Roman Reigns and the John Cena Paradigm

Roman Reigns' match with Daniel Bryan at Fastlane was good. It was very good. For me, it was Roman's best effort so far and it shows that he is getting better. Of course, a lot of people don't want to hear that. Roman has many haters out there, fans that are completely unwilling to give him a chance to either succeed or fail. To those fans, Roman can't get anything right and despite what he does, they're just not convinced he has it.

You can't very well blame those fans of course. Roman did go from zero to 60 practically overnight and whenever that happens, the crowd often does not go along for the ride. Well, they don't at first anyway.

These things take time, we can all agree on that right? No one walks into the business a legend on day one, each guy needs to be born and then hopefully he can grow into a star. That's the goal after all. If you're not in it to be the best, then why are you wasting your time?

So Reigns is improving, he wants to be the best. He may have come from a long line of pro wrestling success stories but rest assured, he knows that won't be enough. He has some big shoes to fill and right now he is attempting to do just that.

But at the moment he is dealing with the John Cena paradigm and that is a whole other set of problems. Oh, no one in WWE will say that out loud. No one in WWE wants to admit that there's a problem in the first place and if they did, they certainly wouldn't go on the record with it. Everyone wants their spot after all.

And the fact is the McMahon family do everything in its power to expain it all away as if it's not even happening, as if it just doesn't matter. You've heard them, right?

"John gets a reaction. That's what matters. Good or bad, John always garners a response from the crowd and really, who cares if the fans are booing? They're passionate in their hate for him and ultimately the only thing that matters is he gets their interaction. There's nothing wrong with that at all."

Now here's the funny part; it's all nonsense. The whole thing, every word of it, is complete nonsense. Want to know why? Because no matter how much WWE tries to claim otherwise, that company wants John Cena to be the undisputed top babyface. It's how his entire career has been modeled, it's how he is presented and it's how he behaves.

WWE planned on Cena becoming the number one protagonist and for a few years he was just that. All was well in Vince McMahon's world as his company had its newest top star that was a face and had full crowd support behind him. There was no reason to worry, no reason to get anxious. Everything was going according to plan.

But somewhere along the way, everything changed. Cena's character grew stale, his jokes became silly and the crowd began to turn on him. Suddenly, WWE's number one hero was slipping in the popularity department and the McMahon family was forced to make excuses why it was okay with them.

Here's the thing; it's not okay. It's never been okay and it will never be okay. WWE wants total crowd support for John, complete love and devotion from every packed house he performs in front of. But it's just not going to happen. Fans made their decicions about Cena a long time ago and any chance to right the ship has long since passed.

Is WWE still making money? Yes. Is Cena still the top draw and still as capable of getting hot as he ever was? Absolutely. But he exists on that level amidst a massive love/hate relationship with the fans that will never change. And that is what Roman Reigns is facing right now.

WWE wants Roman to be the next top babyface. You don't have to read a dirtsheet to figure that one out. It's apparent in the way he's booked, the way he's presented and the way he behaves. He comes across as the toughest guy on the roster, as someone that doesn't need help and never backs down from a challenge. He fights and fights until there's nothing left and just when you think he's down, he finds a way to get back up.

That is John Wayne 101. Dusty Rhodes had it. Stone Cold Steve Austin had it. John Cena had it and it didn't quite work the way WWE thought it would. And now Roman has been saddled with that very same cowboy mode. He's doing the best he can, but he has a long ride ahead.

WWE is acknowledging the boos he's getting. Roman is acknowledging them too. It's become part of his everyday routine now, it's being ingrained to his character. It almost seems as if WWE is okay with all of that right? Wrong. Roman needs to be fixed and he needs it as soon as possible.

There's still time. It's still very early and Roman wants to make it work. The fact is he's getting better and despite what anyone says, he will likely continue to get better. Maybe one day, he will be that top babyface with total crowd support and no resistance. Then no excuses will be needed. Roman probably doesn't want them anyway.