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We're five days away from the Greatest Royal Rumble, a house show which has quickly transformed into a second WrestleMania of sorts. If the chatter is to be believed, it's the latest attempt at a Roman Reigns coronation. It comes after four years of trying, and the saga of Roman Reigns as a main eventer has been one of continuous failure. Even if this is truly "it," the outcome matters little.
Roman Reigns is a talented performer and sells a lot of merchandise, but frankly, he's never going to get over as the company's leading babyface. He'll never be able to properly assume the position once held by Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and John Cena. And while Cena himself had problems, Roman Reigns is hated far more than his "predecessor" ever was.
Four years of horrendous booking are more to blame for this situation than Roman Reigns himself, and yet, Vince McMahon still hasn't learned and refuses to change his approach, even after 9 times he screwed his own golden goose.
#1: The 2014-15 rocket push
The Shield was obviously formed as a vehicle to get Roman Reigns over. From 2012-14, it was doing its job. Roman Reigns was very popular as part of the group, as were Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, who have retained their popularity.
Many fans regard the breakup as having happened too soon, and immediately afterward, Roman Reigns was rocketed to main event status. A 2014 injury put him on the shelf for a few months, but he nonetheless won the Slammy for Superstar of the Year. That's also when some signs of trouble brewed.
His popularity began to wane as 2014 came to a close and he delivered his first infamous botched promo when he declared he would enter the 2015 Royal Rumble. He would go on to deliver his laughing stock Jack and the Beanstalk promo in January 2015.
It was already clear that Roman Reigns was the desired second coming of John Cena, but was nowhere near as charismatic. His immediate push into main event status also exposed that he wasn't quite yet ready for the spotlight, which would become clearer and clearer as time went on. Vince McMahon's impatience set the stage poorly for things to come.
#2: The 2015 Royal Rumble
This was a decisive setback for the Roman Reigns push. Timing is everything in this world and Daniel Bryan's story arc wasn't yet done. Fans wanted to see their favourite come back from injury, win the Rumble he should have won the year before, and ultimately win back the title he never lost. Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar would be the ultimate David and Goliath story.
When Bryan was announced as a Royal Rumble contestant, fans got excited.
Then he got unceremoniously dumped out in 10 minutes. Fans were livid. Almost the entire match from there on out was a disaster and Roman Reigns' victory was showered with boos. Fans got the impression that Roman Reigns was taking an opportunity from Daniel Bryan, and that image hasn't been shaken since. Daniel Bryan's subsequent endorsement added fuel to the fire, as it felt forced and insincere.
#3: The Build to WrestleMania 31
The build to WrestleMania 31 was rife with terrible promos where Roman Reigns made a fool of himself. When that wasn't happening, Paul Heyman was putting Reigns over above Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and John Cena. It felt even more insincere.
And that whole tug of war business was pretty terrible as a go-home segment to sell the pay-per-view.
The whole thing was disaster piled on disaster.
#4: WrestleMania 31
Ironically, Vince McMahon's failure to complete the initial rocket push of Roman Reigns has led to far more problems than it solved.
Fans often complain about 50/50 booking in WWE, but ironically, Roman Reigns is possibly its biggest victim. After being pushed to the moon, he fell just short of the goal. The first time this occurred was at WrestleMania 31 where, after a slobberknocker with Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns failed to capture the championship due to Seth Rollins' historic cash-in.
Roman Reigns cooled off from there for most of the remainder of 2015, but when he heated up again, apathy grew.
#5: WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania 32 was the second attempt at a coronation, the culmination of many months of throwing obstacles in Roman Reigns' way for him to overcome. It was WWE's attempt to recreate the Daniel Bryan saga of two years earlier. Predictably, it was a failure, as fans reviled the inauthentic story.
The main event with Triple H was a particular disaster, with fans booing it out of the building or shouting the names of wrestlers not involved in the match or storyline in any way. It didn't help that the match was widely regarded as one of the worst WrestleMania main events.
With Roman Reigns, this wouldn't be the first time this happened.
#6: Failing to turn him heel after his suspension
In the summer of 2016, Roman Reigns, in the midst of a title run, was suspended after failing WWE's drug tests. It was an embarrassing moment for the company, its chosen ace having been outed for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
It was the perfect moment for a heel turn, even more so than the many opportunities that had presented themselves over the previous two years. Instead, Roman Reigns returned as a babyface as if nothing had happened, despite fans hating him even more as a result of his transgressions, and desperate to cheer Seth Rollins.
It was a willful ignoring of reality by Vince McMahon, and the result was that people grew even more apathetic about Roman Reigns, as nothing would change his hated character.
#7: WrestleMania 33: The aftermath
Talk about a good time to turn Roman Reigns heel! Even more than in the aftermath of his suspension, this was the time. It was one of the most hated crowd reactions in years, as fans were livid that Roman Reigns appeared to have retired the beloved and legendary Undertaker.
Instead, Vince McMahon decided to continue on as usual, with no change in Roman Reigns' character except perhaps him not trying to be John Cena anymore. That would bode ill for the year to come. Though Roman Reigns had proven himself ready for the spotlight at this point in his career, despite his still-mediocre promos, fans' impressions of him were set in stone, and Vince McMahon did nothing to change them.
#8: WrestleMania 34
As soon as Kevin Owens dropped the Universal Championship to Goldberg at Fastlane 2017, fans got wind of WWE's plans. Vince McMahon would have Brock Lesnar defeat Goldberg, reign for a year, and drop the championship to Roman Reigns, completing the story arc begun at the 2015 Royal Rumble.
It was a match few fans anticipated and the result was that the year felt wasted. Despite how hot Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman became in the interceding months, they had a glass ceiling they couldn't break through because of Vince McMahon's stubborn plan.
The result was a match that fans hated long before the bell rang, and they showed it in New Orleans. Beach ball mania ran wild once again. Fans chanted "Rusev Day" and "this is awful!" Like WrestleMania 32, they cared about anything other than what was happening in the ring.
It didn't help that the match was abysmal, filled with finisher spams and zero storytelling. Roman's shocking loss was unexpected, but after heating him up so much prior to the show, his defeat after such a terrible match felt like a burial, giving fans even less reason to care about the guy. It was 50/50 booking all over again.
#9: The Road to Saudi Arabia
In the aftermath of his humiliation in New Orleans, Roman Reigns has changed somewhat. Namely, he's cast himself in the role of crybaby over his booking. Vince McMahon is trying too hard to break the fourth wall with these promos, which aren't as cringeworthy as Roman's early promos, but they're still awful nonetheless.
Samoa Joe rubbed his humiliation in even further, basically calling him a whiny choke artist. It sure felt like Joe was right.
If the Greatest Royal Rumble is indeed finally the end of this long, torturous road that's lasted since Brock Lesnar broke The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 30, it comes after a botched story that is likely the most terrible main event tale WWE has ever told.
And it won't matter. If Vince McMahon is planning to have the title change in a friendlier venue where Roman Reigns will be cheered, it's only a short-term boost, because he'll come back home and be booed out of the building again. Not even a heel turn is likely to save him at this point. It's hard to feel anything at all for Roman Reigns now, even utter revulsion.
Roman Reigns is more talented than many fans give him credit for, but in an ironic twist, the saga has shown that talent doesn't matter as much as we think, because Vince McMahon has thoroughly screwed his own chosen one, talent and all.
