MR. TITO: The Future of Roman Reigns in the WWE: Remain Heel or Return to Babyface?

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The viewership numbers for WWE Smackdown arrived and set a few people into panic… The initial overnight numbers actually had the show under 2 million viewers and that wasn’t quite expected for a show headlined by Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. However, the revised final numbers are at 2,018,000 average viewers but is still well below last week’s 2,121,000 viewers that lacked a largely hyped Main Event. The “Wrestlemania bounce” is dying by the week.

And then we’ll hear about the “NFL Draft” excuse. For one, this was the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the Draft AND it started at 7pm this time around. On ABC, the Draft numbers were barely holding at 2 million themselves while ESPN’s numbers (as of Sunday morning writing this) have yet to be released.

Back in my day, you know, the WWE/WCW MONDAY NIGHT WARS… Opposing programming was NEVER an excuse. Both WWE RAW and WCW Nitro drew 5 million fans per week through 1998 and they were up against a STRONGER NFL Monday Night Football product on the ABC Network that remained consistently above 20 million viewers (more than half of what it does now on ESPN) and could trend up to 30 million depending on the teams or match-up. Late 1990s also had the Clinton Impeachment trials that had high ratings back then. On top of that, both RAW and Nitro also dealt with Playoff games, State of the Union Addresses, and things like the Internet and Video games also existed back then. People also went outside back then and did things (imagine that!). Oh, and RAW and Nitro also had each other as competition to eat each other alive!!!

That goes to show you the LENGTH of the excuses that the everyday online wrestling fan now has for defending LOW QUALITY pro wrestling promotions. Notice how quiet AEW fans are now that they’ve lost more than 300,000 viewers in 3 weeks for AEW Dynamite and drawing under 900,000 viewers again? Oh wait, the President’s address to Congress speech happened on Wednesday… Did you know that this speech was one of the lowest viewed speeches of that nature in recent times?

Here is TRUTH of what happened to Friday’s WWE Smackdown viewership… WWE fans didn’t have faith in Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan as a match-up. Period, end of story.

That’s the truth, and it’s mostly an indictment of Daniel Bryan and the way he has been presented since 2018 when he returned to the ring. Bryan returned and he was thrust into the Shane McMahon vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens feud. Then, he was mocked and buried by Big Cass. All downhill after that. Sure, the WWE briefly made him WWE champ but the WWE gave into the online marks by having him drop the title to Kofi Kingston, who took Smackdown’s ratings downward with him. He was shoved into the Wrestlemania 37 match only to have Roman pin him and Edge at the same time.

There was ZERO CHANCE that Daniel Bryan was going to win that Smackdown match. You knew it, and I knew it. Since he lost, he is now BANNED from Smackdown… And that’s one less opponent for Roman Reigns to wrestle.

This is the continual problem of the WWE. Everybody on the main WWE Roster is over-exposed from appearing on 2-3 hours per week and then once a month on Pay Per View. Nothing is “special” right now for the WWE. The guy that felt like a big deal, Brock Lesnar, has yet to appear in the WWE but felt strong because he only appeared on 3-4 Pay Per Views per year. When you appear and wrestle every week on television, the “Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility” kicks in as an economic term. Simply put, imagine trying to eat 2 boxes of large pizzas. The first few might taste really good, but each added piece of pizza doesn’t taste as good… Then, you start to feel full. If you eat way too much, you’ll get sick. So use that analogy with seeing a wrestler way too much.

In addition to the WWE Main Roster being full of over-exposed wrestlers with no unique match-ups available whatsoever… The NXT roster doesn’t have ready-made stars for the main WWE roster. They are either undersized as performers or just don’t have the promo cutting ability or personality to draw for the main WWE roster. I keep hearing complaints about WWE Creative mowing down the NXT call-ups, but I seem to recall a Stephanie McMahon led Creative Team mowing down OVW call-ups during the 2000s too. “Deacon” Batista anyone? Hell, they made Nick Dinsmore appear as a mentally handicapped wrestler!

And then that leaves us with Roman Reigns, who APPEARS to be the WWE’s #1 star. Yeah, I guess that we can agree to that as WWE Smackdown was beginning to freefall below 2 million viewers on FOX until Roman’s WWE return since SummerSlam 2020. I cannot dispute what he has been from August 2020 through May 2021… He finally has the experience to pull off the in-ring part of it (huge hole in his past game) and the heel character fits who he really is versus the overpushed babyface character. Having Paul Heyman around to agent his every move and promo is a major plus, too. Changing his look (no more bulletproof vest, thank God) and now changing his music… These are the character makeover suggestions that I’ve been writing about for YEARS.

