MR. TITO: Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 42, WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Hype, Unreal Season 2 on Netflix, and Much More
The Excellence in Column Writing is back in your face and we’re just going to shoot from the hip with no set column format and just hit random topics as we head into WWE’s Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania season as all of the other wannabe promotions fight over the scraps. Sorry, but I’m LAUGHING at TNA’s less than 200,000 viewership for their debut show on top cable channel AMC. Years of treading water as a promotion will deliver near results previously seen for the past 15 years on whatever cable channel you’re on. Now, expect them to want more from “Daddy WWE” to save them.
Before I head into topics, I was wanting to see the College Football Playoff in the comfort of my own home and with that, I painfully forked over the $29.99 for ESPN+. Thus, I have the subscription to actually watch the Royal Rumble… Excuse me, the “Oil Rumble” next week. So yay for me, but let me just suggest that this ESPN+ platform SUCKS. Difficult to find stuff to watch, videos are glitching, and there’s nothing else WWE related to watch on this platform versus the older WWE Network and what Peacock gave us. Though Peacock didn’t have what the original WWE Network fully had, I enjoyed binging NBC/Universal stuff that I hadn’t seen yet when I’d buy just the major PLE events.
Wrestling fans are getting RIPPED OFF HARD with this new ESPN+ deal. What a joke for this $30 price tag, and I find myself considering to skip Wrestlemania 42 this year unless the card is worthy of my time. Sorry, but paying $10-15 and then expecting to pay $30 for LESS in return is absurd to me and TKO can stick it, brother.
I’ll maintain my “write when I want” mode when topics are relevant to get me out and about.
On to some various wrasslin’ topics.
Where is Roman Reigns for Wrestlemania 42?
As the plans formulate, there are discussions as to who will go for which world title and wrestle when on the Wrestlemania card. CM Punk is the World Heavyweight Champion while Drew McIntyre is the current WWE Champ. Seems to me that Cody Rhodes is going to win either the Rumble (3 times winner?!?) or the Elimination Chamber to face Drew McIntyre at WM 42. That leaves CM Punk… I believe we’re going to see Gunther vs. Brock Lesnar at WM 42, so thus that leaves CM Punk without a credible opponent. Obvious to me, it should be Roman Reigns.
BUT – I’m not to keen on pushing Roman Reigns to the moon right now. After all, he’s the “public school teacher” of the WWE because once Wrestlemania is completed, he just disappears until SummerSlam without any storyline explanation (Shawn Michaels used to be very similar, as Kevin Nash once noted for desiring summers off from wrestling). Even after SummerSlam, his participation is questionable. All it takes is his desire to spend more time with his family (which I respect) or maybe a movie role, and he just suddenly disappears.
Here is Roman’s last 5 years of output.
2021: 61
2022: 52
2023: 11
2024: 6
2025: 7
And yes, I am of the belief that “less is more” when it comes to professional wrestling, as over-exposing yourself weekly on RAW or Smackdown reduces the shine from a wrestler.
But where I think Roman peaked was through 2023 when he held BOTH WWE Titles of both RAW and Smackdown, but you barely saw him with his mere 11 matches. Hence why the WWE merged his 2 titles and re-created the World Heavyweight Championship for RAW. Read through the complaints of fans during 2023, and it was heavily based on the fact that Roman barely appeared as champion.
Now, if you look at his 2021 and 2022 numbers, those match counts are actually lower than his previous output of 100-250 matches per year.
And yes, Brock Lesnar was a part-time wrestler who wrestled a very limited schedule, mostly being exclusive to PLEs which is what Roman has evolved into. HOWEVER, what made Brock Lesnar BEFORE 2020 and Roman Reigns of 2020-2023 very similar is that they didn’t have to attend every show and could utilize Paul Heyman as their proxy. When Brock and Roman took time off, Heyman was there to still cut promos and maintain their presence and keep their hype and mystiques as the top stars still alive. For Roman, he also had the fellow Bloodline members during 2021-2023 to also keep the storylines going when Roman took time off.
THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE…
Look what happened during 2024 and 2025, however, for Roman Reigns.
For 2024, Roman Reigns lost his WWE Title at Wrestlemania 40. Rather that pursuing an obvious “rematch clause”, he disappears and doesn’t show up again until SummerSlam 2024. There was ZERO anger from Roman about losing his WWE Title and things were made even worse when Paul Heyman was powerbombed through a table during late June 2024 at the MSG Smackdown episode by the new Bloodline with Solo Sikoa claiming himself as the “head of the table”. We heard NOTHING from Roman and he never cared one iota about Heyman getting attacked by this new Bloodline group.
For 2025, Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman completed screwed him at Wrestlemania 41. On the night after RAW, at least they sort of tried to explain his Summer Vacation by having Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins. Still, he disappeared for 3 months to return later in July to feud with Bron and newly joined Vision member Bronson Reed for SummerSlam time. Shortly thereafter, he’s off to filming something again. Then he comes back during November for Survivor Series time in a slapped together WarGames match.
In my view, Roman is NOT the same without the Bloodline stable and Paul Heyman supporting him, even when Roman is gone for a while. With the Bloodline and Paul, they maintained the presence of the “head of the table” but without it, you forget that Roman is the top guy on the WWE roster. He seems lost and the match quality just isn’t the same without that hype of belonging to the Bloodline or having Paul Heyman in your corner.
He’s kind of reverted back to that LAME and BORING babyface character that wasn’t exciting during the late 2010s.
