Why Roman Reigns Should Continue to Feud with Rusev on WWE Raw

Roman Reigns was part of an ongoing mid card feud with Rusev, but seems to be climbing back to title contention. Should this be the case?

Roman Reigns is destined for big things in the WWE. Regardless of whether the fans booed him or cheered him, the WWE management and creative have always been behind the former Shield powerhouse. Reigns won the WWE title on the Grandest Stage of Them All and was all set to climb the ranks as WWE’s top dog. An ill-timed wellness policy violation, however, was the end of it. Reigns got suspended from the WWE for 30 days. In relation to his wellness policy violation, Reigns got demoted to a mid-card feud the next night on Raw as he interrupted the United States Champion Rusev during one of his promos.

Reigns and Rusev would then go on to indulge in a feud that saw them tear each other apart. The feud had great promise and even offered some character development for Rusev—who was usually the mean foreign heel. Storyline development was solid and we even saw a new side of Rusev—a man fighting for his woman’s respect after the ever-so-cheesy wedding cake incident.

The Summerslam Showdown

The feud would have been a great addition to WWE Summerslam if the match ever occurred. Even worse, just a week prior to their scheduled big fight for the United States title, Reigns and Rusev locked horns during the main event of Raw as Rusev looked to avenge the humiliation his wife Lana suffered on the previous Raw. The match was good and the action was great. Rusev showed great character progression. Roman was excellent in the ring. The two heavy weights seemed to have had excellent chemistry too. These are all reasons to visit this feud again in the future.

WWE threw a curve ball when Reigns attacked Rusev before the match started during Summerslam. Rusev got injured as a result and was unable to compete. Reign even managed to get a few pops from the crowd during all this. Say what you want but even something as cheesy as the wedding cake incident got the crowd to cheer for Reigns. At this point in time, that is a big achievement. The feud had a lot of potential and was getting all the right reactions from the crowd. Rusev got character progression, Reigns was getting cheered and all was good.

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A Feud That Got Sidelined?

What baffled the fans after Summerslam was that the WWE creative showed no intent of addressing this feud any further the following night on Raw. While it can be argued that they had to make a ton of last-minute changes following Balor’s injury, not addressing this feud was a big mistake. Reigns and Rusev both competed in different sets of qualifying matches for the fatal 4-way match. While Rusev’s injury forced him to walk out of the bout against Big Cass, Roman went on to win against Chris Jericho. Both superstars were acting like nothing happened the previous night. If at the very least, had Rusev tried to interfere in Roman’s match against Jericho, his attack from Summerslam would have created some momentum and impact.

Where is Roman Reigns Headed Now?

As of now, the Big Dog has a clear shot of making it to the title match between Seth Rollins and Owens if he manages to beat KO next week on Raw. This should not happen. Have Rusev return and interfere in the match just as he is about to make a comeback. Rusev should nail Reigns with a round house kick that opens the doors for Owens to finish him off. Even better, have Rusev return the favor to Reigns by attacking him during his entrance much like what Reigns did to Rusev during Summerslam. Reigns should be unable to compete following Rusev’s vicious attack. From there, WWE can either have Reigns be the gutsy babyface that still faces Owens and loses or be the unfortunate performer who couldn’t compete and watch his title dreams slip through his fingers.

Creative should go back to the Reigns – Rusev feud. Fans don’t want Reigns in the main event picture as of now., based on the crowd reaction. Rollins deserves to be there and so does Kevin Owens. Put in Triple H whose intentions are still unclear and you have all the ingredients for a stellar build up to Clash of Champions. Reigns has been great in the ring. He has proven himself to be a solid worker and has produced some amazing matches against a variety of opponents. But Roman Reigns as a performer still has not won the crowd over. He hasn’t had any kind of character progression and lacks direction, motives, and motivation. At least, he stopped making silly jokes and one liners, but that’s it.

What Does Roman Reigns Need to Do?

Roman needs to stay in mid-card at least for the time being and continue to produce stellar matches. There is a variety of heel and face opponents for him to work with, ranging from Braun Strowman to Chris Jericho. He has to give the fans a reason to care about his quest to win the WWE Universal championship. This has been lacking from day one, and that is the reason why fans can never digest the idea of him being at the top. Reigns is just one step away from breaking out and becoming the next big star in the WWE.

For all this to happen, he needs to get the crowd invested in his journey. Without character progression, he will continue to be rejected by the fans.

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