If Roman Reigns wants to be taken more seriously in WWE, he needs a better signature strike attack than that terrible Superman Punch.
Roman Reigns’ Superman Punch is one of, if not the single worst things in WWE right now. It looks incredibly phony in its execution. The jumping execution makes it look more like a piece of theater than a wrestling move. Finally, he does that cheesy ‘cocking’ move as if his fist is some sort of gun. That does not make him look cool; it makes an already-cheesy move even worse.
That move is one of the biggest problems with Roman Reigns right now. He has improved considerably over time and he has actually put on several entertaining matches over the past few years. But as long as he keeps doing that Superman Punch, it’ll be as if he’s carrying dead weight around in his matches.
WWE’s version of pro wrestling is just as dependent on believable wrestling strikes as it is on properly-executed grapple moves. This is especially important for those wrestlers that style themselves as brawlers and strikers. They’re meant to execute strike attacks that the audience believes can actually hurt even if it’s choreographed. The Superman Punch does not fit into this category.
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Roman Reigns should re-think this whole ‘Superman Punch’ gimmick and take a different approach to his wrestling. He should look at what other wrestlers (as well as himself) to see what kinds of wrestling strikes work and which ones don’t. Who knows; if he does get rid of the Superman Punch, he might actually get more cheers than boos.
Here are five strike attacks that are much better than the Superman Punch.
5. The Drive-By Kick
This is a move that Roman Reigns himself does on a regular basis, and its way more popular than the Superman Punch. This move looks like it hurts from every angle possible, and it simply looks like something a badass would do. There isn’t any unnecessary or over-the-top theatricality involved here; it’s a straight-up jumping kick to your opponent’s head.
If Reigns simply made this his go-to strike attack instead of the Superman Punch, he might get fewer boos. It’s more realistic, more difficult to execute, and more in-line with the silent badass he’s supposed to be.
If he did this move more and got rid of the Superman Punch, he’d probably get more cheers because this move is a more ‘complete’ strike attack. The less Reigns does the overly-theatric ‘superhero’ stuff, the better for everyone.
4. The Samoan Spike
Many people really dislike this move because it looks so weak and unrealistic. After all, it’s a thumb to the throat. But there is actually some logic to this move that makes it dangerous, and by extension, more of a believable move than the Superman Punch.
The Samoan Spike is built around a considerable amount of force being pushed into one’s windpipe. No matter how tough you are, when your breathing is interrupted suddenly and you’re gasping for air (which is 110% likely if you’re a wrestler), you’re going to stop doing whatever you’re doing immediately. This makes the Samoan Spike a truly dangerous finisher, at least vis-à-vis wrestling psychology.
It might not be the most artistic wrestling finisher, but it gets the job done. If you’re one of those wrestlers that’s more comfortable striking than using complicated grapple moves, this strike makes sense for you to use. That’s why it worked so well for Umaga: his striking was always more dangerous than his grappling.
3. The Discus Elbow Smash
The elbow is one of the hardest joints in the human body. Getting hit with this body part is definitely going to hurt, which makes it a perfect wrestling finisher. Many wrestlers have used elbow smashes as finishers, from Chris Hero to Nikki Bella to Mitsuharu Misawa. In each of those cases, the elbow smash was sold as a big deal because of the natural hardness of the elbow joint hitting someone in the face.
No one uses a spinning version of this move in WWE right now. The only wrestlers who use anything resembling a rolling elbow are Luke Harper (with his discus lariat), Nikki Bella (same elbow smash), and A.J. Styles (a springboard forearm, which could easily be an elbow smash instead).
If Roman Reigns started elbowing people as hard as possible in the face, it would work much better for him. Not only would the move look unique and help him stand out from everyone else (as every wrestler in WWE uses either a dropkick or some kind of clothesline), but it would also help make his matches feel less phony. As mentioned earlier, everything about the Superman Punch screams ‘fake’ or ‘phony’, to the point that it isn’t even believable as a signature move.
If he were to, for example, take a punch from an opponent, spin around, and then smash his elbow in their face, that would help him a lot more than taking a punishment, only to stop selling out of nowhere and jump to do his awful Superman Punch.
2. The Shining Yakuza Kick
What’s one of the best way to show remorselessness, power, dominance, and explosive speed all in one move? By using the Shining Yakuza Kick.
Roman Reigns is supposed to be a badass with explosive offense. We’ve seen a part of this explosiveness in his Drive-by kick, but not with the Superman Punch. That move is too easily telegraphed, and lacks that extra layer of ‘oomph’ in it.
If Reigns were to do what MVP (and Masahiro Chono before him) did and kicked his opponents square in the face while using their knee for leverage, he’d get over much more quickly as a wrestler. People would be more into his character because this move would fit him better.
No matter how much Reigns smiles and cuts garbage promos, he’s much better suited to being a silent powerhouse that dominates his opponents. He needs a striking attack that complements that psychology, and the Yakuza Kick fits so much better than the Superman Punch.
1. The Lariat
This is the quintessential wrestling strike attack. It’s the go-to striking move for every big time brawler and power wrestler. Whether you were a technically-sound grappler or a no-nonsense fighter, swinging your arm in a lariat has always been a surefire way to get a reaction out of a crowd.
The lariat just screams ‘power’. It’s one of those moves that always looks so great when used. It’s such a great move to use that it gets a reaction whether it’s a random transitional move or a finisher. This is why Roman Reigns should switch his Superman Punch for a good, old-fashioned lariat.
Just look at some of the greats that have used the lariat as a finisher in the past: JBL, Kenta Kobashi, Stan Hansen, just to name a few. Each one of these men got over partly because they wielded this move with devastating efficiency. It worked especially well for JBL because the best move he used was the lariat, and he swung it with lethal stiffness. That alone was enough for fans to get invested in a JBL match and to react to his offense.
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So if the using the lariat did such wonders for JBL, imagine what it could do for Roman Reigns in WWE.