THAT’s the difference, folks… Before 2024, he had Heyman and the Bloodline maintaining his presence as the top guy. Now, that hype machine no longer exists and Roman lacks that sense of purpose other than bragging he’s the “Original Tribal Chief”. So what? You disposed of solo to start 2025, YET you were denied that big storyline with the Rock that leads to Rock putting over Roman. There’s just no purpose to Roman, other than riding off the fumes of the prior years when the Bloodline was cool. Hell, everyone involved with the Bloodline, past or present, are struggling and that includes Heyman going through the motions as the manager of the revolving door Vision.
Big creative changes are needed for Roman… He needs to take the training wheels off and begin obliterating the WWE roster again. Go into the Rumble, eliminate 10 people, and make it ZERO question who THE GUY is. Then, stick it to “old man” CM Punk convincingly at Wrestlemania 42. Then on the RAW after WM 42, the Rock’s pompous and pampered ass gets flown in to attack Roman Reigns to FINALLY set-up the match we’ve all wanted. And then we’re back on track.
No triple threat matches, no fatal four ways… Just have a babyface character that kicks ass and doesn’t take crap from anyone. Getting placed in a lame WarGames match or having to LOSE to jabronies like Bronson Reed isn’t the way to handle what you consider a top star.
And yes, “less is more”… But if you don’t maintain some form of presence, such as Paul Heyman talking about you in high regard weekly, then we’ll forget about your greatness.
*****
Royal Rumble – Where’s the Beef?
Right now, we keep hearing of a LACK of hype for the 2026 Royal Rumble or as I call it, the “Oil Rumble” because getting this show in Saudi Arabia was fully paid by oil money.
I just don’t think the WWE has any reason to sell tickets, as things are handled differently in Saudi Arabia with tickets to patrons versus trying to sell them here in North America. While the Rumble itself sells, sometimes they need to do a little more with participants and positioning of wrestlers to get North American crowds convinced to part with their money.
I just think with the Oil Rumble 2026, WWE already has their money and doesn’t have to work for it compared to selling tickets somewhere here in North America. WWE makes no money off of ticket sales in Saudi, which is the difference.
*****
Will you give Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) a try?
I still need to, as I’ve heard good things about the promotion particularly with Vince Russo motivated and writing again. I’m glad that he’s back, doing what he loves…
Regardless of what you think about Russo, he has a legitimate track record of writing for WWE during its boom period of 1997-1999 and then WWE began to decline through mid-2000 after he left. However, Russo was in WCW during the year 2000 and those storylines, including making himself WCW Champion along with David Arquette, were awful. WCW during 2000 was pure garbage, with over 20 WCW Title changes and many vacancies. And then there is WCW Bash at the Beach 2000, which was a total embarrassment aside from making Booker T champion.
His TNA stuff is mixed for me, but I know many who liked it…
If you’re going to set-up Vince Russo to succeed you either need to give him a stacked roster, which he had during 1997-1999 to work with, or cut all of the corporate red tape and just let him go for it. I think what JCW has obtained is an older, wiser Vince Russo who has had time to reflect on his career while also discussing things with wrestling fans via his podcast. As I get older, I totally get that perspective as wisdom and hindsight can make you improve upon things. In my opinion, Triple H returned to the WWE as a better man for the job during 2022 after reflecting what he tried and failed to do for WWE during 2012-2019.
Good for Russo and good for JCW. If I find time, I’ll give it a try…
I’m a big hesitant on JCW, as I still bear scars from being threatened by Insane Clown Posse (ICP) fans anytime I dared to discuss their appearances in the WWE and WCW during my past columns. But hey, ICP has been in the wrestling business for a while now and might surprise me.
*****
I don’t like WWE Unreal on Netflix
Watching Season 2, I’m seeing the WWE expose way too much of their “secret sauce” on Netflix. Specifically, the backstage production table micro-managing literally everything that happens inside and outside of the ring. If I’d suggest ONE EDIT to these shows, I’d remove that part because it makes the wrestlers appear like scripted robots rather than wrestlers performing. When you have Triple H screaming at everyone to tell Pat McAfee to sell the attack from Gunther, it completely exposes the business.
Yes, I know, “kayfabe” is long lost… But by openly having Triple H or his road agents sending communications to the referees or other WWE officials to tell the wrestlers what to specifically do, I lack any belief in what the wrestlers do.
If they removed that exposed micro-managing, I’d like the show a lot more. You could still have the life stories, show everyone working hard backstage, etc. But to show WWE producers screaming in microphones and instructing the wrestlers via the referee makes the WWE look very tacky from this Unreal show. If they removed the exposure of that, then fans wouldn’t openly know how controlling that production table is backstage and then the action inside the ring looks more credible.
I thought the show really exposed the weakness of having Road Dogg on Creative, as he’s just weak on ideas, and how impulsive Triple H really is in wanting surprises to happen. Road Dogg, who came from a wrestling family and has years of experience, just doesn’t seem to understand creative or how to convey it to other performers. Triple H, on the other hand, legitimately wanted Pat McAfee to defeat Gunther as a shock or surprise to fans until being talked out of it by another Creative Team member. That kind of tells me how reliant HHH is on how to manipulate fans with different shocks or twists, even when they are bad decisions.
If WWE removed the production table to ring communication, the show would be more enjoyable. However, because it’s there, I see nothing but constant micro-managing. And if you’ve worked in any corporate setting, being micro-managed sucks.
So what are your thoughts? Professionally state them down below in the Comments section. Thanks!
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