MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #68: Tracking Roman Reigns’s ability to beat the odds and come out on top

Roman Reigns is one of the most dramatic, divisive, and discussed WWE performers in history. The company makes desperate play after desperate play to make him your favourite graps guy – 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

Now, if none of you fine folk remember, it might be worth mentioning that there has not been a lot of Roman Reigns in the Roman Reigns-o-Meter lately. Has Vince McMahon finally given up his pet project?

No. Obviously no.

This week, however, that’s all been fixed. Was there a match with Roman? Well, yes. In fact, what a treat we had because we had two. Was there a backstage section? Well, yes. Many many many. As it turns out, having Roman Reigns paired up with a former Shield brethren turned out to be the best thing to happen to Roman in a long time.

We start with Roman coming down to the ring, all swagger and purpose, in his unusual undeniable style. He negs The Revival, who thankfully will get some heat back later, then warms the crowd with the idea of a truly magnificent Bob vs. Joe fight. How Bobby Lashley can possibly be over enough for the crowd to react at all is a bit of a shock after the dumpster fire that was Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn.

I miss Sami Zayn. He was whiny.

Roman is interrupted by former Roman Reigns (and future Roman Reigns) Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler. They take their time, sauntering to the ring, giving Seth Rollins plenty of time to join his brother.

They enter the ring, their promo nearly complete, calling out Roman Reigns for all the reasons that fans hate him, offering Seth Rollins plenty of time to get there before any actual fighting broke out.

Then they beat up Roman some. I mean, Seth Rollins is going to, ah, there he is. Good lad, Seth. Nice of you to make sure Roman gets a bit of a beating first. Good for the odds, you know? Builds character. If Roman doesn’t get the chance to be attacked by at least four people in one night then he doesn’t come out of it looking very good, does he?

Later, Roman laments his lack of upcoming action at Extreme Rules. Casually slipping into Shakespearean verse, he lays down an East Coast verbal beatdown in sonnet form the likes of which has never been heard. Naturally, hearing such beauty and joy and B flat smack talk, Kurt Angle and Bobby Lashley will ensure Roman Reigns gets to main event the next pay-per-view.

Criminal how he failed to main event a pay-per-view in the whole of last month. Absolutely criminal.

The stage is set later as one set of Shawn Michaels and Diesel impersonators line up against another later in the night as Reigns and Rollins main event the first hour against Ziggler and McIntyre. Naturally, this match gives me hope that we will one day see a Reigns vs. fake Reigns feud with Kane starring as fake Reigns.

Seriously, how good a push is this for McIntyre? He’s under no pressure but he’s just casually in the ring alongside some of the best performers in the company. Everybody wants to watch every segment he’s in even if it’s not because of him.

After a big hot tag for Rollins we build towards a big hot tag for Reigns but, in the end, The Revival run in and Roman Reigns gets beaten down hard.

And the crowd boo someone for attacking Roman Reigns. Who saw that coming, eh? Seriously, what the hell is Roman Reigns?

Later in the night, after suffering from beating after beating after beating, Roman teams with Bobby Lashley against The Revival, placing all three men alongside Reigns on to a similar pedestal to the one he his former compatriots were. This time though, in the same night, the good will towards Roman is gone and for this main event of the second hour, Reigns plays heel where he had played face before.

I know people are going to call this backwards booking, but it’s actually very clear. Drew McIntyre is a heel. Bobby Lashley is a face. Roman Reigns is whatever the opposite of his opponent is. Easy.

Bobby Lashley walks out, clearly jealous of Roman’s position in The Shield. Meanwhile, as you might expect, Seth Rollins comes down to protect Roman from The Revival.

Any second now.

Yup, they’re best friends. He’s definitely coming.

Okay now I’m not sure what side Rollins is on any more.

Odds Counter
– Dolph Ziggler
– Drew McIntyre
– Dash
– Dawson

Did Roman Reigns beat the odds?
No.

But to be fair, it took 4 Ds to keep him down.

Follow Tom Colohue on @Colohue for news and updates.