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At the onset of this piece, we would like to clarify that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Joe Anoi'i are not cousins at least not by blood but they are part of the most influential family in professional wrestling, the Anoi'i family.
Over the years, the Anoi'i family has given us superstars like Rocky Johnson, Peter Maivia, Yokozuna and the list is long as practically every male member of this family has been associated with professional wrestling.
The legacy of this great Samoan family continues with the likes of the Rock, The Usos and Roman Reigns carrying the mantle. While this family has given us performers par excellence spanning four generations, two names that stand out from the rest of the pack is that of the Rock and Roman Reigns.
While Yokozuna, The Usos, and Umaga have had successful runs in the WWE even capturing world titles, they certainly did not capture the imagination of WWE audiences like Reigns and Rock have.
They were the blue chip prospects of their time and they both made their debut/ had their first match at the same event i.e, Survivor Series. The Rock had his first match at the event in the year 1996 as the lovable Rocky Maivia, Reigns debuted at Survivor Series 2012 as part of the heel faction - The Shield.
The career trajectory of Reigns and The Rock have been quite similar and starkly different at the same time. While personality wise they are poles apart, here are some similarities and differences between the Big dog and the Great one.
#Similarity: The Chosen One
Belonging to the Great Anoi'i family, it was only natural for The Rock and Roman Reigns to be propped up as the next big thing in the company as the powers that be believed that they were destined for greatness inside the squared circle.
While Reigns was somewhat protected by the presence of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, both of whom had spent a good amount in the independent circuit, The Rock was left all on his own as he debuted as a singles star while Reigns knocked on the main roster as part of the Shield.
The Rock did have the advantage of not being scrutinized day in and day out by the online wrestling community as the medium wasn't even there when The Great One debuted in 1996. But with that being said, both Rock and Reigns were hand-picked by Vince McMahon to lead his company for years to come and they did with a varying degree of success.
#Difference: The Debut Look
Back in the day, The Rock didn't have as well a rounded physique as he does today. The bulky hulk-like human being that we see on our movie screens and occasionally in the wrestling ring was just an average looking dude back in the late 90's.
On the contrary, Reigns has the perfect look needed to become a megastar in the company. He was built like a tank, he could take punishment like no other and he had that wicked smirk on his face.
Roman's physique can be attributed to his early career as a professional football player and while the same can be said about The Rock who was also an ex-professional footballer, the game perhaps wasn't as physically demanding when The Rock was playing as it is now.
#Similarity: Notoriety with factions
The Nation of Domination and The Shield have nothing in common except for the fact that both of these factions played a huge role in shaping the careers of their Samoan members. While The Rock turned heel by joining The Nation of Domination which was the Genesis of his 'The Rock' persona, The Shield provided Reigns with a platform to break the glass ceiling and reach for the stars early on in his career.
While the Nation of Domination feuded largely with DX, The Shield had classic battles with the likes of the Wyatt Family and Evolution. Both these stables were considered to be highly influential and brought a certain flair to the product in their respective times.
The careers of Reigns and The Rock wouldn't have panned out the way it did had they not been part of the aforementioned stables. They owe a huge part of their success to them as they built them from scratch and molded them into the megastars that they became in the future
#Difference: Mic and In-ring Skills
While The Rock is one of the greatest talkers in the history of WWE, Roman Reigns has been criticised time and again for his poor promo skills. There have been numerous instances of Reigns forgetting his lines on Live TV which have been a major source of embarrassment for The Big Dog. The Rock has an excellent grip over the psyche of the fans and has a way with words.
While as a performer Reigns has an upper hand over his fake cousin The Rock. The Rock for all his mic skills and dashing personality is an average in-ring performer at best. His move set is boring as he only uses a handful of moves during his matches and sometimes oversells his opponent's moves to a great extent.
But even with these limitations, both Reigns and Rock have been able to connect with the audience in their own way and have gone to win multiple world championships in their respective careers.
#Similarity: Negativity from the fans
Both The Rock and Roman Reigns have faced severe fan backlash at different points in their career. When the Rock debuted in 1996, he was presented as the lovable baby face 'Rocky Maivia' but the fans rejected him almost immediately and even though he won the Intercontinental Championship under this moniker, chants of 'Rocky Sucks' and 'Die Rocky Die' were a common phenomenon during his matches at that time.
While Roman Reigns didn't face fan criticism that early in his career, he has been subjected to the harshest criticism by wrestling fans and the online wrestling community. Roman was at the right place at the wrong time at the 2015 Royal Rumble when Reigns won the Royal Rumble match despite fans wanting Daniel Bryan to win it.
This started a chain of events where despite being a babyface, Reigns was being booed everytime he stepped into the squared circle and it continues to this date.
While both men have been the subject of criticism by the fans, they both dealt with it differently and this would go on to become a major turning point in their career.
#Difference: Heelish tendencies
If you take a closer look at all the members of Anoi'i family who have had successful runs in the WWE, you will realize that all of them have been great heels. While The Rock debuted as a babyface, the constant fan criticism meant that he eventually turned on the fans and became a heel. As The Rock, he constantly belittled the crowd and hurled insults at them. This cocky and brash attitude made fans gravitate towards him and his eventual face turn became all the more fruitful.
Roman Reigns' story is the exact opposite. He debuted as a heel with The Shield and while the stable did turn face by attacking The Authority before breaking up in 2014, Reigns didn't have a successful run as a true babyface.
Instead of embracing the hate, Reigns has been constantly been pushed down our throats as a lovable babyface who can do no wrong while his attitude and look is that of a cocky and arrogant heel.
Fans have been asking for a Reigns heel turn for ages but somehow the WWE just doesn't seem interested and is adamant in presenting the Florida native as a face to a point where the fans hijack his matches or they just don't react to him.
The mantra of him neither being a good or a bad guy but the guy has fallen flat as the company has been going through some of its toughest times with the big dog at the top of its food chain.
One just hopes that WWE wakes up from this slumber and does something drastic with Reigns before it's too late as time is ticking away. Without it, Roman Reigns will always be the second best in his family when he has all the tools of becoming the greatest performer to have ever come out of the Anoi'i family.
