Roman Reigns: The Beginning of an Empire

So its official, after a rocky road Roman Reigns is now on his way to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. Reigns is not a man backed by the whole of the WWE Universe. But at Fast Lane, Reigns went some way to winning over his non-believers.

Reign’s main event match with Daniel Bryan was a typical big PPV main event. Both men ended up looking strong and the story telling of the bout was done fantastically. Before the event, Bryan pointed out on the mic that while Reigns was the stronger and more powerful superstar, Bryan was the better wrestler. This theme continued into the match, as Bryan locked in the holds but Reigns looked beastly, powering out and pounding D-Bry with fists. The match wore on with both men kicking out of each others finishers. Reigns’ recent injury was played on and he sold that well (unlike the man Roman keeps being compared to, John Cena). Reigns eventually got the win, countering a Running Knee with a Spear.

There are always going to be those who believe that the only reason that match was good was because of Bryan. Let’s be honest here, Bryan could wrestle The Great Khali and put on a good match. But this match is just an example of what Reigns can do. I’m not claiming that Reigns is going to be putting on the match of the night every night. There’s plenty of other guys who can take that crown (Rollins, Ziggler and Bryan stand-up) but at least we know, given the right opponent, Reigns can deliver. That has to bode well for the future.

At Fast Lane the boo’s for the Reigns wasn’t as loud as the Rumble. At times there was as many chants for Roman as there were against him. But there is still some distance to go. WWE did all they could to put Roman over in the fans eyes: they had The Rock put him over, they had him win the Royal Rumble and they had they’re top face put him over and shake his hand. But will they ever get the entire crowd behind Roman? No.

The problem with the 2015 Royal Rumble Winner is that he has been built in the John Cena mould. But it is unfair to constantly compare Reigns to Cena. We have only seen part of what Reigns can do, his real challenge will come when he becomes Champion. And that starts now, he is going to be the focus of the shows leading to ‘Mania. And the bookers will have to work hard to put over his match with Lesnar without having the Champion appearing regularly (A WrestleMania theme going by the other matches: Sting/HHH and ‘Taker/Wyatt).

Sadly, some people are never going to accept Reigns (hell, at Fast Lane, I saw a grown man in a Cena shirt booing Reigns, what’s going on there?) But I think we should. It’s harsh to discount Reigns after not really seeing what he can do. And since winning the Rumble he has been booked as a true badass. Reigns is here for the long run, whether we like it or not. Reigns himself, has done no wrong, so why boo him? I’m looking forward to see how they build up to his match with Lesnar. I’m not expecting a classic but it should be a fight. And you can believe that.

What are your thoughts on Roman Reigns? Are you looking forward to Lesnar versus Reigns? Let me know @marcusandberg