But where do you go from here with Roman Reigns? That’s the problem…

Because I have a hunch that Vince McMahon wants Roman to return to being a babyface sometime soon. If you don’t believe me, just observe the beginning of Wrestlemania 37 where Roman was in a full suit and standing right beside Vince. Not Shane, but Roman was standing beside Vince. That was done on purpose as Vince wanted everyone to know who his #1 guy was. 1 night later, Roman disposes of Edge and Bryan at the same time to prove that point.

Personally for me, I’d keep Roman as a heel until the wheels fall off… It’s perfect for him. Some guys just aren’t natural at acting like a fan favorite. John Cena could do it, even though in his personal life, he’s a big smug himself and has weird quirks as seen on Total Bellas or heard on interviews when he’s not in character. Roman Reigns, however, just felt forced when he was trying to act like a babyface from 2014 through 2018. He seems put off by fans, at times, and I’ve heard it for years that he was a tough SOB to deal with on the football field sidelines too. The only time that he felt real and personal was when he announced that his Leukemia returned and Roman seemed a bit more real with his character when he returned during 2019. Shortly after that, the WWE returned him to his scripted babyface character and it was lame all over again.

HOWEVER – Where are the babyfaces to oppose him as a heel? Edge and Daniel Bryan are done with him. See ya. Cesaro. Yeah, we all like him and have been begging the WWE for years to push him… But Vince and Creative doesn’t like him and his inability to cut promos will limit him from being a top babyface. It’s way too early for Big E, as he’s struggling to shed that New Day goofball gimmick. There is not much else on that Smackdown roster, guys… There isn’t much on the RAW roster to transfer to Smackdown, sadly. We’ve seen Drew vs. Roman before. Not much on that NXT roster to bring up and push, either.

And you have FEWER options if you turn Roman Reigns into a babyface. Besides an older Bobby Lashley on RAW, what do you have as potential heel opponents for a newly turned babyface Roman Reigns?

Once again, the phrase of “those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it” quote by George Santayana from the early 1900s comes into play. We have 2014 through early 2020 of history to observe with Roman Reigns being pushed hard as a #1 babyface to review. It didn’t go well:

(a) WWE went from selling around 10,000 per televised show to hoping for 5,000 tickets sold with much of the arena tarped off.

(b) Houseshows were beginning to be cancelled after performing well with John Cena as the top guy.

(c) RAW’s television viewership went from just above 4 million throughout 2014 and early 2015 to pushing towards 2 million by 2018 when Roman was the top guy.

(d) Merchandise sales declined. It took Roman Reigns the Spring of 2018 to overtake John Cena as the #1 merchandise seller. Mind you, John Cena barely appeared with the WWE from 2016-2018 and was pushed as the US Champion during 2015.

(e) WWE Network subscriptions began declining since its peak of 2nd Quarter 2018. If you’ll recall for the lead-up to SummerSlam 2018, the storyline was ripping on Brock Lesnar not being dedicated to the WWE as a part-timer. Then, Roman defeated him at SummerSlam 2018 and the Lesnar “golden goose” for the WWE Network was done. WWE Network went from 1.7 million subs to being under 1.5 million to start 2020.

ALL OF THOSE declining numbers DESPITE the WWE pushing Roman Reigns HARD as the #1 babyface from early 2014 through early 2020.

Just look at the CLEAN WINS that the WWE gave Roman Reigns against ALL TIME GREATS:

(1) Defeats CM Punk cleanly in a singles match.
(2) Scores the winning pinfall in BOTH Shield wins over Evolution
(3) Defeats Randy Orton cleanly in a singles match.
(4) Defeats Daniel Bryan repeatedly and cleanly in singles matches.
(5) Defeats Triple H cleanly in a singles match.
(6) Defeats Undertaker cleanly in a singles match (Roman couldn’t lift him).
(7) Defeats John Cena cleanly in a singles match.

Roman was supposed to defeat Bill Goldberg too at Wrestlemania 36 but was sent home due to COVID-19 fears. As you saw with WM 36, Braun Strowman smashed Bill Goldberg at that event. That should have been Roman to add another feather to his cap on top talents defeated cleanly as a babyface.

According to the Internet Wrestling Database, Roman Reigns 69% of his matches in the WWE and mind you, this includes any Tag Matches that he was involved with as well. Aside from his losses to Brock Lesnar, Roman’s singles career likely has a higher winning %.

