A WWE Title win at one of the biggest wrestling events of the year, a double cross by The Authority, a Money In The Bank cash in and a new heel champion.
No I’m not talking about what happened at Survivor Series a few weeks ago…I’m talking about SummerSlam 2013.
The WWE is trying to tell a similar story putting Roman Reigns in the role that was first played by Daniel Bryan two years ago…..except it’s not going to work this time.
I know what the powers that be are trying to do. They’re trying to get us to cheer for Roman Reigns by making him an underdog. It’s a good idea. Put so many unfair obstacles in Roman’s way and how can we help but be impressed when he overcomes his advisories (The Authority, The League of Nations) and climbs to the top of the WWE as champion.
However, this all feels very formulaic. Watching the Roman Reigns storyline unfold, I feel like it’s only a matter of time before Vince, Triple H and the rest of the front office brass place Roman where they’ve always wanted him… in the top spot. Sure they have Cena, but he won’t be around forever. Roman is the next handpicked “face” of the WWE, whether the fans want him to be or not.
The issue I have with booking Roman the same way they booked Daniel Bryan in 2013, is the fact that week in and week out, as a fan, I felt like I needed to watch and needed to cheer for Daniel in order to change The WWE’s mind about a man they never wanted at the top.
Make no mistake, the FANS put Daniel Bryan in the Wrestlemania 30 main event. No matter what Roman Reigns goes through in a TV storyline, no matter how loud we cheer or boo, The WWE will most likely still put him in next year’s Wrestlemania main event…Unless of course they have him face off against Triple H on the grandest stage of them all…Another page right out of the Daniel Bryan booking playbook.
The biggest company in the wrestling business wants us to care about Roman Reigns as much as we cared about Daniel Bryan, but they’re being too transparent about it. It’s almost insulting to our intelligence. We know what they are trying to do…and my bet is that it won’t turn out they way they hope.
