Roman works himself into a shoot, brother HH

[KaiserGlider]

So, first of all, straight-up confronting Vince at gorilla position where he was sitting with Shane was one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a WWE segment in a while. And it's nice seeing Roman show passion in his promos. HOWEVER, my problem with this whole story is that it feels so manufactured. Lesnar has suddenly "no showed" like 3 Raws in a row that he was supposed to be at, just so Roman can call him out on not being there. And only now does someone have this much of a problem with Lesnar's schedule and thinks there should be repercussions. And of course the one person willing to speak up about this and call Vince out on it is Roman Reigns. Even though this has been going on for years, and for the past year that Brock has been champion.

And ESPECIALLY this part:

"Because he's Vince's boy" [cue Angle putting Roman's mic down, like ooh no you're not allowed to say that Roman]. Give me a fucking break. That's literally Vince's golden boy trying to paint someone else as being Vince's golden boy, and then pretending like he's gonna get in trouble like he's one of the other peasants.

They should have done all this stuff (and only once) for Wrestlemania 31 instead of that ridiculous tug-of-war wit the belt, because now it's too little too late. I see people on Reddit being pleasantly surprised at this buildup and seeming to enjoy it, but it's just too easy for me to see right through the phony BS that it really is. An attempt to rally fan support behind Roman and get them to boo Lesnar.

Anyway, just wanted to keep you guys updated on the current buildup for the Wrestlemania main even/attempt to get Roman over as a babyface #456 even though he's clearly much better as a heel. That's what heels do! They say hypocritical things!

[The Legend]

Count me as someone who is enjoying the way things are playing out. You could say they should have done this at WM 31, but I disagree, because then it would have been hypocritical and heelish and would have only gained Roman heat. That's because Brock was still over then and the crowd still liked him then. I think for the most part most people have soured on Lesnar and his routine of showing up a dozen times per year and basically making fans forget the Universal Title even exists. So they are striking at an opportunity - the opportunity is that Lesnar's reign has gotten incredibly boring and predictable and meaningless to the point where I truly believe they could put the belt on anyone - all the way down to a returning Hornswoggle - and as long as that person shows up almost every week they will be a better champion than Lesnar. Basically, even before they started doing this angle I felt this way: I'm done with caring about Brock Lesnar in WWE. He's pointless and lazy and only does the same thing over and over and I want the belt on Roman right now.

[DBSoT]

I was in the crowd last night, four rows from the ring. When Roman said "Vince's boy", I looked around to see if anyone was buying it. Needless to say, there were a lot of "oh come on" faces. It was also pretty funny when the crowd erupted in cheers when Roman got suspended. Not sure if that came across on TV.

This story would work better if Roman would just keep wrestling every week instead of complaining. Angle should have him come out to promote the match at Mania and Roman should say, "If Brock doesn't want to show up, I am just going to continue to do my job and I will deal with him at WM." That comes off better than him whining to Vince and complaining that he has to compete, but Brock doesn't. Win the fans over with your talent, not your (kayfabe) bitching.

[Messiah]

This is a story that could have been cool for a SummerSlam or Survivor Series show. But I think centering your WrestleMania main event around the fact that your world champion literally doesn't show up on your programming is dumb. Especially when the guy we are supposed to be cheering for is Roman Reigns. I'm not going to sit here and criticize Roman - it has been done before. But why, exactly, are we supposed to cheer for him more than the next guy?

That is WWE's problem. They are giving us reasons to boo Lesnar but no reason to cheer for Reigns. And it is exactly why I still couldn't care less about this match.

[Hanley!]

There are elements of this that I like. For example, I've said before that the way the wrestlers react to Brock's contract situation is phony as fuck. Reigns calling him out for being lazy and spoiled is more realistic. If you had to wait a year to try and get your hands on the title because the champion is never around, you would be pissed off. I'm glad they're acknowledging this stuff.

I also like that they're trying to turn fans against Brock using something from real life that genuinely plays into the story. It's not forced or clumsy, it works. And it's one of the better attempts they've made to get Roman cheered. Unfortunately, it's still not going to work. First of all, because it's just too late for that. And second of all, because it's not enough to make fans boo Reigns' opponent. After three years, they need to give us a good reason to actually like Reigns. This isn't that.

There are other elements of this that I don't like though. Particularly that they're overplaying their hand. It's fine for Reigns to call out Brock for having things easy, but when he starts calling Brock "Vince's boy" it's a bit rich. Reigns is very obviously Vince's boy, and has been coddled just as much as Brock, albeit in a different way. He can bash Brock for not working hard enough, or hiding behind a contract. But crying favouritism isn't going to fool anyone.

