Why WWE Needs Roman Reigns to Defeat Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania
Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar’s championship match serves a much bigger purpose.
by Jameel Raeburn (@MeelzTV)
“A THIRD SUPERMAN PUNCH,” Michael Cole exclaims at the top of his lungs as Brock Lesnar, who’s feeling the effects of this marathon main event, stumbles backwards into the ropes. The Beast Incarnate only touches the ropes for a brief second before instinctively powering back and tossing Roman Reigns up on his shoulder.
“LESNAR’S GOING FOR THE THIRD F5. THE THIRD F5”, Cole cries out. “THIS HAS GOT TO BE IT,” JBL adds. But Reigns manages to counter by slipping off the massive shoulders of Brock and hooks him a waist lock. Wait no! A standing switch, and Lesnar attempts to drill Reigns into the canvas with another nasty German Suplex. Luckily for Roman, he blocks the attempt and counters into another standing switch of his own before launching Lesnar into the ropes. Lesnar, with an engine fueled by aggression, bounces off the ropes and seemingly powers forward at twice his initial speed, hoping to hook Reigns with a devastating clothesline. Reigns ducks under and fires himself into the ropes, and as Lesnar comes back off the opposing side he dismantles him with his signature spear.
“WHAT A SPEAR! A DAGGER RIGHT THROUGH THE HEART OF THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!,” says Michael Cole!
“COVER HIM!,” King & JBL shout together, almost instinctively.
Heyman, who’s slowly recovering on the outside after a Superman Punch off the apron earlier in the match, is pulling himself onto the apron and he’s witnessing everything in slow motion. It’s blurry, but he sees the referee’s hand go up and decisively hits the mat for the third time. The beast who claimed The Undertaker’s phenom status one year ago and who maimed John Cena months prior to win the company’s top prize, has finally been slain. There’s a mixed reaction from the crowd in Levis Stadium, but only elation from Roman Reigns who has finally reached the mountain top of the WWE.
From fantasy booking to reality, a week ago fans accepted this as the result of Wrestlemania 31’s main event (unless you’re still anticipating a certain Money in the Bank winner to claim the throne). With each passing week, the finale seemingly became more concrete with rumors of Lesnar heading back to UFC, which was only heightened by a backstage business disputes which caused him to walk out on a live RAW telecast. But on Tuesday (March 23), Brock Lesnar took to a legitimate sports platform, ESPN, to formally announce that he signed a hefty three-year deal with WWE and is officially retiring from the octagon. With that, the Wrestlemania 31 main event now featured a new air of uncertainty. What direction will the company go in post-Wrestlemania?
Honestly, the argument to keep Brock Lesnar as champion is a strong one. To the general public, wrestling’s legitimacy is boggled down by over-the-top antics and personas in addition to the pre-determined results. With Lesnar, you’ve got a no-nonsense WWE World Heavyweight Champion with real life legitimacy (former UFC World Champion, former NCAA Division 1 Champion). Not to mention his seldom appearances on WWE programming transforms an appearance from the champion into an event.
Back in August when Brock Lesnar claimed the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, we all questioned how pay-per views and championship feuds would move forward without the centerpiece of the roster. And thus far, things have been just fine. Lesnar’s (and the World Title’s) absence from television has brought new established talents to the forefront (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, Rusev, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper were all featured in high-profile matches at Survivor Series). Arguably, it’s only made the championship more coveted. Last October, John Cena and Randy Orton wrecked their bodies inside Hell in a Cell for a championship shot in January and this year, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns waged war against one another in a brutal contest for that Wrestlemania spot. Championship contenders have earned their matches, as opposed to month after month of similar challengers to support a lengthy program.
While Lesnar retaining the championship at Wrestlemania may be great for fans who oppose the alternative result, it derails long-term business for the WWE. As great as it is to have a champion the sport is proud of (and trust me, I’ve been loving Lesnar’s reign), Brock Lesnar spending another lifetime (seemingly) as WWE World Heavyweight Champion derails the progress of WWE’s next group of top stars. Roman Reigns is the future of the WWE, and he represents forward movement in the shift of defining a new era of talent.
For the last ten years, WWE has went to the well fifteen times (far too many) with John Cena as champion to be represented as the face of the company — and currently he’s still that, but as he may be entering his final years of in-ring competition, the company has to prepare to move on without him. Roman Reigns is progression.
It’s the same progression that transitioned the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels to the main event scene after Hulk Hogan’s departure from the WWE. Like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock bringing in the Attitude Era when Bret Hart went to WCW and Shawn Michaels retired from in-ring action. John Cena and Randy Orton (and to a lesser extent, Batista) would emerge as the chosen champions for the era to follow, and now the ball is in the court of Roman Reigns in this Reality Era. This transition opens up the doors for former NXT acts like Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Big E, Cesaro, and Rusev who have firmly established themselves on the roster to finally break through past the generational guards that may have yet to step down from the crown.
It’ll be a huge, 265 lb pill to swallow if Roman Reigns does indeed walk out of Wrestlemania with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but this is something they’ve been building for the last year. Last year with CM Punk’s sudden departure from WWE, the company was forced to change the main event of Wrestlemania to appease the fans. The result saw Daniel Bryan thrusting up both championships belts as an ocean of purple and gold confetti rained down on the Superdome. This year, they’ve gone out of their way to stick to the plan despite controversial Royal Rumble finishes and fans wanting the returning Daniel Bryan to return to the main event as opposed to Reigns. Not even the fact that Reigns is still green in the ring and lacks the experience on the microphone has deterred Plan: Make Roman Look Strong, as some fans may call it.
Despite being thrusted into the limelight, Reigns’ tenacity and natural star quality will get him to where he needs to be in a few years and will get the company where it needs to be in a few years. While Brock Lesnar may be the champion we all want, Roman Reigns may be the champion this company needs.
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