WWE Is Damaging Itself To Make Roman Reigns Look Good

Roman Reigns is WWE's top guy. Barring the
outcome of a suspicious steroid allegation that's
not changing anytime soon.
Why is Reigns WWE's top guy? Because
everyone keeps reacting to him instead of staying
silent. Any reaction, be it positive or negative, is
still a reaction, and WWE can take that to the
bank. WWE will not de-emphasize Reigns to
appease a vocal subset of fans--especially when
that vocal minority still pays money to hatewatch
and heckle the show.





For the most part, WWE has embraced (or
pretends to embrace) its handpicked star's
divisiveness. His self-marketed catchphrase says
it perfectly: "I'm not a good guy. I'm not a bad
guy. I'm THE guy." Reigns has a strong but silent
attitude that, depending on a fan's bias, can read
as either understated confidence or entitled
douchiness. He plays both sides; he was a good
guy when he reunited with The Shield last year.
He was a bad guy when he locked Braun
Strowman in an ambulance and crashed it.


Last week, however, the WWE writers shot for
the impossible: They scripted Roman Reigns to
draw a unanimously positive reaction from all
fans. It was done in an extremely self-aware,
meta manner. And it kind of worked, though it
came at the sacrifice of the show's actual
quality. Fans did not receive what they paid for.
Roman Reigns came down to the ring. He was
advertised to confront Universal Champion Brock
Lesnar that evening--not to fight him, but to stare
him down.
But that didn't happen. Instead, Reigns delivered
a worked shoot (a monologue that blurs the line between storyline and real life hack) Reigns
announced that Lesnar was not in the building
that evening, and the face-off wouldn't be
happening. Why? Because, Reigns claimed,
Lesnar was entitled and didn't care about the
fans. He revealed what many on social media
had noticed: that on the Sunday night of
Elimination Chamber , Lesnar was hanging out with
Dana White, spurring rumors that he'd soon return
to UFC.
Reigns then positioned himself as the people's
hero--the man who breaks his back full-time
every week to entertain the fans. When Reigns
walked into the ring that evening, lots of fans
were booing him. But by the time he left, the
majority of fans were cheering him. It was the
most passionate promo Reigns has recited in
months.
So that's the WrestleMania 34 storyline: The
spoiled, lazy part-timer who only cares about
money versus the hungry, passionate full-timer
who wants to bring the belt back "home." WWE
has done similar storylines in the past.
But this feels different--much more insidious and
underhanded in its approach. Usually, the heel
makes the babyface look good by punishing the
opponent. In this case, the heel (Lesnar) is
making the babyface (Reigns) look good by
punishing the audience.




It's manipulative as hell. WWE booked,
promoted, and sold tickets on the premise of a
Lesnar appearance last Monday. Then, they
cancelled that appearance. That didn't hurt
Reigns; that hurt the fans, who were promised
one thing and deprived of it. WWE is sabotaging
the real life appeal and likability of its own show
so that Reigns can "save" it.
In case you think this is overanalysis, consider
the following match at a recent house show in
Chicago. Lesnar defeated Kane in 35 seconds.
He delivered two lazy German suplexes followed
by a sloppy F-5 to score the pinfall. The paying
fans were outraged by this sort of don't-give-a-
damn behavior from Lesnar, but that's blaming
the wrong person. Lesnar's just following orders.





WWE calls the shots, and it's the company the
fans should blame.

WWE is deliberately leaving their fans unsatisfied
so they can offer Reigns as the only solution to a
problem they engineered. And it's all to make
Reigns into a widely beloved babyface--a role he
isn't naturally good at.




But who knows? It might
actually work this time. Still, that's a tightrope to
walk. If WWE has to damage its own brand to
pull it off, is it worth it? And what happens if and
when the casual fans catch on? Wrestling fans
love to be fooled, but they don't want to be made
fools of.