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[Mortimer Brewster]

The only reason Roman gets such a solid push is because of his relations in the wrestling business and specifically his cousin Dwayne who was the biggest kiss ass in the business, that's why people rightly say he hasn't earned it.

Although Dwayne tbh actually had talent irrespective of being a kiss ass, that's the difference.

The reason reigns gets shit on is because his rise hasn't been authentic, he is the very definition of "company man" and there are others (such as Strowman) that should be getting a huge push and they aren't.


Vince always says he likes guys that push him and try to "grab the brass ring" but the truth is he hates it and he specifically hates guys that question him, you listen to any shoot ever or watch any half decent documentary you will know there is only one guy he really took any form of shit from and that was Shaun Michaels, possibly Stone Cold as well but that's more because Austin was bringing in such high ratings at the time

If Vince actually listened PG would have been long gone by now as well, most fans want a more edgy product back aimed towards the group that primarily watches it, we have seen in the last 2 months it becoming a little more edgy again and especially with Hardy Boys being back and there being less restrictions with the promos it's starting to get interesting again and the reason we are seeing that is because the ratings are hurting I think.

But still, the booking is suffering and that's the main problem, the booking, PG is secondary in comparison, the overly scripted nature of the promos, not allowing wrestlers to mold their own character, the pushing of wrestlers that aren't even close to being over or being convincing heels.

The booking and creative is the problem, change that and it gets better, I think it has been improving lately but for every hit there are 2 misses.

After Sunday night I don't even think good booking can save Roman now. The vitriol he got from the crowd last night was nuclear. Roman has cleared X-Pac heat and is now in uncharted waters of nuclear heat. X-Pac himself would get huge face pops from crowds if he faced Reigns.


Reigns could face Shaun Michaels in Montreal and the crowd would cheer for HBK over Reigns.

 

[Mortimer Brewster]

On another note that pop that Kurt got when he was named the GM was huge and hearing "You Suck" chants at WWE events warms my heart.

 

[GeeTeeCee]

Watching the RAW highlights on Youtube I'm shocked that they're apparently making no attempt to cover up the huge amount of vitriol Reigns was getting (yet).

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Just because you and your family enjoy having one wrestler stuffed down your throat every week, doesn't mean everyone else has to.

He does not deserve his current position, he has been pushed to oblivion by Vince.

The man works hard. The bad booking aside Roman doesn't have one eye on the door like others.

Also Bryan had his chance and if he hadn't been so broken down then he might well be the guy today. It's a case of stepping up.

Name one person signed to the company that deserves the spot more

 

[PK Strawstorm]

Superman punch! Spear! Superman punch! Spear!

Can't stand watching Reigns matches, although don't know if it's his limited move set I hate (don't try to sell me that he has more moves; if he does, he never uses them when I watch), or listening to Cole call the match.

 

[wild wild rice]

Roman Reigns truly is the Drake of wrasslegaf.

 

[Razorskin]

I wonder if Reigns going to Smackdown would help him

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

After Sunday night I don't even think good booking can save Roman now. The vitriol he got from the crowd last night was nuclear. Roman has cleared X-Pac heat and is now in uncharted waters of nuclear heat. X-Pac himself would get huge face pops from crowds if he faced Reigns.


Reigns could face Shaun Michaels in Montreal and the crowd would cheer for HBK over Reigns.

Until the crowd starts chanting "die, Roman, die" like they did The Rock in his Rocky Maivia days he's still got a little ways to go though the crowd audibly chanting "fuck" on live TV is something I have to image people aren't happy about.

 

[Rad Shadow]

So is he a heel now? Lol

 

[HashtagLapsed]

Until the crowd starts chanting "die, Roman, die" like they did The Rock in his Rocky Maivia days he's still got a little ways to go though the crowd audibly chanting "fuck" on live TV is something I have to image people aren't happy about.

I can't imagine advertisers are happy about the chanting tonight. In any way at all.

I think this talk of merch sales and who is number 1 or 2 is frankly ridiculous. People shitting on "smark" fans for not liking a guy then turning around and quoting merch numbers is pretty funny.

