I don't talk much about the WWE because I don't like it. For the exception of the brief Monday Night Wars, I never have. But what they are doing with Roman Reigns makes you understand that the WWE is not really working as a wrestling company and that for all of McMahanon's success, he earned for his business savvy, not his wrestling savvy.
First the obvious. Roman Reigns is a horrible champ and always will be. The Shield was a fun gimmick. Reigns was the big man, the enforcer. They don't become the champ, they enforce. When the enforcer becomes the champ, it is almost always a disaster (think Diesel). Why? Because they usually cannot talk. This is true for Reigns. The champ has to be able to talk on the mic, and I would actually argue it is the single most important skill. Think of great champs. Ric Flair, great talker. CM Punk, a very fine talker. Austin and the Rock, both beautiful talkers. Now think of champs that are universally known as great wrestlers and ask yourself why they are not known as great champs? Everyone loves Ricky Steamboat, and he can go in a ring. Yet, he is seldom mentioned in greatest champion discussions? Why? He was only okay on the mic. Dusty Rhodes is almost always mentioned before Steamboat, and it is based solely on the fact that Rhodes was pretty good on a mic. Bret Hart is seldom mentioned as an all-time great champ because he was only so-so on the mic despite being one of the best wrestlers in the ring. The fundamental rule of wrestling is you talk them into the arena or to buy a PPV. Bob Backlund was not successful as a champ (although he was a good in ring worker), and Superstar Billy Graham sold out arenas. It is just a fact of wrestling life. Reigns is embarrassing on the mic most of the time. Expect bad things for the near future for WWE.
Second, the less obvious point. This is a proof that the NXT era is not going to happen in the WWE. NXT is hot right now. It is hot because the WWE has gone away from its roots and signed big time independent wrestling stars. You could have made the argument they did this because it worked so well with Punk and Bryan. Maybe they had learned. So Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens are introduced to lead a real good group of stars out of NXT into the WWE to be the NXT Generation, which also includes Neville and Dean Ambrose. Yet, Roman Reigns gets the nod. Reigns who had no independent experience, and is solely a WWE creation. Despite the red hot success of NXT, Kevin Owens is not your champ. Dean Ambrose is not your champ. Neville is not your champ. Sami Zayn is not your champ. Samoa Joe is not your champ. These guys have crazed fan bases that would have gone nuts for a WWE title. Samoa Joe has the experience even (with TNA). Can you imagine the huge fan reaction if Sami Zayn had come out and won the title? Or Samoa Joe walked out and suplexed his way to victory? What if Dean Ambrose had managed a pin or even Kevin Owens? These guys would show confidence in the direction of NXT as the direction of the WWE, but instead they went the opposite direction. Everything the fans are tired of is embodied in Reigns.
In the end, this is only good news if you are Ring of Honor. More disgruntled fans may find you now.
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