I know the Authority Figure story has been WWE's go to since Austin, but it just doesn't work when the villainous company are facing off against the corporate superhero that they've so painstakingly created and protected at all costs. It never worked with Cena and it doesn't work with Reigns. They're not Stone Cold.

Also, we're in a weird spot now where WWE seems to be screwing over their own fans, so they can get heat on Lesnar, so Reigns can get cheered. The audience is being fucked, and Reigns is the clear benefactor - which is basically the status quo these days. It's too easy to see the machinery behind this story and recognise it for what it is.

[KaiserGlider]

Count me as someone who is enjoying the way things are playing out. You could say they should have done this at WM 31, but I disagree, because then it would have been hypocritical and heelish and would have only gained Roman heat. That's because Brock was still over then and the crowd still liked him then. I think for the most part most people have soured on Lesnar and his routine of showing up a dozen times per year and basically making fans forget the Universal Title even exists. So they are striking at an opportunity - the opportunity is that Lesnar's reign has gotten incredibly boring and predictable and meaningless to the point where I truly believe they could put the belt on anyone - all the way down to a returning Hornswoggle - and as long as that person shows up almost every week they will be a better champion than Lesnar. Basically, even before they started doing this angle I felt this way: I'm done with caring about Brock Lesnar in WWE. He's pointless and lazy and only does the same thing over and over and I want the belt on Roman right now.

I think the opportunity has been there for a while though. Lesnar has been champion for a year, and before winning the belt he worked the same schedule, and during his previous title reign back in 2014-2015 (during which he was a heel) he didn't show up either and none of the wrestlers brought it up like this. It feels contrived to me that only now is this becoming a major story point for Lesnar, and Roman Reigns is the one who is allowed to bring it up. If it was someone else then I wouldn't have such a problem with it, but this story has clearly been saved for Reigns as their plan to avoid having another Wrestlemania 31 situation where Lesnar was clearly the fan favorite. It's a good story on paper, just too easy to criticize it - especially when Roman is spewing out lines like "Vince's boy". I do give them credit for trying to have a better story than the Wrestlemania 31 match.

Also it's almost out-of-character for Lesnar to no-show like three shows in a row that he was "advertised" to be on. He works part time but he has always showed up when he was supposed to. So again, it feels contrived that he's taking the lazy part-timer gimmick to the extreme right before the biggest show of the year just so Reigns can call him out on it. Maybe that one's a pitpick, but fuck, I gotta post about something.

[Messiah]

Lesnar still cheered LOL

[KaiserGlider]

That's what he gets for assaulting three United States marshals for no reason.

[Everlong]

There are elements of this that I like. For example, I've said before that the way the wrestlers react to Brock's contract situation is phony as fuck. Reigns calling him out for being lazy and spoiled is more realistic. If you had to wait a year to try and get your hands on the title because the champion is never around, you would be pissed off. I'm glad they're acknowledging this stuff.

I also like that they're trying to turn fans against Brock using something from real life that genuinely plays into the story. It's not forced or clumsy, it works. And it's one of the better attempts they've made to get Roman cheered. Unfortunately, it's still not going to work. First of all, because it's just too late for that. And second of all, because it's not enough to make fans boo Reigns' opponent. After three years, they need to give us a good reason to actually like Reigns. This isn't that.

There are other elements of this that I don't like though. Particularly that they're overplaying their hand. It's fine for Reigns to call out Brock for having things easy, but when he starts calling Brock "Vince's boy" it's a bit rich. Reigns is very obviously Vince's boy, and has been coddled just as much as Brock, albeit in a different way. He can bash Brock for not working hard enough, or hiding behind a contract. But crying favouritism isn't going to fool anyone.

I know the Authority Figure story has been WWE's go to since Austin, but it just doesn't work when the villainous company are facing off against the corporate superhero that they've so painstakingly created and protected at all costs. It never worked with Cena and it doesn't work with Reigns. They're not Stone Cold.

Also, we're in a weird spot now where WWE seems to be screwing over their own fans, so they can get heat on Lesnar, so Reigns can get cheered. The audience is being fucked, and Reigns is the clear benefactor - which is basically the status quo these days. It's too easy to see the machinery behind this story and recognise it for what it is.

Yeah I agree with all of this, I think this would actually be a really intriguing story if it weren't Roman Reigns. Seems like a pretty cool angle, especially using the whole "Brock's a part-timer" thing.

It would have to have been someone like a CM Punk, or a Kevin Owens, or a Daniel Bryan, who's gotten themselves over without being manufactured by the WWE to really make this story work.

[Everlong]

Also LOL at the "Yes!" chants with Brock beating the shit out of a defenseless Reigns

[AkydefGoldberg]

Maybe more one-sided, unfair beatings might help garner some sympathy for Reigns but early indications aren't promising with fans chanting "You deserved it!" as he lay on the stretcher.