The people going to these shows and being audible simply don't like the guy/the way he is booked and will shit on the product. Same as it has been for decades. People are deluded as fuck if they think WWE want people shitting on Reigns or the product the way they do. If everyone was behind him they would make a lot more money and we know Vince etc wanted his push to seem organic, which it hasn't been which is why people shit on it.

 

[bill0527]

Roster shakeup next week.

I hope they put Roman on both shows just to piss off these marks even more.

 

[funkystudent]

Watching the RAW highlights on Youtube I'm shocked that they're apparently making no attempt to cover up the huge amount of vitriol Reigns was getting (yet).

These alternative fans booing who they normally cheer Maggle!



Gonna be interesting in seeing if crowds are more uniformly booing him now compared to the mixed stuff normally . I don't expect Romans booking to change.

 

[Hasney]

Roster shakeup next week.

I hope they put Roman on both shows just to piss off these marks even more.

Fine by me, I'll likely get another 2 hours back after already dropping Raw.

No doubt Raw will suck again after the shakeup episode. The talent will change, the writing will likely not.

 

[Ithil]

The man works hard. The bad booking aside Roman doesn't have one eye on the door like others.

Also Bryan had his chance and if he hadn't been so broken down then he might well be the guy today. It's a case of stepping up.

Name one person signed to the company that deserves the spot more

For god's sake.

EVERYONE works hard. Yes, including Dean Ambrose who is crapped on for his very light wrestling, that man still does more matches than anyone else in the company.

"He works hard" is such a useless accolade in a company of wrestlers on the grind every week, year round.

 

[Sephzilla]

Watching the RAW highlights on Youtube I'm shocked that they're apparently making no attempt to cover up the huge amount of vitriol Reigns was getting (yet).

Well they did cut out the f*ck you Roman chants

 

[Ithil]

So is he a heel now? Lol

In case this wasn't clear, Lawler literally stated "Roman is a good guy" on the RAW talk show.

 

[Uno Venova]

Roman Reigns truly is the Drake of wrasslegaf.

But Drake had an organic rise in popularity

And he's good

 

[Rockandrollclown]

The worst thing about last night was they made Graves spout that "they cheer the people they usually boo and boo the people they usually cheer" line.

 

[ReiGun]

After Sunday night I don't even think good booking can save Roman now. The vitriol he got from the crowd last night was nuclear. Roman has cleared X-Pac heat and is now in uncharted waters of nuclear heat. X-Pac himself would get huge face pops from crowds if he faced Reigns.


Reigns could face Shaun Michaels in Montreal and the crowd would cheer for HBK over Reigns.

Yup. Homie is done. If you aren't on board already, you ain't getting on board. Not even the fabled heel turn could save him now.

Not that he needs saving, since if you hear WWE and their defenders tell it, this is exactly the reaction they want.

 

[XenoRaven]

If I punch you in the face and you get really mad and take a swing back at me, I don't get to say "haha I've got you in the palm of my hand". Fans booing someone they don't like isn't the result of some sort of master manipulation.

 

[Mortimer Brewster]

Yup. Homie is done. If you aren't on board already, you ain't getting on board. Not even the fabled heel turn could save him now.

Not that he needs saving, since if you hear WWE and their defenders tell it, this is exactly the reaction they want.

And everyone with the exception of Vince knew this was going to happen. Crowds are going to be relentless against him, for here on out and Reigns has been known to get a little pissy with the more aggressive crowds. It's Onky matter of time before he loses it and pulls a Big Dave at the Royal Rumble and flips off the fans,

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

If I punch you in the face and you get really mad and take a swing back at me, I don't get to say "haha I've got you in the palm of my hand". Fans booing someone they don't like isn't the result of some sort of master manipulation.

Yeah getting people to react the way that you want them to react is like the basic tenant of good pro wrestling booking.

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

Just imagine Roman with a late 90s wrasslin' crowd.


EDIT:

WrestleMania 33 was the 1st time I watched wrestling, and it blew my mind


lol

 

[Dazzler]

It's pretty gross how they were referring to their most hardcore of fans last night as "alternative fans"

These are the same people shelling out thousands of bucks each year and flying around the world to go to Wrestlemania/NXT and Raw.

The reason the company is going to crap is how little respect Vince seems to have for his most loyal customers. Company is going to continue to wither as long as Vince is pulling the strings

 

[jmdajr]

Get hype for the road to Wrestlemania 34!

