Roman Reigns Stole the Show Last Night, Will Momentum Continue on Raw?

WWE was put in an unenviably tough position when its champion Seth Rollins went down with a torn ACL. Roman Reigns, who is perhaps the most physically gifted performer on a roster characteristically full of Greek gods, was thrust further into the spotlight. The issue is that for all his athletic prowess, Reigns has not captivated wrestling fans with his charisma.

Though the only way for him to improve is to learn by doing, Reigns has spent far too much time in the past year on the microphone, where it always appears as though he’s trying really hard to remember his lines. These growing pains are attributable to many factors out of his control, including overexposure and stringent scripting.

Combined with announcing that disingenuously paints him as more ‘over’ with the crowd than we can observe with our eyes, the extent to which the overall dialogue in his segments lacks nuance has frankly insulted the viewership’s intelligence. (This is the part where non-wrestling fans roll their eyes and smirk about the inherent acumen of those interested in the genre.)

But last night, when Roman Reigns and Sheamus, who’s been Reigns’ counterpart in grating storytelling since cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Reigns at Survivor Series last month, beat the bloody hell out of each other:

After Reigns lost last night, he went on a rampage, leaving many of those welts on Sheamus’ back with a steel chair, and laying waste to Triple H, in a segment that was more compelling than any angle since this summer. Within the confines of the story, Reigns was frustrated that the game has been rigged for him to fail, which is also true outside those confines. This was a turning point in how just about everybody feels about Reigns, and we’re all hoping he goes out there tonight and capitalizes on it.

Ideally, his time on the microphone will be minimized, and the impact of that opportunity will be maximized.