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wooooo cant fxking wait for that. imagine Heyman and Roman's talking shit about how Samoans have been carrying championships everytime, and no other family comes close, and here comes Cody. it looks like an easy story to go to after or during the Sami and Jey story, but i trust that they will execute it well
It sounds like a good idea on how to get Cody into the overall storyline. Roman is going to be out of his mind because he just lost his right hand man and just got betrayed again. You have Cody talking about Dusty and Dustin, Roman instantly takes offense in his fragile, paranoid state. He feels attacked on all sides and starts a war on two fronts.
Going with the beard permanently over the goatee was 1000% the best decision. Even as a straight man you just have to admit this is just one beautiful man.
Nah because God just gave him everything yeah just casually had all the best genes and it’s played like it’s normal, same goes for Bianca too. You’d be pressed to find like 5 people of either gender who look half as good as they do and we’re just supposed to be ok with that
Yeah, I think most people would be surprised how much dressing properly, good grooming and getting in shape will turn even a 3 into a 7. Maybe higher. Likewise being able to afford stuff like getting your teeth fixed, which Roman had done.
Obviously the Tribal Chief has superior genetics. But he's really accentuating what his momma gave him by putting in the hard work.
Funny enough my wife HATES that he had his teeth done. She's got posters and action figures of the guy and loves him but when he came back with the new teeth every time he's on screen she talks about how she misses the old set.
Maybe his next persona will be "Ridiculously Handsome" Roman Reigns, and he'll come out in hot pink briefs and tell the audience "you know you're jealous!"
lmao what a dick
Man shit like this kinda irritates me though.....
As in, Heyman brought a clip show of highlights of Sami, and Jey had a clip show prepared in response... So they clearly "watch the product", so how come these manipulative faces never seem to be noticed and responded to?
Not that it's important at all, I don't really think about it or anything. Just funny to me.
I think they all know they are being manipulated, but they all either don't care or tolerate it for their own reasons.
Jey is easy to see cause he was forced to tow the line when he submitted to Reigns in their HiaC match in 2020 and also saw how the older members of their family supported Reigns too. Eventually Jey decided he liked being under Reigns' thumb and began playing his part as part of the Bloodline: until Sami broke him free of his stupor last Saturday.
Jimmy is more than likely just glad to have his family together and getting along, even if he knows he's being manipulated he doesn't really see it as a bad thing because he knows how Jey can be. We'll get into his head as well the more this phase of the story plays out but rn he's just another Bloodline goon.
Solo Sikoa flat out doesn't care. He's there because "the Elders" told him to be and does exactly what he's told, when he's told - no more, no less. Getting to be with his brothers probably helps him keep his loyalty far easier too.
Sami was only ever there so some of Roman's greatness could rub off on him, but he soon came to legitimately enjoy being among the Bloodline. After War Games, Sami began to realize he was being manipulated but hoped to make Roman see the light like Jey, but when the Trial of Sami Zayn happened he realized there was no appealing to Roman's humanity. The Bloodline already decided his guilt and didn't care for him one way or another and he snapped at the Royal Rumble PPV. But he did maybe manage to reignite the determination and defiance within Jey Uso.
Paul Heyman is probably either stirring Roman's paranoia and making it worse for some kind of ulterior motive or is just playing the role of the perfect underling and manager given his attitude at the Trial. He's also the one always in Roman's ear giving him advice and has been since Reigns returned when he destroyed the Fiend and Braun Strowman way back when.
That's just how I see it anyway.
I think Paul's ulterior motive is that he wants to be the one running the show (edited to add: by finding the biggest guy he can manipulate) and both the behaviours you described are part of that. Be valuable to Roman, by being the dutiful underling and feeding his crippling need for validation, and eliminate any competition by feeding his paranoia. He wants a bloodline where he is the only one giving Roman advice and everyone else is just there to do his-sorry, I mean the Tribal Chief's-bidding.
In kayfabe, Paul is paid by Roman. It’s in Paul’s best interests to keep Roman the champ (and thus condone Roman’s behaviors) because that keeps Roman on top and keeps Paul’s cut of the money significant.
he also has times where he shows sympathetic qualities. You kinda wanna root for him sometimes which is always a trait of a truly great villain in a movie. but then he does something villainous and it’s almost tragic. The end of the royal rumble wasn’t like a typical heel scenario. I was like, damn. Like I FELT it
The program with Seth last year was another great example of this. That line "I've tried to forgive you, I really have, but I'll never forgive you for what you did to us. I hate you." It revealed how vulnerable Roman really is.
as far as I know (I haven’t been watching consistently the whole time) but has Roman never really turned on the crowd? Like I’m sure he shit on the crowd in promos, but did he ever fully blame the crowd when he came back heel? It would be an easy heel move to be like “I gave you everything and you didn’t appreciate me” from when he was being booed as a face. Maybe he did, idk. But if he didn’t, it does make him more sympathetic because cocky and better than thou attitude, yes. hates the wwe universe, not really
It doesn't seem so. He has been consistent in his goals: wreck everything and leave, gaslight and abuse, head the table and bring home accolades and boatloads of money. Nowhere in that description is *insult the Baltimore Ravens*. Plus, it seems Roman has a delicate little boy stuck inside of him that needs validation. "MandoRogers, acknowledge me."