 

[Dirtyshubb]

Yeah getting people to react the way that you want them to react is like the basic tenant of good pro wrestling booking.

I think a better analogy would be something like - it's like if you try to get me to smile by smacking me in the face repeatedly and when I get angry you say 'you reacted, that means you care" all while ignoring the animosity you are building.

I keep up to date with wwe but hardly watch it any more and from what I have seen Roman is OK, good look and isn't terrible in the ring either. The problem is that he is pushed as an underdog face, is written to talk like a tweener, reacts to situations like a sad face but acts and looks like a heel. Nothing about him matches up and because of this it's clear he is there because that's what the boss wants.

I do feel that if they turned him heel in a way to really rile up the fans and then have him basically talk shit about everyone else while bigging himself up and stuck with it you could easily change the fans opinions on him. Keep him like that for a year or two and slowly build to a face turn and wwe could have their next top guy. Problem is that vince is fucking clueless and refuses to listen to anyone but himself.

 

[Sephzilla]

Why do you all keep blaming Roman for falling ratings?.

Since Roman has become the primary focus of the major storylines, main events, and the main advertised guy for house shows, the decline in television ratings has gotten even worse and attendance for house shows, TV shows, and PPVs have all gone downhill. Additionally the under 17 demographic for WWE has shrunk drastically over the last few years meaning younger viewers aren't sticking around.

It's not entirely Roman Reigns fault but it's hard to look at all of the declines that have happened with WWE and not notice the correlation to Roman Reigns main event push.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

It's pretty gross how they were referring to their most hardcore of fans last night as "alternative fans"

These are the same people shelling out thousands of bucks each year and flying around the world to go to Wrestlemania/NXT and Raw.

The reason the company is going to crap is how little respect Vince seems to have for his most loyal customers. Company is going to continue to wither as long as Vince is pulling the strings

his most loyal fans continue to pay for tickets and the network and watching on tv though. Vince's problem isn't the loyal fans, it's the casual fans. It's drawing in the audience that doesn't really care about Roman either way.

 

[Sephzilla]

his most loyal fans continue to pay for tickets and the network and watching on tv though. Vince's problem isn't the loyal fans, it's the casual fans. It's drawing in the audience that doesn't really care about Roman either way.

The funny thing is that WWE's biggest period of success was when he appealed to his hardcore audience the most

 

[Xiaoki]

Yeah getting people to react the way that you want them to react is like the basic tenant of good pro wrestling booking.

Vince does NOT care that you react the way he wants you to react to a certain talent, Vince only cares that you do react in some way.

The worst reaction possible for wrestling is no reaction at all.

People have been booing Cena for years and years but he's still the top guy.

So, if these "smart marks" (and I use that term sarcastically) wanted Roman gone they wouldnt boo or have these "Fuck Roman" chants they would be dead silent.

 

[jmdajr]

EDIT:

WrestleMania 33 was the 1st time I watched wrestling, and it blew my mind


lol

thank you for sharing this, best read of my day so far

HAHAHA PITBULL IS HERE PERFORMING A SONG

Of course he is.

also

They just crashed through a barricade. Are those not fortified? THESE MEN ARE FIFTY YEARS OLD, HOW ARE THEY DOING THIS?

Brock Lesnar has a dragon on his butt. He also looks like a refrigerator.

This is a good match.

Brock wins. He looks like something that climbed out of the Earth's molten core and yelled "I'M HERE, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!" instead of being born

 

[Ninja Scooter]

The funny thing is that WWE's biggest period of success was when he appealed to his hardcore audience the most

The attitude era appealed to tons of casuals. If the WWE were Nintendo, the attitude era was the Wii. And just like Nintendo, their biggest problem has never been hanging on to their most hardcore subset of fans. That demographic WWE can take to the bank no matter how bad the product gets.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Just imagine Roman with a late 90s wrasslin' crowd.


EDIT:

WrestleMania 33 was the 1st time I watched wrestling, and it blew my mind


lol

This is gold

They just crashed through a barricade. Are those not fortified? THESE MEN ARE FIFTY YEARS OLD, HOW ARE THEY DOING THIS?

