WWE News: Roman Reigns Struggles Based On Creative According To Former Writer
Roman Reigns is the most polarizing star in the WWE, with many fans in the audience cheering for him and many more booing his every move. It is a great response that makes for great television. Reigns even has another fan in the former head of WWE creative Vince Russo. However, Russo was on X-Pac’s podcast and said that the reason for Roman Reigns WWE struggles is completely the fault of the booking of his character.
According to Russo, he is a fan of Roman Reigns, who he said belongs in the WWE but isn’t positioned right in the company. Russo makes a lot of good points, touching on why many fans boo Roman despite his obvious talent.
“I’m a [Roman] Reigns fan. Listen, creative has killed Roman Reigns, I mean they’ve absolutely killed him. I don’t hold it against him. But bro, the guy looks like a wrestler. He looks like he belongs and of course, he does because it’s in his bloodlines.”
The booing by many WWE fans has nothing to do with Roman Reigns as a talent or a competitor in the ring. As a matter of fact, when it comes to big matches, Reigns is one of the top guys in the WWE every time out. However, many fans want to see Roman as a heel because that seems to fit his character better.
It is very similar to the status of John Cena, who has had the “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chants for years now. Despite that, Cena is one of the top merchandise sellers in the WWE and has been for years. Roman Reigns is now up there as well, both when it comes to merchandise sales as well as popularity online, both on social media and when it comes to YouTube videos.
That is one of the biggest reasons that the WWE will never turn Roman Reigns heel, at least not completely heel. A bad guy Roman Reigns is a lot less interesting when it comes to crowd reactions than a polarizing face. It would possibly amount to a better told story but it would sell less merchandise, which is a huge concern for the WWE.
One thing that Vince Russo looked at in the podcast episode was the look of professional wrestlers. He believes that many guys in the WWE today don’t look like stars, and in Russo’s opinion, a guy like Kevin Owens, who looks like your next door neighbor, will never get the kind of reactions as WWE stars from the past. Roman Reigns is a wrestler who actually looks like a star.
“I look at this roster today and you can’t tell me these guys [go] to a gym. They don’t look the fricking part and to me, if you don’t look the part I’m not going to believe it. It’s unbelievable to me.”
Interestingly, outside of Roman Reigns, Vince Russo also said that he loved Bray Wyatt, who doesn’t fit the look that he likes in his WWE superstars. Despite the shape and look of Wyatt, Russo feels that he could be a star on Undertaker’s level because of his talent and on-screen demeanor.
However, once again Russo said that WWE creative has failed Wyatt much like they failed Roman Reigns. While Russo feels that the WWE has not written stories properly for Roman, he said that he would have written very differently for Wyatt because Bray is “so fricking talented it’s frightening.”
Finally, Russo said that he loves Charlotte Flair. He said that he believes she will end up as one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time when her career is finished. Much like Roman Reigns, Charlotte looks like she belongs in a WWE ring.
[Featured Image by WWE]
