WWE RAW after AEW Double or Nothing: 5 reasons why Roman Reigns-Shane McMahon feud is bad for business

The last few days in the wrestling world have been quite hectic. AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV ended with Jon Moxley –AKA Dean Ambrose – making an appearance and putting the arena in a frenzy. All eyes were set on WWE as fans were curious to know what the biggest wrestling company are going to put up on Monday Night RAW as a reply to their emerging rivals.

However, RAW fell short of coming up with a fitting reply as the major talking point were Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House, R-Truth’s 24/7 Championship defense and Brock Lesnar’s newly found love for being… enjoyable.

While it was refreshing to see Lesnar like this – who knows, he might as well go down as the most entertaining Money in the Bank holder if he keeps this up – there are some issues that really need to be sorted.

And one of them is Roman Reigns’ feud with Shane McMahon. Last night on RAW, McMahon brought out and beat down a member of Anoa’i Family, Lance Anoa’i, which ended when Reigns came out to the rescue.

This feud hasn’t had any momentum and is not really great for the company – and here are 5 reasons why…

---

#5 Feels forced even with context

A forced storyline

So Reigns was shifted to SmackDown Live and then he punched Vince McMahon and speared Elias to kickstart their rivalry. Shane McMahon, who was still engaged in a feud with the Miz, joined in to take revenge because Reigns hit his father.

While the context is there, the entirety of the feud has felt forced. For starters, Shane McMahon was still embroiled in his feud with the Miz, which dragged on even last week.

In the meantime, Elias got buried and Shane now hangs out with McIntyre while feuding with Reigns, which is absurd in itself (more on that later).

There is just no spark and in this rivalry and it feels like all the men involved are just pushing a cart with square wheels.

#4 Shane McMahon doesn’t need it

Reigns spears Shane

Isn’t this obvious? Shane McMahon, for all the daring moves that he does while in a match, is not really a wrestler. He, like his father, is a promoter and has a share in the WWE.

His job, mainly, is to ‘promote’ other wrestlers and make Superstars out of them. Now, if he was in a feud with a young midcard talent, that would have been understandable to an extent because then he would be shooting the young Superstar to the limelight.

However, he is sharing a rivalry with an already established star like Roman Reigns – and he doesn’t need the limelight that one would get when paired against the Big Dog.

In fact, Reigns, since he is not going to be in the title picture for a while, should be used to work with other midcard talents to showcase their skills against a big star. But then again, WWE put Elias against him and we all know how that ended.

#3 Going down the same route for Reigns

Reigns has been unbeatable

Ever since Roman Reigns returned after recuperating from leukemia, he has been rather unbeatable. He won clean against Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania – which was quite a dent on the momentum of the Scottish Psychopath – and then had a program with Elias.

After weeks of weak buildup, the pair faced each other at Money In The Bank and Roman Reigns absolutely buried Elias by squashing him within seconds. With the conclusion of that ‘feud’, Reigns is now up against the son of the chairman, who is accompanied by Drew McIntyre.

So far, the Big Dog has gotten the better of McMahon and it is likely to continue being this way. WWE are portraying him as an unbeatable force – like they have been in the past – before he enters the title picture.

And while it is not entirely a bad thing to do, the lack of natural feeling to it puts Reigns in the risk of getting on the wrong side of the fans – and, once again, it won’t be his fault.

#2 Demeaning Drew McIntyre

McIntyre has been taking superman punches left, right and center

The biggest problem with making Reigns look so strong is how badly it has impacted Drew McIntyre. When he came back to the main roster last year, McIntyre was being displayed as an unstoppable force capable of beating anyone down.

He was going strong until he was pitted against Reigns. Since then, it has been a downhill journey for the Scottish Psychopath. From WrestleMania to this moment, he has only had one win and that, too, wasn’t a clean one.

Now, he is hanging around with Shane McMahon as a bodyguard and is taking the superman punches from Roman Reigns in a frequent manner. For someone who was built up so well in the last year, all the momentum that McIntyre had is now gone – and the part he is playing in this feud has made it even worse.

#1 Fans don’t want it

Nobody wants to see this anymore

Now, I am not one of those guys who thinks that his opinion is shared by everyone else. However, in this case, I am quite confident that no-one really wants to see this program anymore.

Don’t believe me? All you have to do is go on YouTube and read the comments posted under the videos displaying this rivalry. Even the comments on Facebook are a good place to research.

The fact is, during Shane McMahon’s ‘match’ against Lance Anoa’i, the crowd made their displeasure known by chanting ‘this is awful’ because truth be told, it really was.

The Authority going against a top Superstar is a storyline that has been done to death and fans are really not keen in investing their time and interest in something so repetitive.

If WWE don’t finish this feud at Super ShowDown, things could get worse.