The Beast and The Bruiser

Roman Reigns finally came face to face with the man he will be facing at WrestleMania 31 when he and Brock Lesnar had a meeting on the January 26 edition of Monday Night Raw. As fans watched, Paul Heyman did what he did best; he set the table.

Heyman laid it all out on the line for Roman. He spoke with great respect in his voice for Roman's family and the great contributions they had made to the industry. He congratulated Roman for his win at The Royal Rumble, which guaranteed him a shot at Lesnar on the grandest stage of them all.

But then Heyman reminded everyone of his genius when he boiled it all down to its very essence; Roman's own cousin didn't want anymore of Brock.

The fact that The Rock only faced Lesnar one time then moved on was exploited in grand fashion by The Godfather himself, as Heyman caused a deafening silence in the room. It was as if there was suddenly no one there but Roman himself and the eyes of the world fell directly upon him.

How would he respond to Paul? Would he dare to verbally engage one of the sport's most masterful orrators? No, he wouldn't. And it was perfect.

Instead of addressing Heyman himself, Roman decided to turn his attention to The Beast. Roman spoke very calmly and very confidently of his intentions to take the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Mania. Roman did not yell, he did not curse and he did not try to get cute. He said what he needed to say and he did it with amazing style.

Suddenly, fans that have loathed him since he came back from injury last year had reason for pause. Could Roman actually pull this out and make it work after all? Could WWE truly make this a match that everyone wants to see and will pay to see?

It's too early to know the answer. But what is evident is the fact that someone inside that company knows Roman not only needs to look good in the ring leading up to WrestleMania, he also needs to sound good as well. The guy that is known for not being able to cut a promo has now done an admirable job of one.

Now it's time to see where WWE will take it from here. Now it's time to see if Roman Reigns is truly up to the task. If this initial meeting is any indication, the answer is a resounding yes.