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WrestleMania Series: Correct Call for Roman Reigns to Go Over Daniel Bryan at Fastlane?

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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Was it the correct call for Roman Reigns to go over Daniel Bryan at WWE Fastlane?

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With WrestleMania 31 taking place just four weeks from tomorrow, there will be a lot of topics up for debate. Some of them for this year and ones that are still being discussed from last year.

Below, we are going to take a look at the first of five topics over the following Saturdays about this year’s WrestleMania and last year’s show. The topic is whether it was the correct call for Roman Reigns to go over Daniel Bryan at WWE Fastlane.

Check out what we had to be said!

Carl’s Take: You have to look at where it seems the company may be heading in the near future.

After beating the Undertaker last year at Mania, to end the streak, it would now seem that they were building to this match from the second that match ended.

The company needs to build another major face star to take pressure from Cena, and prepare for the day that he steps away as a full time performer, and they have the tunnel vision that it’ll be Reigns.

To give Roman the title match, and inevitably the title from Brock, will mean more for him and the company than it would if he won it from Bryan. The man who beat Taker being beaten by their new chosen one builds Reigns up more as a performer and as a champion.

The fact that they had a match between Reigns and Bryan at Fastlane was there, in my opinion, to try and make the fans feel like they were listening to them, whilst not actually giving them what they want.

Whilst it’s not the most popular decision among the fans, it would seem that Vince and company stuck to the plan they always had.

Personally I think the decision to stick with Reigns is a brave one. If he takes the belt at Mania and the crowd reacts the way they did at Royal Rumble we could be in for a long ride. Could that make Vince change his plans ? I doubt it.

Sherron’s Take: Sticking with Roman Reigns to headline WrestleMania was the right call, considering the fact World Wrestling Entertainment is in desperate need to develop new stars to carry the company into the future. Despite Roman’s average move set in the ring and promo skills, he has a great look and his upside looking towards the future is through the roof. Roman Reigns versus Brock Lesnar for the biggest prize in Sports Entertainment in five weeks will set the tone for the entire year in my opinion, and if the WWE wants to usher in a new era, one of the men that should be in the forefront is Roman Reigns.

Callum’s Take: WWE chose Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble; it wasn’t popular with most, but in my opinion it was the right way to go. Daniel Bryan has an unwavering likability by being the underdog, someone who was kept down but promoted to the main event due to the passion of the audience and his sheer work rate. Fans disliked Reigns along similar lines – he had been handpicked by the powers that be due to his look and Samoan heritage. Bryan was a fan-made champion, whilst Reigns was a corporate product.

That being said, even if he was selected by WWE creative to be the next guy, Reigns has not rested on his laurels. At Fast Lane he went step-for-step with Bryan, one of the greatest hands in professional wrestling, and he belonged. Not only did he belong, he thrived. Reigns proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt he can carry WWE into the future alongside other young hungry talent, and is certainly worthy of a chance to headline WrestleMania despite a so-called lack of experience.

Yes, Reigns will be booed when entering the arena. Many people will be rooting for Brock Lesnar no matter what WWE attempts to make him the fan favourite heading into the event. But one thing he will do is perform. Bryan had an amazing moment last year, so it should never have been watered down by another appearance this time around. Now it is the ideal time for Reigns to make a name for himself against a Beast, so I believe WWE made the correct decision.

Rob’s Take: The call to have Roman Reigns go over Daniel Bryan was controversial, but smart. WWE has to start building the future and it seems like that will be headlined by Reigns and Seth Rollins, who will have a big part at WrestleMania 31.

My concern with this is that WWE is continuing down the path of going all-in on just one Superstar. They have done this with John Cena over the years. Why can’t they have more than one top guy? There is nothing against that in the rule book. Having multiple top guys would give WWE a better shot at selling out arenas for live events and their featured programming. Look at NXT and the multiple top talents that they have headlining the shows: Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Adrian Neville, Hideo Itami, and Tyler Breeze. While the situations are different, all of these guys draw people in for viewership.

There’s our thoughts on if Roman Reigns was the correct choice to win the WWE Fastlane match. What are yours?

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