Of all the many things Roman Reigns has been during his historic Universal Championship reign, a sympathetic figure is not one of them.
That’s what happens when you:
- Hold both of the men’s world titles, forcing WWE to create another one for wrestlers to chase.
- Manipulate your own family members to (mostly) do your bidding without question, then use them to ensure you don’t lose your grip on those consolidated titles.
- Beat just about everyone (sometimes with help, granted), to back up your claims of being the top guy in the industry.
- Brag about smashing everyone, knowing there’s nothing anyone can really say to dispute it.
Throughout the saga of The Bloodline, the one constant has been Reigns’ masterful portrayal of the Tribal Chief. It’s been the perfect marriage of well-defined role and a man who was born to play it.
Reigns has been the champ you love to hate (or in some cases, hate to love). The guy the top faces long to dethrone then agonize when they can’t.
Why would anyone ever feel sorry for him?
The answer is that they wouldn’t, at least not yet. And they won’t after Night 1 in Philadelphia, where it’s expected that Reigns and The Rock will win the tag team match against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins, making his Night 2 rematch with Rhodes a Bloodline Rules affair.
That will mean the hours between late Saturday night and Sunday evening will be the peak of Roman’s power. Everything will be pointing toward a second consecutive defeat of Rhodes thanks to the deck being stacked in his favor, and then it’s on to see if he can pass Hulk Hogan on the list of longest WWE world title reigns.
But of course, there’s only one way to go from there: down.
I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen on WrestleMania Sunday, and I’m glad that’s the case. Wrestling is always better when there’s at least some degree of uncertainty in how things will play out, even when you feel a certain outcome is likely.
In other words, I don’t know how Reigns will lose in Philadelphia, but I think he will. Furthermore, I believe fans will sympathize with him when it happens, even if they don’t realize it in the moment because they’re going to be so damn excited at seeing Rhodes with the championship.
The wild card in this whole equation is The Rock. It’s safe to say that with rumors continually circulating that WWE hasn’t given up on a Rock vs. Roman match, even if it’s much later in 2024 or at WrestleMania 41, most people believe that Reigns will continue on as he has been and The Rock will flip back to being a fan favorite.
The more I think about it, the less sense that makes. Part of it is because The Rock has taken to life as a heel again with such gusto — regardless of whether it was planned that way from the start — that it would be silly to just have him reverse course.
This is a man having the time of his middle aged life:
👏👏👏@TheRock's hilarious song for his #WrestleMania opponents, @CodyRhodes and @WWERollins, deserves to be viewed in its entirety!
Here's the FULL song! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/7t7z2KhFM3
— WWE (@WWE) March 16, 2024
So let’s imagine another path for him. Maybe The Rock chafes at having to acknowledge Reigns as his Tribal Chief, as he did earlier this month. Perhaps he just find Reigns losing after he did his part to put the Night 2 main event on a silver platter for him distasteful and launches a coup inside The Bloodline.
Somehow, some way, things are going to fall apart for Reigns, and it’s not hard to imagine The Rock playing opportunist when it does. There are lots of little details WWE can play with to rub salt in Roman’s wounds; for instance, after Solo Sikoa has been his most stalwart soldier, how agonizing would it be for Reigns to see him side with The Rock?
Playing into all of this is the idea that it wouldn’t be surprising to see Reigns take an extended break from WWE after WrestleMania. He works a limited schedule as it is, and we have a running joke on the Wrestling Junkie Slack that maybe he just stays away and chills until SummerSlam. In the meantime, even if he’s only around every once in a while, The Rock looms as the new evil mastermind of The Bloodline, pulling strings and reveling in Roman’s downfall.
(It’s worth adding that I fully expect Drew McIntyre to defeat Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, so it’s not like we’re going to have two faces with the world titles heading into the summer.)
When Reigns returns, the natural inclination for fans to miss top wrestlers when they’re gone will kick in, making it the perfect time for him to embrace life as a fan favorite again. To be clear, he’s not going to be the kind of traditional, straight up babyface that Rhodes is, but he shouldn’t be since Cody already has that spot filled to a tee.
This is going to be an angry Roman looking for some payback. He won’t need anyone’s pity, but the fans will feel for him. And let’s face it, a lot of people at WWE shows are just looking for a reason to feel it’s OK to cheer him at this point. A face Roman vs. a heel Rock is a monster matchup whenever it comes together.
I’m not saying this is guaranteed to be the direction Reigns takes after losing his championship, but I won’t be stunned if it is. And having it start in Philadelphia, the place he was once supposed to be cheered but instead got mercilessly booed, will be the best kind of full circle moment possible.
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