“History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of men”
Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
Houston, we have a problem….or should I instead say STAMFORD, we have a problem?
Because we do and it’s not what you’d think it is.
Yes, this is going to be an article that picks apart the “Tribal Chief’s” title run, but before you Bloodline fans take the pitchforks to me and before you Roman haters decide to cheer me on, know one thing. I’m NOT throwing Roman under the bus.
I fucking LOVE the man Joe Anoa’i or “Leaty”, whichever you call him. He is truly a down to Earth human being. If there still is a Samoan chief after Peter Maivia’s passing, he’d be it over Dwayne. A man who is a true father to his kids, a man who took the shit the fans gave him and never waivered, most importantly, a man who kicked leukemia’s ass TWICE. Through it all, he’s never lost his sense of humor, his love, and his heart. I truly acknowledge him as my “Tribal Chief”.
My problem however is with how he’s been booked during this long two plus year title run. For when you truly look at some different numbers, you’ll see how much it’s been padded and artificially extended much like an NES game with only four levels that’s had its difficulty cranked up instead of adding more stuff (looking at YOU, Karate Kid).
While I’m happy for his run and he’s finally being allowed to be himself, getting the flowers he truly deserves, the fans are getting tired of it and rightfully so. Several times now, they could’ve and SHOULD’VE ended his run.
Let’s take a look at a couple of the best examples before we get into the numbers game.
The first obvious one, was at “Clash at the Castle” this past September….
Look at this poster that was used to sell tickets.
It was CUSTOM BUILT for Drew McIntyre. The next golden child getting his actual coronation in front of a hot UK crowd that’s been begging for a monthly WWE Pay-Per-View to happen there for THIRTY YEARS. This was custom made for him to go over and to dethrone the Tribal Chief.
You know how deep the promotion went? So deep that we got THESE….
YES! An “Anniversary Edition” of Summerslam 1992, which I actually had to special order from DiabolikDVD (and which for some strange reason only works for Region B and C, but not A, throwing off my DVDFab).
So, with all this hype, pomp, and circumstance, what was the result? Drew HAD to win, right?
NOPE! Roman Wins, LOL.
The fans were FURIOUS, and rightfully so. They had begged for this for three decades, spent their hard earned money, and felt bamboozled. These are soccer fans might I add, people who aren’t afraid to riot if something goes wrong. They were about to as well, leading to the show having to end like this instead, with Drew telling the fans to calm down….and with him and Tyson Fury holding an impromptu karaoke session of “American Pie” (in WALES might I add….)…..
So, for WWE’s trip to Montreal, you’d think they would’ve learned their lesson right? Sami Zayn’s the hottest he’s ever been. He’s been moving the needle in ratings, attendance, and merch. The time to dethrone Roman is NOW. At this point, you need it to happen. Who better to defeat the longest reigning champion since Hulk Hogan’s first run than the ultimate underdog? A man who TRULY needs the rub that defeating Roman would give. A story tailor made for him to have his biggest victory.
I mean….LISTEN TO THAT CROWD!!!! I been watching all my life and never heard a crowd THAT loud before…..
The energy this past Saturday night was unlike anything before. The only times closest were Money in the Bank 2011 with Punk and Cena and in 2004 at No Way Out with Eddie and Brock.
What about the match? So far, it’s been a CLASSIC affair.
Sami has taken everything Roman has given him and keeps kicking out….WWE hasn’t had a back and forth match like this since the Undertaker and Shawn at Wrestlemania 25. So surely this HAS to be it…..RIGHT?!
I mean….right?
*sigh* goddammit…..
YES, Kevin Owens came down and took out the Bloodline and Sami got the final shot, potentially leading to a tag title win at Wrestlemania against the Usos, but after all this build, after all this hype, that’s a huge slap in the face and a demotion. Even by some miracle, Sami DOES win the big one down the line, it won’t mean as much as it would as it should’ve happened NOW. In THIS MOMENT. Of all times to pull the trigger, there was none BETTER.