YET, for all of that Creative CHARITY… Roman did NOT draw as the #1 pushed babyface. Re-read the facts presented to you about Viewership, Attendance, Houseshows, Merchandise, and WWE Network Subscription declines SINCE the Roman Reigns mega-push began during 2014. The evidence is RIGHT THERE for everyone to read and consume.

The real question, however, is WHY didn’t Roman Reigns draw from 2014-2020? It’s obvious to me, but I’ll list the reasons once again:

– Roman was heavily scripted as a babyface and thus his ability to connect with fans was never there. “Suffering Succotash” was actually said in a scripted promo by Roman Reigns.

– His look and music. He looked like he never evolved from the Shield, whereas Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose both did. Kept the same music and kept wearing the bulletproof vests.

– Lack of experience. He is a homegrown talent and thus August 2010 debut at FCW was his start after a few months of training. By late 2015, he becomes WWE Champion. Aside from genetic freaks like the Rock, Kurt Angle, and Brock Lesnar, it takes YEARS of blood, sweat, and tears to get to a major World Title spot and working your way up through multiple promotions. Steve Austin, for example, took 9 years to win a World Title in a major spot and he went through a ton of adversity to get there. 16 years for Mick Foley. 6 for Hogan to become WWE Champion, but was well traveled by then. 12 years for Shawn Michaels. 16 years for Bret Hart. 9 years for Ric Flair.

– Conditioning issues. I used to comment how he was always out of breath based on how I perceived he was sucking wind during matches. Roman did all moves where he either ran across the ring or brawled on the outside. The style wasn’t conducive to having longer matches and it showed. He was too reliant on spots and not on psychology. Then, the 2018 Leukemia announcement began to make sense and we didn’t know about him having the same issue in the past. On top of that, his look changed drastically after the 2016 Wellness Policy violation. Look at how ripped it was before that and he wasn’t afterward. This heavily explains his struggles to lift the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33.

– Just had bad matches, period. Aside from his 2 matches with AJ Styles, Hell in a Cell with Bray Wyatt, and his matches with Daniel Bryan… He doesn’t have any strong matches to brag out of anything that nearly sniffed being a “Match of the Year” candidate. That circles back to having a LACK of in-ring experience due to him being rushed too fast to the World Title and main event scene ON TOP OF having terrible promo cutting ability that struggled to connect his matches with the fans.

Now…

Fast forward to what you see with Roman Reigns through May 2021… He is approaching being a 11 year veteran of the WWE. As a heel and working with Paul Heyman, he’s allowed to go off-script for his promo and his character. He’s a better worker now as an almost 11 year veteran with Paul Heyman also agenting his matches. Instead of running all the time, brawling, and relying on trademark moves (Drive By, Spear, Superman Punch), he’s using psychology to torture his opponents throughout the match and that saves him physically. He added a submission hold… New music, new look, better promo cutting abilities as a heel, and appears to be in improved physical shape.

In my opinion, too, the TIME OFF between late 2018 through 2019 and the Wrestlemania 36 to SummerSlam 2020 did Roman Reigns a huge favor. It allowed him time-off to reflect upon his career and think about what he’d do differently. Sometimes you need time-off to recharge but in his case, think about what went wrong from 2014-2018 in particular and how to improve upon it.

What you’ve seen from SummerSlam 2020 through May 2021 is an older, wiser, and more experienced Roman Reigns. The Vince McMahon prophecy has come true, but it took about 11 years to get there. There’s a good chance that a babyface turn COULD WORK because the Roman Reigns of 2021 is FAR MORE READY for it than he was during 2014-2020. Many of the BEST babyfaces ever had to learn how to work as a HEEL before they could turn BABYFACE. Just look at EVERYONE: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Steve Austin, Rock, John Cena, etc. As Jim Cornette recently said on a Podcast, the trick for a heel to babyface turn is to not to change a character overnight but to let this heel use heel antics against other heels. See Steve Austin during 1997, as he was using underhanded methods to attack the Hard Foundation and he physically harmed Vince McMahon & the entire Corporation from 1998-1999.

Meanwhile, the rest of the WWE roster surrounding Roman Reigns has been depleted.

THAT will continue to be the issue with Roman Reigns. Sure, he has improved… But the rest of the WWE roster and infrastructure HAS NOT. He has nobody to wrestle and may be reliant on the WWE bringing back an older name like Bill Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, the Rock, Mark Henry, or even CM Punk to draw interest… But those would be for like 1 event a piece. What does Roman do for the rest of the year?

