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Roman is arguably one of the biggest and most successful stars in the WWE. With an impressive ‘grand slam’ of championships under his belt and a steady portfolio of high calibre main events, there is no doubt that he is the future of the WWE; at least he is in the eyes of one man…Vince McMahon.
You need to look no further than the rise of Daniel Bryan and CM Punk to realise that even though they were arguably the hottest acts in the company, the top brass never thought enough of them to push them through that elusive ‘glass ceiling’, yet in Roman’s case he has been given opportunity after opportunity to stumble and grow due to Vince McMahon’s clear vision of what he sees as the ‘top draw’ for the future of his company.
The downside of this? Vince’s mentality of what a wrestler (sorry, sports entertainer) should be in 2017 seems to be extremely different to the vocal majority’s vision. Creating an almost surreal atmosphere where fans can hijack the show at the drop of a dime.
Now I am not saying that Roman doesn’t deserve his position (and his matches with the likes of Brock Lesner prove that he can hang with the best), I am saying that Vince’s vision has started to blind his judgement. No longer does he listen to his audience and plan ahead, he is simply going through the motions and hoping his tried and tested formula of ‘one guy on top’ will win out as history has dictated. It worked for Hogan, Hart, Shawn, Austin, Rock and Cena, why not Roman?
The problem? The rise of the aforementioned superstars relied on an organic breakthrough moment and not one crafted in a boardroom in Stamford. Wrestling may be seen as ‘low brow’ to the outside media but passionate wrestling fans who support the product are not easily hoodwinked and with wrestling as a medium now more accessible thanks to the rise of streaming services, the WWE needs to adapt and listen to their fans and break their self-created mould.
Roman needs to prove his worth on his own terms and not one created by Vince McMahon. Don’t believe me? Simply look back to Cena’s US Open Challenge two years ago and see how Cena, who was no longer pushed in the main event slot, flourished and rejuvenated his acceptance with even the most hardcore fans by putting on incredible matches with some of the best up and coming stars in the company and finally showing the ‘hardcore’ fans that he truly deserved his place at the top of the podium.
The solution to the Roman problem is to make the audience forget that he is the ‘chosen one’ by simply letting him go out there and prove his worth with the best the WWE has to offer.
With his newly captured US title, one can only hope he, like Cena, can shake off the shackles of being Vince’s project and flourish into the accepted World Champion at the top of his game.
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