Why Roman Reigns’ Attack of Triple H at WWE TLC Finally Got Him Over
It may have taken WWE well over a year to get Roman Reigns over with the fans, but it finally happened at yesterday’s pay-per-view.
Roman Reigns lost to Sheamus last night during the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. The result was expected, as the League of Nations helped the Celtic Warrior retain the title. What wasn’t expected happened after the match ended.
While Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev were celebrating in the ring, Reigns decided that enough is enough and speared them.
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SPEAR by @WWERomanReigns to the ENTIRE #LeagueOfNations! And something tells us he's not done... #WWETLC pic.twitter.com/t27TG7g5HT
— WWE (@WWE) December 14, 2015
He then took his anger out by bashing all three men with chairs. This was frustration that built from losing continuous title matches and being cost the belt by the stable.
Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and every WWE referee ran down to try to stop the chaos. They briefly calmed down Reigns, who stood in the ring as The Game tended to Sheamus.
Reigns then decided to risk it all and attack the boss.
HE'S COMPLETELY LOST IT! @WWERomanReigns has assaulted @TripleH with a chair! #WWETLC pic.twitter.com/E5e0GmZD67
— WWE (@WWE) December 14, 2015
The attack was vicious and left Triple H lying. He was powerbombed onto an announce table and when it didn’t break, Reigns dropped an elbow through him that collapsed the structure. Then as doctors were tending to Triple H, Reigns hit the most vicious spear we’ve seen from him and walked away to close the PPV.
...UNTIL NOW! There goes the #SpanishAnnounceTable courtesy of @WWERomanReigns! @TripleH is out... #WWETLC pic.twitter.com/bW7ECCwK8O
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 14, 2015
This was a terrific ending to the show and the crowd was hot for it. However, maybe the most surprising part of this was that Reigns actually got over with the crowd.
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“Thank you, Roman”.
The fact that minutes earlier, Reigns being involved in a match where we heard every chant under the sun changed to the crowd going wild for him was stunning but refreshing. Why did this happen, though?
Well, Reigns was finally set free by WWE.
For weeks, months and over a year, the former Georgia Tech football player has been constricted by the company. His promos have been overly scripted (and still are), he’s booked like an underdog and has been too much of a focus, pushing down others. This has led to backlash by fans who became sick of him with good reason. However, his talent was noticeable and everyone knows he has potential.
When Reigns hit that first spear on the League of Nations, it was fine. But when the vicious takedown of Triple H started, it really felt like the training wheels were taken off. Reigns was allowed to be the badass that everyone knew he had in him and obliterated the boss. He seemed comfortable doing it too which was great.
The crowd cheering for him had to be a great morale boost for him too. It can only help going forward with Reigns settling into a comfort zone.
Going forward, if WWE wants to keep the momentum up for Reigns, they must limit his microphone time. Keep it to a few quick lines and let him destroy. Replicating the “tater tots” promo is not ideal.
WWE feels that Roman Reigns is their next guy, so they are going to give him a lot of mic time. It’s not necessary, though. Let him be this tough guy who says little that the fans get behind and minimize the micro-managing of his use.