MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #53: 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 – with limited success. 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

So back in June, when it became clear that Elimination Chamber was going to be a red brand show and that Brock Lesnar wasn’t a fan of defending his belt, I made a bold prediction that Roman Reigns would win the number one contendership via the Elimination Chamber, leaving Shinsuke Nakamura to win the Royal Rumble.

Now you may think this is an I told you so moment but it’s actually not. You see, everyone just agreed with me. I thought I’d landed on a hot scoop but in reality everyone saw it coming.

Everyone.

So, shock of the world, Roman Reigns is going to main event Wrestlemania, joining only one man at that pinnacle.

After eliminating nobody Roman went on to take down a fellow human male who had already taken a Shield power bomb, an AA, a curb stomb, a coup de gras, a frog splash and three spears. How dare Braun Strowman, who’s never even seen a push, and is obviously a massive heel, get buried so easily by Roman Reigns. Even after getting his heat back with a vicious assault on Roman post match, Braun just looked silly. He’s buried. It’s over.

So anyway, Roman Reigns will go to WrestleMania, where he will face the invisible man Brock Lesnar for the UV title. Now I know we’re all very shocked by this development but it’s not the end of the world. Stephanie McMahon might still main event, am I right?

At least we’re definitely going to get A.J. Styles vs. Nakamura and not, you know, Corbin or Ziggler or something. That is definitely, one hundred percent, not going to be Cena vs. Corbin again. Nope.

So let’s fast forward an evening to our next episode of Monday Night Rollins and what we have is a Roman Reigns in a very talkative mood. After finally finding his pitch on Raw Talk the night before, everyone was excited to see what Roman was going to say to Brock Lesnar.

Okay, I was excited. Of course what actually happened was that Brock Lesnar didn’t turn up last night because, you know, what was the point? Lesnar took the chance to have a nap on the Vegas strip instead, I’m sure. Seems like something Brock would do, after beating down a small village of tough guys and winning a casino because security are all scared to say no.

That left a ring and a man. One man. Just one man with the strength of many more men. A man armed with a spear and the ability to make potato jokes about an Irish guy.

Poor Sheamus. Anyway, Roman cuts a promo. Some are calling it the promo of his life. Personally, I’m still a big fan of his “this is my yard now” business but I’ll let you be the judge, shall I?

Reigns entered the arena to his usual symphony of hatred. He opened by explaining that he has in fact read the same script that we all have, pointing out that he’s being honest when he’s saying that Lesnar’s going to lose.

Key part there, at the beginning, people hated Lesnar. Like a standard Reigns match, people were cheering by the end.

For almost a whole year, WWE has carefully avoided pointing out that their champion just doesn’t bother turning up, except for one time when The Miz tried to make that about the Intercontinental championship way back in the day.

You see, there’s one thing that Roman Reigns really has earned over the course of this year and that’s respect. Brock Lesnar might have put on the best matches of his whole career but when he’s not there week in and week out like Reigns, like Styles, like The Miz, you want to boo him.

It’s nice to see a few people joining me on the Roman train for once. Simple but effective. This might just be the Roman that people get behind.

Or, you know, the WrestleMania main event might be two part timers, one of which has appeared twice in a year and one of which is barely here even when he is here but, you know, what else is new?

Odds Counter
– Talking, because it’s hard
– The Miz
– Finn Balor
– Seth Rollins
– John Cena
– Braun Strowman
– Elias
– The Elimination Chamber itself
– Talking, because it’s easy

Did Roman Reigns beat the odds?
Yup.

Surprised?

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NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #52: Tracking Roman Reigns’s ability to beat the odds and come out on top