But, STILL I can’t hate Roman or place any blame on the man.
This is a problem that solely rests within WWE Creative. The age old problem of them relying too much on past stars, part timers, and established names and never doing anything to create new stars.
Here’s a bitter truth pill to swallow.
Triple H failed you.
Yes, not even this savior of yours, the man who you trust so much with the book could be trusted to do the right thing when it was all said and done. Especially with Vince back, despite the claims that he’s got no hand in creative, he most certainly does.
Since Vince is back, Paul is too afraid to do something his father-in-law will disapprove of for fear of losing his job. Vince has already proven as the majority shareholder that he’ll do what ever he wants, whenever he wants, no matter who’s in charge on paper. This is a man who’s already chased away his two blood children with his power hungry tactics. He’s also chased away his wife into the arms of Donald Trump with his philandering and his sexual lust. He isn’t afraid of dumping his son-in-law as well.
But, enough about the sick bastard who should’ve been in jail thirty years ago, let’s get back to now.
The true problems with Roman Reigns’ title run came clear to me after seeing BTSport’s post on Twitter.
On the surface, this seems really impressive, doesn’t it? That’s a lot of title defenses on TV in almost three years.
But when you see this list, that’s when the real problems show themselves and not only that, but show EXACTLY the problems WWE Creative has. For when you look at the true numbers, Roman’s title “reign” (pun intended) doesn’t look as impressive. In fact, it makes him downright weak.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This one picture is an exact snapshot of everything wrong in WWE nowadays and paints the picture of exactly why things are bad.
Apologies to Roman Reigns as I wish I didn’t have to do this to you. You’ve overcome so much and deserve all the respect and recognition in the world. I hate to tear down accomplishments of someone that’s a survivor like me. But it’s gotta be done in order to make a point about the place you work for. Basically I have to punch down in order to punch up and I hate having to punch down.
Let’s take a look at the real numbers of The Tribal Chief’s “Road To Relevancy”:
Roman has defended the title TWENTY EIGHT times during his reign, this includes his unification with Brock Lesnar’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania last year.
Out of those twenty eight title defenses:
-NINETEEN of them were repeat title defenses:
*Clash of Champions ‘20
*Hell in a Cell ‘20
*TLC ‘20
*Royal Rumble ‘21
*Elimination Chamber ‘21
*Fastlane ‘21
*Wrestlemania 37
*Money In The Bank ‘21
*Extreme Rules ‘21
*Crown Jewel ‘21
*Wrestlemania 38
*Royal Rumble ‘23
*Elimination Chamber ‘23
*Four Episodes of Smackdown
-Roman defended the title those nineteen times against the same SEVEN challengers:
*Jey Uso (Clash of Champions ‘20 & Hell in a Cell ‘20)
*Kevin Owens (TLC ‘20, Smackdown, Royal Rumble ‘21, & Royal Rumble ‘23)
*Daniel Bryan (Elimination Chamber ‘21, Fastlane ‘21, Wrestlemania 37, Smackdown)
*Edge (Wrestlemania 37 & Money in the Bank ‘21)
*Finn Balor (Smackdown & Extreme Rules ‘21)
*Brock Lesnar (Crown Jewel ‘21 & Wrestlemania 38)
*Sami Zayn (Smackdown & Elimination Chamber ‘23)
-Only NINE TIMES did he defend the title against someone only once:
*Braun Strowman
*Cesaro
*Rey Mysterio
*John Cena
*Seth Rollins (who defeated Roman via DQ)
*Goldberg
*Matt Riddle
*Drew McIntyre
*Logan Paul (BLEH!)
