jobber theme like Seth. As for his character, all they have to do is let him vent his frustrations on the mic with no filter. Vince is just too much of a pussy to do it despite free reign always bringing desirable results to him in the past.
In fairness if i was him I'd have more frustrations with WWE than the audience at this stage. They've had months now to try and fix this.

Why he came out tonight and did the exact same shit he's been doing for months in front of a hostile crowd as a babyface instead of working them and doing something different i just cannot comprehend.

All the audience are doing by rejecting his push is telling WWE to change his character. Generally speaking they don't have a personal vendetta against the guy.
 
#46 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Reigns needs to step away from the main event for a while. It won't take the heat off him completely but it will give him room to develop. While he and Lesnar told a story at Wrestlemania, it also provided a showcase to why Reigns isn't ready.

The fans don't buy him as the top man. He simply doesn't have the presence of a proper bad-ass especially next to a legit one like Lesnar. He has two moves. Even Cena had Five.

I think with time he can be built into the guy WWE want him to be. They've got Rollins as a great over heel. They've got Lesnar. They've got Bryan, Bray, Ziggler and Ambrose who the crowd want to go over. They've got Cena and Orton when they need an established star. Theres room to give Reigns time. He might have got over this time round without his injury last year. It hurt his momentum and he came back against momentum killer Big Show. There was no time to get behind him. It all felt forced and this has caused the backlash against him. No-one wants to lose their spot but if Reigns takes a step back he can end up in the position the company wants for him.

I would make sure hes booked to main event with Rollins at the next PPV if only because thats the current path. He goes up against Rollins and he fails. No excuses. He's too predictable for Rollins. He comes away and on the next Raw blames the fans. They distract him! Maybe one more match for the title. He loses and blames the fans. Heel turn. Have him monster anyone over with the crowd to punish them, Ziggler, Ryback, maybe allow him to further deconstruct his current character and take out the Usos. Have him run until Wrestlemania Feed him to Cena at Wrestlemania 32 ala Rusev. Again no excuses. Beaten Clean. Theres a mental block in the big match for Reigns. A flaw, something that makes him human. Maybe he can suffer a kayfabe injury here.

His loss to Cena humbles him. At the event its Cena, so the fans probably cheer him abit. Now rather then blaming the fans, moaning and whining he works hard to overcome injury. He returns as face, put him alongside a tag team and allow him to build more of a repertoire of moves. Tag Team allows him to showcase his positives, he's got over moves. Is there a more over move then a well executed Spear? Its how he got over originally.

Once he's got some more moves, let him challenge for one of the midcard titles. He loses but this time is cheated out, he still can't quite do it in the big match but he's nearly there. From about Survivor Series enter him into a program with his nemesis Rollins and give him his win at Wrestlemania 33. Do it right and he's the big star they wanted.
 
#47 · (Edited)
Reigns needs to step away from the main event for a while. It won't take the heat off him completely but it will give him room to develop. While he and Lesnar told a story at Wrestlemania, it also provided a showcase to why Reigns isn't ready.

The fans don't buy him as the top man. He simply doesn't have the presence of a proper bad-ass especially next to a legit one like Lesnar. He has two moves. Even Cena had Five.

I think with time he can be built into the guy WWE want him to be. They've got Rollins as a great over heel. They've got Lesnar. They've got Bryan, Bray, Ziggler and Ambrose who the crowd want to go over. They've got Cena and Orton when they need an established star. Theres room to give Reigns time. He might have got over this time round without his injury last year. It hurt his momentum and he came back against momentum killer Big Show. There was no time to get behind him. It all felt forced and this has caused the backlash against him. No-one wants to lose their spot but if Reigns takes a step back he can end up in the position the company wants for him.

I would make sure hes booked to main event with Rollins at the next PPV if only because thats the current path. He goes up against Rollins and he fails. No excuses. He's too predictable for Rollins. He comes away and on the next Raw blames the fans. They distract him! Maybe one more match for the title. He loses and blames the fans. Heel turn. Have him monster anyone over with the crowd to punish them, Ziggler, Ryback, maybe allow him to further deconstruct his current character and take out the Usos. Have him run until Wrestlemania Feed him to Cena at Wrestlemania 32 ala Rusev. Again no excuses. Beaten Clean. Theres a mental block in the big match for Reigns. A flaw, something that makes him human. Maybe he can suffer a kayfabe injury here.

