MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #9: Tracking Roman Reigns’s ability to beat the odds and come out on top

Roman Reigns is one of the most divisive and talked about WWE performers in history. The company makes desperate play after desperate play to make him their number one star – thus far to no avail. How do they do it? What do they do?

I’m Tom Colohue and this is the Monday Night Reigns-o-meter.

Monday Night Reigns-o-Meter – Fastlane Omnibus

Our brave hero, with the long hair and the big arms, doesn’t need to worry about wins and losses oh wise and talented reader. Your hair looks awesome today.

Roman Reigns knows that he will eventually beat all the odds again and, on that day, nothing that came before will matter. So it was that after being secondarily booked, beaten up, ambushed, assaulted, and generally made to look like a bit of a wimp, Roman Reigns overcame Braun Strowman using a combination of strength and, well, strength.

After a brutal, grueling, physical interaction, Roman Reigns got his victory in the middle of the ring to a massive pop. Why the pop? Well, it was a good match. You don’t often see two guys the size of Roman-Strowman put on a high quality exchange like this. The pace wasn’t all too high, I’ll grant you, but it’s worth nothing that neither of these men are known for being able to call spots as it happens. For what it was, I quite enjoyed it.

Now that’s not to say that the odds weren’t too stringently in Reigns’s favour. In a one-on-one match, with no interference, you would always expect Roman to get the win. For all that the fans think, Roman has been booked as a star and those are shoes that he has now filled. He should also keep the shoes he wore at Fastlane because clearly they’re his lucky ones and he should treasure them forever.

It’s hard to deny that Reigns is still being booked as an all-conquering hero. His recent losses have all been due to being outnumbered, when one-on-one the quality of the opponent doesn’t really matter all that much. It’s almost exactly the same as John Cena vs. Baron Corbin, just on a grander stage. Strowman provided the odds to overcome and overcome he did, because he’s Roman Reigns, and Reigns is a hero.

That said, the planned Undertaker interference never took place. It was long past 3 a.m. where I was and I wanted the Undertaker. It didn’t happen.

That is, of course, until the next night when Strowman once again provided the odds. He called out Roman Reigns, only for Taker to come out. Why is the Undertaker a big deal? Well, in case you forgot, WWE made Strowman show fear of him in order to remind you. Strowman don’t want none.

Would Roman Reigns be afraid of Taker? No sir. He stood up to Taker and took a chokeslam for it. ‘Cos he’s a badass.

Why does this count as beating the odds? Simple. Roman Reigns has just been booked against the single biggest draw in the company. Now Undertaker’s matches aren’t always the best. Since losing to Brock Lesnar, the Undertaker has not provided the greatest quality matches, but history declares that any Undertaker match at WrestleMania gets absolute top billing.

Reigns doesn’t have to win. Stars face Undertaker. The company trajectory suggests that Lesnar vs. Reigns for the UV Title will be coming up next after WrestleMania. Right now he has been booked in one of the biggest matches possible.

Our hero Roman Reigns has faced Brock Lesnar, Triple H, and the Undertaker in the last three WrestleManias. Has anyone ever been booked so forcefully?

Odds Counter
– Braun Strowman
– Braun Strowman
– The Undertaker

Did Roman Reigns beat the odds?
Yes.

I know he ended Raw on his back, but anyone who lines up against the Undertaker is clearly winning.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S ARTICLE: MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #8: Tracking Roman Reigns’s ability to beat the odds and come out on top

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