-FIVE of those challengers were “part-timers” i.e. wrestlers who don’t work a full schedule:
*Edge
*John Cena
*Brock Lesnar
*Goldberg
*Logan Paul
-ELEVEN of those challengers were already former world champions at the times they challenged Roman:
*Braun Strowman
*Kevin Owens
*Daniel Bryan
*Edge
*Rey Mysterio
*John Cena
*Finn Balor
*Brock Lesnar
*Seth Rollins
*Goldberg
*Drew McIntyre
-EIGHT of them were already former world champions on MULTIPLE occasions:
*Daniel Bryan
*Edge
*Rey Mysterio
*John Cena
*Brock Lesnar
*Seth Rollins
*Goldberg
*Drew McIntyre
So, after seeing the full picture, it doesn’t seem as impressive as it did before, huh?
I don’t blame you for feeling a little let down or pissed. But, this isn’t a simple case of “Roman Wins, LOL” like it was for Cena.
This is the strongest case yet against WWE Creative and how they love rehashing the same thing over and over and over again. The same stars over and over. Trotting out the same stars that sold out arenas twenty years ago instead of making new stars who are right there.
Not to sound like an AEW mark, but in the four years that company has existed, they’ve already made more new stars than WWE has in the past TWENTY YEARS.
That’s not being a “fangirl”, that’s cold hard facts.
If you’ll hear WWE higher ups tell the tale, you’ll hear them go “if more people were to step up and deserve their spots…". But, they don’t stop to take the lips off Vince’s ass long enough to realize that it’s kind of hard to do that when you always have obstacles thrown in your path and are constantly held down.
For you non-wrestling fans, this would be the same equivalent of someone telling poorer people, especially Black ones, to “pull yourselves up by the bootstraps”. The phrase literally means to do something that’s impossible, but it gets overused as a saying to denigrate and deny instead of actually helping the cause.
Vince and company (yes, INCLUDING Triple H) are the oppressors and the talent busting their ass trying to make it to the top are the ones being held down. These numbers prove that unequivocally .
Me and others make jokes on social media about “Brother Cody” coming to save us due to his promos as not only an AEW executive but as a man married to a Black woman who held on to and proudly showed off his White Savior Complex for the longest time before seemingly learning his lesson.
However, those jokes may hit closer to home than we realize.
We all know Cody’s most likely going over at Wrestlemania, finishing the story and bringing home the title that’s eluded the Rhodes family for over forty years. But, he’s also going to “save us” from Roman’s “reign” as the Tribal Chief and put an end to his 900+ day run as champion and allow Roman a long deserved break to rest up and heal.
But, make no mistake, when Cody inevitably holds those titles up on Wrestlemania Sunday, April 2nd, it won’t be that WWE has finally made another new star. Cody’s BEEN a star and the only reason he’s even there in the first place is because he was a founder and executive for the competition who decided he had enough and ran from the problems he created with his run in AEW to start fresh in WWE’s “Witness Protection Program” so to speak. A redux of his American Nightmare run without the White Saviorism and Executive Vice President title. A man who needed a clean break from his friends in order to save whatever friendship remained after all the fights with them over the direction of their company.
Do NOT let WWE claim Cody for their own and most of all, remember that everything you hate about that company in terms of what you see on screen is due to bad creative.
In spite of all of this, do not let all that was written dissuade you from giving the “Tribal Chief” his proper acknowledgement. In fact, I’d make the argument that looking through the true numbers, while Roman’s title run looks much weaker, he deserves even MORE respect than he got when this article started. He took the limited creative, the limited pool of opponents, and everything that should make the company weak and made people watch. Made it unique every time.
Roman Reigns deserves ALL the flowers, not just the ones on his neck, for making this whole thing happen as does Paul Heyman, the Usos, Solo, and yes, Sami Zayn.
Taking shit and making gold out of it is a hard thing to do, but the Bloodline have done it, no thanks to WWE Creative.
So, in closing, while this all needed to be said and pointed out, still…..
I acknowledge you, my Tribal Chief…..even more so than I truly did before writing all this.
I came into this afraid I’d punch down and bury you accidentally. But, in fact, I’ve gained MORE respect for you than ever before.
Ou te alofa ia te oe, Roman.