The Chosen one?This year has been topsy turvy in the WWE. On one hand, we witnessed the Divas Revolution, as Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch rose above the ranks, while on the other hand, the WWE product has been watered down even more. So how bad has the product turned out from the beginning of the year?The ratings show that the company has lost about one million viewers since the beginning of the year, and things just get worse when in reality, the product at the beginning of the year wasn’t any great to begin with.Although Daniel Bryan’s return gave the WWE fans much needed hope about WWE putting on better product, the fact that for the entire year, WWE has been busy building and grooming Roman Reigns, who receives very mixed response a la John Cena in almost every city he goes to, has irked the fan base.Roman Reigns hasn’t improved in the past couple of years, and the fact that he is turning out to be yet another case of John Cena – esque prospect doesn’t give the WWE Universe any reason to tune into the product.While a few fans might think it hasn’t been all that bad, we take a look at how WWE has been focusing more and more on forcing Roman Reigns down the throats of the fans, rather than putting on a sensible product.
#5 Dominant member of The Shield
When Roman Reigns debuted on the main roster along with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, everyone thought it’d be either Ambrose or Rollins who will be the breakout stars from the group.
While Rollins did win the WWE World Heavyweight championship at WrestleMania earlier this year, the fact of the matter is, WWE was pushing Roman Reigns as the dominant member of The Shield from the very beginning.
The amount of time and patience WWE has invested in Roman Reigns is commendable. WWE has been building Roman since mid 2013, and two years later, WWE finally pulled the trigger with Roman, and made him headline WrestleMania.
However, the fans have a different opinion, as they still think Roman isn’t good enough to be the face of the WWE. It would solve most of WWE’s problems if WWE invests the same amount of time and effort in other superstars, who have the talent and the potential to be the face of WWE.
#4 Winner of Royal Rumble 2015
At the beginning of the year, the hype around the Royal Rumble match surrounded one superstar in particular, and his name isn’t Roman Reigns. With Daniel Bryan returning to in ring competition, the fans were once again behind one of the most beloved superstars in recent memory.
Although the online reports predicted that the WWE were going to go ahead with Roman Reigns, and give him the main event spot at WrestleMania, the fans once again were firmly behind Daniel Bryan, and wanted him to win the Royal Rumble match.
However, Bryan was eliminated mid way, and the Philly crowd almost immediately turned on the WWE and the superstars. All the superstars were booed out of the building, especially Roman Reigns.
After Roman won the match, WWE went for the jugular and sent The Rock for damage control. However, even the great one couldn’t stop the fans from booing Roman Reigns out of the building, once again voicing their displeasure about the booking decisions.
#3 Making Bryan put Reigns over
After the Royal Rumble debacle, the WWE fans once again showed the company that their opinions matter, and started a movement similar to last year’s. Daniel Bryan was once again chosen unanimously by the WWE Universe, and the company needed to make a swift decision.
However, unlike last year, WWE wasn’t prepared to be bullied by their fans, and refused to submit to them. The company went ahead with a program between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan, and in the process, booked Bryan to be the bully, someone who wanted to take away Roman Reigns’ spot.
While the fans were happy for a while, with WWE booking Bryan – Roman Reigns at WWE Fast Lane for the opportunity to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, everyone knew that it was just a ploy by the WWE to put Reigns over.
All those fears came true at Fast Lane, when Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan, as Bryan put WWE’s chosen man over.
#2 Booking him strongly against Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar’s run in 2014 will go down as the most dominant year for any superstar. Lesnar had just beaten The Undertaker at WrestleMania, ending his legendary streak, and at SummerSlam, he defeated the then WWE World Heavyweight champion John Cena in a fashion that the WWE fans haven’t witnessed.
Lesnar destroyed Cena in a lop sided match, and in the process became the most dominant superstar in the WWE. How could WWE put Roman Reigns over? The simple answer was to have him go toe to toe with Lesnar, and give Roman the rub.
At WrestleMania, Lesnar was given a hero’s welcome, while Roman yet again received a very mixed reaction. As expected, Roman went toe to toe with Lesnar; numerous superstars, including Paul Heyman cut promos on the road to WrestleMania about how Roman Reigns was the only superstar who could be a threat to Lesnar’s run as the champion.
But in the end, WWE made the decision to make Seth Rollins the champion, while making Roman Reigns look good against Lesnar.
#1 Constantly pushing him as the greatest force in WWE
This Sunday, Roman will face Sheamus for the WWE World Heavyweight title in a TLC match. Leading up to the PPV, Roman has been booked as the most dominant force in the WWE.
Last week on SmackDown, Roman Reigns faced all the four members of the League of Nations in the main event, and managed to defeat them in a handicap match. Why would the fans care about a group of main eventers if they couldn’t beat just one superstar?
While WWE is hell bent on booking Roman Reigns as the greatest force in the company, and won’t back down from making Reigns the next face of WWE, the sharp decline in the ratings don’t necessarily come as a surprise.
If WWE wants to turn things around, it is advisable for them to listen to the WWE Universe, and give them what they want. However, WWE has come too far with Roman Reigns, and will undoubtedly see it through. One can only hope that the product gets better, or they will lose more fans within the next year.
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