Roman Reigns Needed WWE SummerSlam Feud with Rusev

Why a feud with The Bulgarian Brute is exactly what Roman Reigns needs right now.

To put it mildly, the booking of Roman Reigns for the past two-plus years has been shoddy at best. Seen by WWE management as a future star, the young Samoan has all the physical tools to be just that.  However, as the days and months of his first push to the main event proceeded, there was one major problem with the prospective stardom of Reigns: the fans didn’t buy into it.  What were once cheers when Roman was the enforcer of The Shield, slowly but surely changed from a 50/50 smattering of boos into an almost universal distaste.  Some arenas weren’t as hostile but all in all, Reigns just could never seem to capture the popularity so many predicted he would.

It seemed like the more successful Reigns became, the more the WWE Universe’s aggravation seemed to escalate.  The trouble really came to the surface at the 2015 Royal Rumble as he entered the match at No. 19, outlasted fan favorites Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, and Bray Wyatt, and finally dumped Kane, The Big Show, and Rusev over the top rope to win in one of the most boring and contrived Rumble’s of all time.  Not even an appearance from his cousin, The Rock, could save Roman from the chorus of boos that cascaded through the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia that night.  It made the fan reaction of Batista’s Rumble win the year before seem mild.

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For the next year and a half or so WWE creative made numerous attempts to get Reigns over in a litany of ways.  They first attempted the tough guy, powerhouse angle, pitting him in highly physical feuds with The Big Show and Bray Wyatt.  That didn’t work.  Then they tried the anti-authority angle, repeatedly attacking the on-screen COO, Triple H and openly mocking The Game’s wife, Stephanie.  That also didn’t work.  They even tried the sympathy angle with Triple H gaining a modicum of revenge over Reigns while also breaking and busting his nose open.  That really didn’t work.  In fact, it had the opposite effect.  The fans cheered Hunter.

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And then of course we have Wrestlemania 32.  Without getting too deep in the atrocity that was the main event, the overall issue that came from it seemed to be WWE’s stubborn, hard-headed attitude towards its fans.  Whether it was the fact that the fans wanted different superstars to succeed as opposed to Roman, or the company using editing to drown out his boo’s and insert audience’s cheering, or maybe people just flat out don’t find him likeable, Reigns time atop the World Title picture, was an unmitigated disaster.

Enter United States champion, Rusev.  Undoubtedly one of the most fan-despised workers on the roster, The Bulgarian and his beautiful wife Lana are the perfect foes for Reigns.  This feud satisfies Roman’s near future in a few different ways.  One, he’s out of the main event scene which is where he desperately needs to be right now, yet he’s still battling for a mid-card title.  Two, this will give him the opportunity to compete at SummerSlam for a title without the pressure of being the top guy.  And finally, and most importantly, he’s entering into a feud with a guy who between himself and his better half, bring instant heel heat with the crowd.  Their obnoxious post-wedding celebration on the August 8th RAW was so intolerable it would make Brother Love seem subdued.  The crowd was aching for someone to come down and shut them up and having Reigns do it was a very smart idea.

Their first two segments together in the last two episodes of RAW have already been better than the majority of things Reigns has done for the last 18 months.  The WWE is playing this feud correctly.  They’re letting Rusev and Lana generate the heat with their smug, self-righteous behavior and they’re having Reigns play it cool and let his actions do the talking.  And actually for a guy who has notoriously struggled on the microphone, his performance during the wedding celebration was surprisingly good.

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A feud with Rusev could be a career saver for Reigns.  Not to say that the guy was anywhere remotely close to getting walking papers, far from it.  But attempting to erase nearly two years of fan resentment will not be easy.  Note: John Cena.  This is a chance for Reigns and WWE to start clean and see if he and the fans can finally see his untapped potential come to fruition.  If Monday’s RAW is any indication, they’re off to a great start.