His loss to Cena humbles him. At the event its Cena, so the fans probably cheer him abit. Now rather then blaming the fans, moaning and whining he works hard to overcome injury. He returns as face, put him alongside a tag team and allow him to build more of a repertoire of moves. Tag Team allows him to showcase his positives, he's got over moves. Is there a more over move then a well executed Spear? Its how he got over originally.

Once he's got some more moves, let him challenge for one of the midcard titles. He loses but this time is cheated out, he still can't quite do it in the big match but he's nearly there. From about Survivor Series enter him into a program with his nemesis Rollins and give him his win at Wrestlemania 33. Do it right and he's the big star they wanted.

Reigns has 7 moves, not 2. Unfortunately he only uses most of them on smaller opponents.
There are the 5 moves he's had for a while.
1. Spear
2. Samoan Drop
3. Jumping Clothesline
4. Superman Punch
5. Basement Dropkick
Plus the other 2 he added at Fastlane. I forgot the names.

He really needs to implement some Leakee moves. Leakee was AWESOME! Right now, I think the company is taking advantage of his docile personality & booking him to get everyone else over but himself. That's what they mean by him being "locker room orientated". He takes one for the team everytime & always let's himself be the hated one. He's gotta stop that. But that's probably why all of the WWE members like him.
 
#54 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Everything about him needs work/to be changed.

His love of the duckface. His lack of cardio. His lack of moves. Him spamming the Superman Punch over and over. His lack of mic skills. Still hanging onto the Shield stuff. His blank expressions.

Give him a manager/turn him into a bodyguard/give him a tag team partner. Anything that changes what he is now and gives him someone to do all the work for him. Its not working the way it is, he gets booed worse than Cena and his big push is only months old.
 
#60 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Whatever "it" is, this version of Reigns doesn't have it and never will. Brock should have "injured" him last night and he should have been taken off tv for a few months and made a come back at summerslam as the new Roman Reigns, someone with no traces of the shield. Drop the shield stuff, drop all the Samoan stuff because no one cares, and certainly drop the "believe that" garbage.
 
#67 · (Edited)
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

You can repackage him all you like but the fact is it will always come down to how he performs.

It's not as if he is a guy who is great in the ring and on the mic but just can't find his niche.

He is a guy who got placed in a group where they could hide and mask his flaws. A group which lasted well into 18 months together and even then he STILL wasn't ready when they broke up.

I just don't think he was ready for any of this and i do feel for him because he has the tools there to work on but they just pulled the trigger way too soon so if Reigns flops it's NOT on him it's on Vince for not being patient enough in the first place.
 
#71 ·
You can repackage him all you like but the fact is it will always come down to how he performs.

It's not as if he is a guy who is great in the ring and on the mic but just can't find his niche. He is a guy who got placed in a group where they could hide and mask his flaws. A group which lasted well into 18 months together and even then he STILL wasn't ready when they broke up. I just don't think he was ready for any of this and i do feel for him because he has the tools there to work on but they just pulled the trigger way too soon so if Reigns flops it's NOT on him it's on Vince for not being patient enough in the first place.
80% agreed. But his performance criticism, at least in the ring only became a thing after the Rumble. Before that, it was the reasonable criticism (leave behind the shield stuff, improve your mic skills). Are people really booing him because he won't change clothes & he's not really good on mic? That's hardly a good excuse.

This is all on Vince.
 
#72 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

And simply put...it doesnt really make sense that he keeps the shield shit. The WWE themselves has told the story that Seth was the architect of the Shield. That he brought them together. That is the narrative that THEY created...but then they keep all of the Shield stuff on Roman. It just makes no sense really. I get why they did it at the time. They wanted the popularity of the Shield to be carried over to RR. But it didnt work, and now its just bizarre considering the story they've sold.
 
#8 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

He's needed an overhaul since January. It hasn't been working for three months straight now and tonight they just go and repeat the same thing they've been doing all these weeks and expect a different reception? :ti

Piss poor but i really don't care right now as long as he is out of the main event. It's WWE's job to give me interest. Until they do that i don't care what they do with Reigns.

Just keep him away from Rollins/Orton.
 
#18 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I said after mania, they were committed to going down the same path with Reigns. Alas, proven right.

Vince really does not get it.If you don't impress the smarks, the marks will follow the smark reaction.
 