So yeah… The Roman Reigns of 2021 is great and is probably the only guy I care to watch in the WWE right now. I’ll admit it…

BUT the mistake that the WWE made with Roman from 2014 through early 2020 cannot be denied and the WWE sabotaged the rest of the roster in order to help Roman appear like a #1 babyface. Yet, Attendance, Viewership, Merchandise, Houseshow, and WWE Network Sub numbers don’t lie… Then, look at how many wrestlers either jumped off that sinking ship or were perceived by the WWE as worthy of being terminated: Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Rusev (Miro), Luke Harper(Brodie Lee), Dean Ambrose(Jon Moxley), The Revival (FTR), and others (many developmental projects). WWE Creative SCREWED EVERYONE but Roman Reigns from 2014-2020 and what remains is a very weak WWE roster depleted by free agents or terminations while the incoming classes of NXT call-ups are weak under Triple H for male wrestlers.

Overpushing Roman and underpushing everyone else was done in attempt to force Roman Reigns to replace John Cena as the #1 babyface. Yet, the WWE didn’t realize that John Cena organically became the #1 babyface and had 2 years of growing on the midcard as a singles wrestler before achieving that goal. Cena was a heel for much of 2003 and the fans loved the character so much that it turned him babyface. Then, Cena proved himself as a singles superstar and carried the US Title well during 2004. That earned him a shot at the WWE Title for Wrestlemania 21 and the rest is history. Roman did NOT have that kind of organic growth. It was completely forced and Roman Reigns was NOT READY during 2014 for this type of mega-push. The rest of the WWE roster paid for it and HALF of the WWE audience left permanently because of this Roman push. The numbers don’t lie.

The WWE’s Talent Developmental and Creative infrastructure is in dire need of repair… THAT is the issue… This poor system is what tried to overpush Roman Reigns while also failing to take care of other wrestlers. NXT has not provided Vince with great talent as Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) has as seen the many more WWE World Title reigns given to them over the last 10 years versus NXT call-ups.

Vince McMahon recognizes this issue, somewhat, hence why he has moved Triple H out of (a) Creative by creating Executive Director positions (Heyman & Bischoff didn’t last, Prichard remains) and (b) Talent Development by bringing back John Laurinaitis. Yet, these are returning names and are not adding anything fresh to the WWE. Then, Triple H lost yet another role or has a role reduced with Adam Pearce being promoted to Director of Live Events. Shake-ups are happening internally at the WWE, with Nick Khan shaking up the Corporate structure… But are they the right moves? Will it undo a lost decade over potentially mismanaging using Triple H for these various roles?

There is no overnight fix… WWE’s Creative Team has been awful since 2000. WWE’s Talent Developmental has been hit or miss since Jim Ross was moved out of the Talent Relations VP since 2004.

As good as Roman Reigns has evolved lately, it might not matter. “No man is an island” (John Donne quote) and in the wrestling business, you need great dance partners. WWE’s product is over-exposed by having too much coverage, the wrestlers themselves are over-exposed. There are no unique match-ups left unless you bring in an older veteran to draw for a big event.

The Creative and Talent Development infrastructure need fixed for the WWE or nothing will ever draw again. You’ll have more overpushed guys that don’t deserve to be World Champion because of the system in place. WWE should learn from their history on pushing Roman Reigns too early despite his lack of experience, not repeat it.

So yeah… WWE finally got it right with Roman Reigns… But look at the damage done on the way to figuring out that Roman would work better as a HEEL instead of a babyface from 2014 through early 2020. Lost many great talents to other promotions and lost more than HALF of its audience. Lucky for the WWE, Cable Networks are losing business at a faster pace insomuch that 2 million viewers, to them, is worth of paying $200 million per year. Peacock full of awful NBC/Universal garbage wasn’t enough to draw paying subscribers so Comcast threw another $200 million per year at the WWE.

Right now, the WWE better hope that Roman’s health remains good or else this house of cards will come crashing down. The WWE surrounding Roman is awful and is in dire need of repair. The WWE Creative Team is an embarrassment.

Was the overpushing of Roman Reigns for 6-7 years worth it just to get a good superstar out of him now but the rest of the roster is depleted and half of the audience is gone?

So just chill… Until the next episode!

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MR. TITO: The Future of Roman Reigns in the WWE: Remain Heel or Return to Babyface?