Brock Lesnar has a dragon on his butt. He also looks like a refrigerator.

This is a good match.

Brock wins. He looks like something that climbed out of the Earth's molten core and yelled "I'M HERE, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!" instead of being born.

 

[cordy]

For god's sake.

EVERYONE works hard. Yes, including Dean Ambrose who is crapped on for his very light wrestling, that man still does more matches than anyone else in the company.

"He works hard" is such a useless accolade in a company of wrestlers on the grind every week, year round.

This.

And that whole "he deserves it" thing is straight bullshit as well. Hell Styles said in an interview a few days ago he hates when fans say "you deserve it."

 

[Sephzilla]

The attitude era appealed to tons of casuals. If the WWE were Nintendo, the attitude era was the Wii. And just like Nintendo, their biggest problem has never been hanging on to their most hardcore subset of fans. That demographic WWE can take to the bank no matter how bad the product gets.

That's kind of my point. I think appealing to the hardcore fanbase would probably appeal to the casuals a bit more too. The Attitude Era struck a huge chord with casual fans but if you actually look at the booking it was really geared towards giving hardcore fans exactly what they wanted. And stuff like that caused the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock to feel a lot more natural and organic, which in tern resonated a lot with both hardcore fans and casual fans.

 

[Deadstar]

The Brock vs Goldberg match was the best match at Wrestlemania because it looked like both guys wanted to win.

 

[thepotatoman]

Vince does NOT care that you react the way he wants you to react to a certain talent, Vince only cares that you do react in some way.

The worst reaction possible for wrestling is no reaction at all.

People have been booing Cena for years and years but he's still the top guy.

So, if these "smart marks" (and I use that term sarcastically) wanted Roman gone they wouldnt boo or have these "Fuck Roman" chants they would be dead silent.

That heat really does prime them for some big memerable moments that the people booing Roman will absolutely love, but if it's just going to be 10 years of minor setbacks from screwjobs that he gets the final laugh for on the next PPV, it seems like they'd be better off without the boos.

 

[Sephzilla]

Vince does NOT care that you react the way he wants you to react to a certain talent, Vince only cares that you do react in some way.

The worst reaction possible for wrestling is no reaction at all.

People have been booing Cena for years and years but he's still the top guy.

So, if these "smart marks" (and I use that term sarcastically) wanted Roman gone they wouldnt boo or have these "Fuck Roman" chants they would be dead silent.

If nobody was reacting to Roman then Vince would simply say "they aren't booing him, that means they don't hate him". This is basically how Randy Orton survived that stretch when nobody gave a single shit about him before he started doing the Wyatt angle. Vince will twist the narrative any way he wants so long as it justifies Roman. Hall and Nash both said that Vince told them he'd rather half a half empty arena cheering for his guy instead of a full arena cheering/booing whomever they want. Vince doesn't give a shit.

 

[fhqwhgads]

Just imagine Roman with a late 90s wrasslin' crowd.


EDIT:

WrestleMania 33 was the 1st time I watched wrestling, and it blew my mind


lol

I think it's pretty telling when even they realised just how terrible Bray vs Orton was.

 

[DeathyBoy]

Just read about the 'fuck you Roman' chants.

Christ, wrestling fans are embarrassing sometimes.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

You guys remember those good old days of the Attitude Era where the whole crowd was on their feet screaming and chanting for the whole opening promo or match? Where megastars were conducting passionate crowd reactions for 15 minutes?

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

Vince does NOT care that you react the way he wants you to react to a certain talent, Vince only cares that you do react in some way.

The worst reaction possible for wrestling is no reaction at all.

People have been booing Cena for years and years but he's still the top guy.

So, if these "smart marks" (and I use that term sarcastically) wanted Roman gone they wouldnt boo or have these "Fuck Roman" chants they would be dead silent.

During which time the WWE has lost 25% of their audience but hey its better than no reaction at all!

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

During which time the WWE has lost 25% of their audience but hey its better than no reaction at all!

Roman isn't the problem. Check out everything not NXT related happening around him.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news...man-reigns-selling-more-merchandise-than-any/

It was noted in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that with John Cena now being a part-time wrestler, Reigns has been the top merchandise seller of all the full time talent and "there's nobody ready to take his place." Cena will be taking time off after WrestleMania for outside projects, and he has four movies that he are nearing release or will start production (The Wall, Daddy's Home 2, Ferdinand and The Pact).