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#25 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I thought the crowd was more obnoxious tonight than they were creative

Roman gave a hell of a Wrestlemania performance. He deserved better from the crowd tonight. He probably won some fans over and earned some respect with last night's performance...but the lackluster 6 man tag gave the crowd every reason to react negatively again

What they should have done was have Randy go against Kane and Big Show for a shot at the title with Seth sitting ringside. Have Randy destroy them. Then Seth interferes and the 3 beat up on Randy then we hear Roman's music and he comes out and Randy and Roman beat the crap out of the 3. Seth escapes and in the process Roman accidentally does the Superman punch on Randy.

This then creates a feud between Randy, Roman, and Seth setting up a title match at Extreme Rules. Save Brock for Summerslam.
 
#26 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

Dude is a natural heel, just let him have a damn heel run. It's like Vince forgot some of the most over faces started off as heels. Cena, Jericho, Rock, Austin, Bryan, hell, even the Shield as a group.

I'm amazed the same guy booked last night's amazing main event and finish, but then sent Roman out there like a dumbass.

Not one ounce of character development or him acknowledging what happened last night. And then the put him as the mystery third man when people, even I, were hoping for a NXT debut.

For a guy who is desperate to get Roman over where he wants, he surely goes out of his way to do the things to screw him over the most.

They JUST had to bail Roman out because of asinine decisions. Now we are going to do part 2??? :drake1
 
#53 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

After a match last night you would think he would have came out, dropped a promo from the heart and sold his beating. It's like vince said, "wow people feel sympathy for him! See guys, my plan worked, now have him go out there and pull a cena!" Seriously WWE never learns. They had a chance to reset him, get him over organically and turn him into something special but he never will with WWE's fuckery.

They keep fucking with Reigns and he gets boos or apathy. Instead of giving the guy who is obviously working hard a chance to really make himself something special they micromanage the fuck out of him and make him look like cena lite. Let the man be himself for the love of God WWE.

But WWE wants to rush things, never wants to take it slow despite having a stack roster, nope. Got to rush and make things suck. WWE is like the ex you make the mistake of being nice to, now they're back thinking you're together and smothering you instead of working back and getting into your good graces!

At this point I cannot blame Reigns, he really is trying, it's vince and his impetuous fucking attitude that's ruining Reigns. I honestly feel bad for Wynter, BBR and Empress. WWE is sabotaging this guy and the only people that think Reigns is perfect with his booking are the god damn trolls of this board.
 
#58 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

What evolution have we seen since the Shield from Reigns?

Same outfit, same old moves, same old theme song. Create yourself and be unique, it isn't working for him.

That's where Ambrose is certainly in a better place then Reigns, his carved out his own persona and character and is over as fuck.
 
#65 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I said this in another thread but Reigns needs to borrow Batista's heel character from the end of his first run. Enough family crap. Ignore the fact he's married. He shouldn't care if others are more talented. He shouldn't care if he is stealing other's spots. Make Roman be all about the money and the bitches. Play up the nepotism of being Rock's cousin giving him a better chance in the company others don't have and he could turn into a big heel. WWE would have to give up on having him replace Cena as face of the company for that to work but that dream is long dead anyway to anyone with a working brain not named Vince.
 
#66 ·
I said this in another thread but Reigns needs to borrow Batista's heel character from the end of his first run. Enough family crap. Ignore the fact he's married. He shouldn't care if others are more talented. He shouldn't care if he is stealing other's spots. Make Roman be all about the money and the bitches. Play up the nepotism of being Rock's cousin giving him a better chance in the company others don't have and he could turn into a big heel. WWE would have to give up on having him replace Cena as face of the company for that to work but that dream is long dead anyway to anyone with a working brain not named Vince.

Really? Ignore that he's married? It's a fucking staged entertainment show! Why does everyone lose their shit? Roman Reigns is a fake character, with a fake name, on a fake tv show. Joe Anoa'i is actually married to Galina Becker in fucking real life. Why on earth would someone jeopardize their marriage so people won't hate them? I don't care if the whole world boos me, I'm not pretending that I don't have a wife. Imagine the stress that would put on his family. They already have to deal with enough as it is.

People need to learn that this is not a cartoon. These people are actually real human beings with as many feelings & emotions as the rest of us.

And can someone tell me why this is such a serious matter? I hate Keeping Up With The Kardashians, specifically Scott, so if it comes on, I change the channel. I don't go online & bitch about it, or go to events & boo them. Why is this such a big deal?
 
#9 ·
Re: Roman Reigns needs a Overhaul

I thought that's what we were gonna get when they decided to not have him win, but no, not even 24 hours later they're still shoving him to us when we have made it clear he isn't ready, turn the guy heel, if he carries on as a face and in the direction he's going in, he will never win the crowd over to the level that he need too
 
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