Update on Roman Reigns’ Position in WWE

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided an update on Roman Reigns’ position in WWE. As previously reported, Reigns has been primed to win the 28th annual Royal Rumble match in January and go on to defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31. The new report claims that although some backstage don’t believe Reigns is ready for such a push, the position is Reigns’ to lose.

Dave Meltzer discusses the reasons why some have doubts about Reigns, as well as the positives of having him in the top babyface position heading onto the “Road to WrestleMania.” He writes,

“Reigns was originally set to win the Rumble and headline WrestleMania. There is a lot of skepticism in the industry whether Reigns is ready for that push. Thus far, the crowd is positive toward him, but he did just return. They aren’t blowing the roof off the joint for him. But there absolutely is an issue with him.

As far as a guy delivering modern scripted promos, he’s not that guy. He does have a good look and has a few moves that are over, making him a great babyface power hitter in a tag team. He’s good enough that he can have a good match with the right opponent, but he’s not great on his own in a 20:00 singles match. Then again, they do need to make a new babyface superstar.

Randy Orton isn’t new. Daniel Bryan, no matter how the crowd reacts, is not their type and right now, there are still questions regarding his recovery from his neck and elbow problems. So it’s Reigns and Dean Ambrose. Ambrose is the better promo and the better worker, but he fits less into the mold of what they want the company’s top babyface star to be.

Both sell merchandise but (even with Ambrose’s hoodie being No. 1 two weeks ago) neither is doing numbers there to signal being made the top guy. Both have been hit-and-miss with crowd reactions in recent weeks. But it’s Reigns’ spot to lose. And right now, he still has that spot.”

Editor’s Note:
I’m nervous about Reigns, but I guess we’ll see if he can handle the load.