Hey, guys and gals! Welcome to a quick edition of ‘Under the Spotlight’, where I take a topic from the world of wrestling and discuss it right here at SLTD Wrestling.
By now, most of us will know that Roman Reigns is gearing up to be WWE’s next ‘Next Big Thing’, hot off the heels of a victory against ‘The Viper’, Randy Orton at SummerSlam.
And while it looks like Orton will be getting his rematch at Night of Champions, and may even win, the big question on everyone’s mind is ‘when’. When will Reigns get the big push he’s been hinted at, and either grasp the WWE World Heavyweight Championship or face Triple H in a one-on-one match?
When you ask somebody who they think, on the main WWE roster, could possibly defeat Brock Lesnar for the title, most will say Roman Reigns, if they don’t say John Cena. And to be fair, I think that’s a little unsettling, considering he’s only been around for a couple of years.
I’m a big fan of Roman Reigns, don’t get me wrong, but it’s WWE’s inability to build any other stars to even be considered to face Lesnar that concerns me.
How many wrestlers have come and gone in the WWE over the last decade? Countless great athletes have set foot in a WWE ring, yet there is really nobody in the company that could believably topple the Beast. Two weeks ago I would’ve said John Cena could do it, but after the manner in which he was personally victimised by Lesnar at SummerSlam, it would be ten times worse if Cena was somehow able to win at Night of Champions.
Hell, the only other non-part timers that I can think of to beat Lesnar are Daniel Bryan, whose injury seems to get worse as the weeks go by, and a certain straight edge superstar who told Vince to stuff his job back in January (and rightfully so).
I’m not one of the guys that hate on John Cena for every single move he makes (or doesn’t make), but you can’t blame people for having that mindset when the only person, other than Cena, that has been built up to main event status in the last decade has been Randy Orton, excluding names that no longer perform on a regular basis.
You would think all that time could’ve been spent building legends, not mid-carders. Look at guys like Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Cesaro, Jack Swagger, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. They’ve all had varying degrees of success in the time they’ve been with WWE, but despite a run at the top for a few months at best, they’ve all sunk back into mid-card purgatory because for some reason, John Cena’s the only one allowed to stay on top.
And this has created a problem for WWE because they realise that they’ve given the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Brock Lesnar, when the only guy who could’ve believably beaten him for it had his ass handed to him last week, and now they are faced with the tough decision to do the unthinkable and actually DEVELOP SOMEBODY like Roman Reigns into a main event star over the course of a few months, or go back to ‘Plan Cena wins lol’.
I think we know what we’d prefer as fans, and that’s Roman Reigns. I know that’s a lot of pressure to be putting on him just a couple of months after splitting from The Shield, but it’s necessary. Yes, if the guy was thrown into the main event of Survivor Series against Brock Lesnar, I’d say it was way too much, way too soon and liken it to Ryback’s crash and burn in the title picture. But with a few months to build up, and win the Royal Rumble to truly earn the opportunity, I think Reigns could pose as a legitimate threat to Brock Lesnar.
It’s not exactly ideal for Lesnar to be champion from now until WrestleMania, but it’s a hell of a lot better than losing to John Cena next month, don’t you think? At least this way, a new star will be born in Roman Reigns, and then a few months later it will allow for yet another star in Seth Rollins to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It’s a lot easier for someone like Rollins or Cesaro to successfully challenge for the title if it’s being held by Reigns and not Lesnar.
And with the added bonus of The Undertaker’s Streak under Lesnar’s belt, beating him at WrestleMania would be even sweeter for Roman Reigns. Sure, it’s a big risk to put that much faith in someone young like Roman, but this company was built on risks. It was risky to give Brock Lesnar the WWE Championship just months after his debut over a decade ago, but look at him now.
Roman Reigns looks the part, he’s athletic, he’s got a great fighting style in the ring, he’s not god-awful with a microphone and he’s over as hell with the men, women and children of the WWE Universe. He is powerful, and he displayed his dominance by breaking Kane’s record for the most eliminations in one Royal Rumble match this year. Some good booking from now until WrestleMania is all the guy needs.
And Brock Lesnar can be kept busy next month with John Cena, but after that maybe Batista could make an interesting opponent, and whoever else WWE has to offer. I’d like to see Ambrose and Cesaro face Lesnar, but what’s the point if they’re just going to get slaughtered? It’d have to be a competitive match, otherwise it would simply be a pointless burial of uprising talent.
Then we can come to Roman Reigns winning the Rumble and squaring off with Brock Lesnar with the lights on bright. The story of the match might not be as heart-warming or emotional as Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania victory this year, but it would be something special for sure.
I’ll leave it there for today, guys and gals. If you enjoyed this brief look at Roman Reigns’ potential future, please share it on Facebook and Twitter, and leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_SLTD to speak with me about wrestling, my writing or anything at all.
Also do yourself a favour and check out our wonderful staff of writers here, who produce some awesome content on a weekly basis, as well as the guys from the MFX Podcast and SLTD Radio who never cease to provide hilarious and insightful observations into the wrestling industry.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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