You really think they're doing something wrong with Roman Reigns at this point?

 

[Dazzler]

the only effective way to stop this train would be for fans to turn their back on Reigns every time he's in the ring

It would look horrific for WWE on TV

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Why do you all keep blaming Roman for falling ratings? There is so much more to it than just not watching because of one guy. And if the ratings skew older, than that means those long time fan haven't left. It's the younger and new fans that either don't stay with it or never find it interesting to watch. Or it the old hardcore fans driving them away.

I got back into wrestling because of my niece. She made it fun to watch. Seeing how into it she got was great. So now the whole family gets into it every 2 to 3 hours each week. We watch, have fun, and move on after its over. We've been to a PPV and Smackdown and even a live NXT show. Had a blast. And what strikes me every time, is the people that are having the most fun are the ones that let the whole spectacle that is WWE just make them laugh, boo, and cheer. And after the show is over, walk out of the arena smiling and talking about just having a good time.

Then there are the hardcore fans that just complain the whole show or tell you how they are going to boo this or that guy because he doesn't deserve it. All these men and women in that ring put in some hard ass work to be there to entertain the fans. This bullshit of not deserving it is just ridiculous.

When you're at a live taping surrounded by families, couples, and people that are all just enjoying the night, you have such a great time.

I don't know what the WWE needs to do to appeal to a broader base, but just placating to hardcore fans will just make those fan find something else to complain about. They are not going anywhere. But the stuff some of you in these wrestling threads complain about non stop, is the very same things that brought a whole family into watching and spending money on WWE.

Seriously!!!!!

I've started watching wrestling with kids and adults, and it's unreal how much more fun and different the experience has become. The usual teenagers and young adult dudes who just watch to complain about the one thing they don't like are missing out on so much more than they know. Don't fall into this negative bubble, guys.

There was so much good stuff happening last night, and the roster is a fucking dream compared to 2007. But all GAF does is talk about Roman.

 

[Toki767]

the only effective way to stop this train would be for fans to turn their back on Reigns every time he's in the ring

It would look horrific for WWE on TV

I still say they're better off just getting out of their seats in mass and returning once he leaves.

But wrestling fans could never pull that off.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

I just don't get you guys. Roman has nuclear heat. Haven't seen a guy get booed like that since Cena at ECW One Night Stand.That segment, where Roman said all of 4 words, looked like a million dollars. The guy's a star.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I just don't get you guys. Roman has nuclear heat. Haven't seen a guy get booed like that since Cena at ECW One Night Stand.That segment, where Roman said all of 4 words, looked like a million dollars. The guy's a star.

What I'm noticing for the first time is that adult Roman haters generally react like children react to heels. They're fully worked into thinking the reasons they hate Roman are universal and right, as the Live Television Show in front of them progresses exactly as planned, with these adults reacting on cue to hate him.

This guy was on this incredible *Three Hour* show for only 15 minutes at the start getting the reaction every wrestler dreams of and what I thought is the reaction every fan loves to watch, and I get on GAF and of course it's what people are complaining about.

 

[Eidan]

Wrestling fans always need a boogeyman that Vince likes to concentrate their frustrations on. There's nothing wrong with Roman Reigns. Just like there wasn't anything wrong with John Cena before him. You people will always hate "the guy".

This guy was on this incredible *Three Hour* show for only 15 minutes at the start getting the reaction every wrestler dreams of and what I thought is the reaction every fan loves to watch, and I get on GAF and of course it's what people are complaining about.

Roman is an obsession for many of his most ardent detractors now.

Also, no joke, I thought the fact that he came out, only said five words, and got that kind of reaction, was amazing. If I were him I'd be loving every second of it.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

Roman isn't the problem. Check out everything not NXT related happening around him.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news...man-reigns-selling-more-merchandise-than-any/

You really think they're doing something wrong with Roman Reigns at this point?

I was referring to Cena in that post not reigns.

However, being the best merchandise seller while your audience continues to dwindle doesn't really mean much. I'm sure that Diesel and Shawn Michaels were at or near the top of merchandise sales too.