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Chris McManus
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Royal Rumblings

While we prep for another chaotic Rumble weekend, I look into the potential of Reigns chances and a couple of new faces on the way

’Tis the season where all the fair-weather wrestling fans, hardcore marks, and casual newbies converge for WresteMania once again. This Sunday, the official kickoff to the Road to Mania begins in Orlando, Florida for the 29th annual Royal Rumble where Roman Reigns will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the prestigious 30-Man over-the-top rope bedlam. This will be the first time that the title will be on the line in the namesake match since 1992, where many heralded it as the biggest one of them all (not the 40-man clusterfuck from a few years back). It will be a weekend filled with tons of excitement and suspense following the announcement of four major signings from New Japan and heavy NXT involvement on their stomping grounds.

After over a year and some change writing about what Reigns could and could not be going forward, the Big Dawg still has a lot of work cut out for him. The trajectory of how Reigns go to where he was could’ve been smoother, but he’s finally where he is at as the top guy currently. He’s still a good way from being the heir apparent of John Cena, but with Cena being away with a shoulder injury and maybe longer with Hollywood commitments, it’s Roman’s time to shine. Results have been mixed, but it’s mostly not his fault he’s dragged down by another redundant Authority storyline and his foils are Sheamus and the League Of Nations. At the same time, there’s still room for him to improve on the microphone as his material still falters when left on his own.

Yet, here he is in another position to lose the WWE Title again in two months’ time. The funny thing about all of this is that isn’t even the worst case scenario. This is WWE’s ample opportunity to not only have Reigns beat the Rumble time record set by Rey Mysterio in 2006, but he can get the Super Austin/Cena push by entering number one and defeating 29 other superstars and become a two-time consecutive winner. Of course all of this can be derailed with McMahon and co. changing their minds again and stripping the momentum of a man desperately needing it by having him lose the championship so quickly again. This is not 1999 and Roman Reigns is nowhere near the compelling character of Mick Foley or force of nature of Austin that it wouldn’t hurt him.

However, the Rumble match certainly gives an air of intrigue especially with the news of AJ Styles likely to debut this Sunday. While his role has yet to be determined, he was pegged to be a surprise entrant going in until news broke of his New Japan departure. Along with him expected to leave are Bullet Club members Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra) and Doc Gallows (Drew Hakinson)* and Shinsuke Nakamura. So far, it is expected that Styles going to be fast-tracked to the main roster along with Nakamura when it is time for him to wrap up his New Japan commitments. Styles’ addition to the roster will bring some much-needed depth to a company that’s been plagued with injuries for the last eight months.

Plus there’s the number of possibilities of who he can work with and all of that can be knocked out easily with a Rumble appearance if WWE allows it. He could work with Owens or Alberto Del Rio right out the gate to establish himself in the upper midcard and have a few dream matches on the house show circuit. It’s clear that WWE is putting a big investment into him after he proved that he was more than capable being a star outside of TNA and Triple H definitely is the one man that’s hoping that AJ succeeds.

As far as the rest of the signings go, the tag team of Gallows and Anderson are likely to reunite with former Bullet Club leader Finn Balor as he prepares for a heel run as NXT Champion. Nakamura will report to the Performance Center as well in March, but chances of him staying there for long are mighty slim. He has proclaimed that he’s willing to adjust to the style but as a world-class wrestler the level of Nakamura, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

All of it spells a certain wave of interest that is needed for WWE, who has been struggling with low ratings and a dull television product that don’t rest on the laurels of their talents, but washed-out ideas from 15 years ago. It is not even best to think that is will finally be the turning point as fans like me have been constantly disappointed, but it is good to know that they’re looking to take risks; even if the risks only last three weeks.

  • Update: The names of AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows were brought up in a some form of an explanation from TNA Impact Wrestling. In a bitter tirade that can very well be investigated for contract tampering, the company claims that they had deals with the three wrestlers, but they turned down at the last minute.