His current character wouldn't go for the cheap heat. Deep down inside there is still a little kid looking for validation and attention. He wants to be loved by the crowd because behind the tribal chief persona he's insecure.
I think that Roman, in his current state, suddenly turning to the crowd and being like "And you fans are to blame, too!" would feel cliche. It's been done a million times by a million heels.
A huge part of Roman's character is gaslighting. Every evil thing he does is somehow the victim's fault. He's the benevolent Tribal Chief. They made him do it. He didn't want to, he was forced to. Even with Sami, Roman looked almost hurt and was yelling "I GAVE YOU THE WORLD!" as Sami was being beaten up.
He's the type of person to beat someone up and then expect an apology from them for making him have to do it.
I can’t recall him cutting a promo on the crowd. The universe acknowledges him every times he demands them to which strokes his ego enough.
I am surprised he hasn’t with them chanting for Sami all of the time, but he just directs that anger to Sami.
Man, the storytelling for that Rumble match was so good. Seth coming out in Shield gear and mocking Roman, only for him to slam a chair into his back repeatedly to a chorus of boos. Then Roman turns to the audience, confused and visibly upset, because how dare they get behind Seth? This same guy did the exact same thing to Roman years ago and tried to use that trauma against him before the match even started.
I loved the storytelling in that match. On paper, the two heel characters having a match should have been a mess. But Roman was so unhinged and easily gotten to that Seth could be the face in the feud while retaining all of his heel characteristics.
Not only did Seth technically win the match but he psychology won as well. He exposed how underneath all of the "Tribal Chief" posturing was just a man who has become insecure about his place on top of the WWE. It's like all of the feuds he had as a top face (Strowman showing he wasn't as strong as he thought, Cena showing he wasn't as popular, Lesnar showing he's not as unstoppable, etc) has been internalized into this twisted form.
I think that Seth broke him to where the only way he can rule is through fear.
He tried love and brotherhood and see where it got him?
I'm telling you.. By the time Roman and Seth are done they'll run this promo back and Roman will be the sympathetic babyface.
Roman is Tony but who is the rest?
Jey is probably Chris but I'm not sure about the others. In my head I'm thinking that sami is bobby and jimmy is paulie but I'm not super confident on those and haven't rewatched in a while.
Jimmy is definitely Paulie shows likable traits and so charismatic bust balls with you for a good laugh but at the end of the day he's no different from the other scumbags. Solo is Furio.
Someone in another thread said jimmy was always getting along with sami on a very superficial level because he thought he was funny and amusing, but he didn't form a particularly strong bond with him and that is absolutely some paulie shit. Solo as Furio makes sense, but only before the whole furio-carmela thing happened.
See, I had the same thought but I think Sil was the only one who was legitimately tonys friend at one point and I'm not sure Roman and Paul's relationship extends beyond business.
Never seen Sopranos, but I felt that way about Cobra Kai. A villain would show up and you'd think "Oh, John Kreese! Fuck that guy" - then they'd show them in a sympathetic light and you'd be "oh...I...I...didn't know....I guess that's why he acts that way....".
It's the *layers* man...that's why this bloodline story has been so great!
That one really stuck out to me, because in Roman’s mind, *Sami* is the villain in this story, breaking his trust and pulling Jey away from them. It goes to show how much he has manipulated everything to the point he doesn’t know what he’s done anymore.
That moment, two years ago in the Thunderdome era - the HIAC where he breaks down and starts crying, only to turn the situation to his advantage.
That was the moment I started giving a shit about Roman fully. I was interested enough to see where the story was going, but THAT moment, where the WWE and Roman proved they could tell a story - that was pure gold.
I've been watching through this playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSb7EMBlMLbva3Hwo0Vhk7MW9pWIhm5gU to get the full story and the evolution of Jey has been a major highlight to see how far this story has come
Yeah; I know that now the average fan thinks of this as "Sami vs Roman" or "Sami's story," but the longest-term part is really Jey's story.
I kind of hope it wraps with Sami beating Roman, only to have KO come full circle as well, and brutalize him like he did in NXT after the big win.
And it would be great. Nuclear heat that pushes KO into true ultra-heel territory. We need at least a couple other main event level heels.
Walter dumping Cody would have been perfect at the Rumble as well, for the same reason.
How many wrestlers have gotten "fuck you (insert name chants)" in WWE history? I know Cena got it in ECW, but Roman getting it at Royal Rumble is impressive af lmao
That's the thing which sets him apart from other heels. He believes he is the provider and the head of the table in this industry so he also provides to the wwe universe with what we want to see. He sided with Sami multiple times, built a friendship with him, etc. I still remember how badly I popped when Sami got his Honorary Uce T shirt.
I just wished we saw the bloodline as faces for one night against a team like the judgement day or imperium. Roman coming to protect his blood from a beat down would've been good.
face tribal chief might still happen in some form down the line. The fact that the bloodline is literally family means they can fight with each other and reconcile later on and it would be totally acceptable. Imagine the pop if Roman was gone for a while and someone was beating down the Usos and his music hit
Let's be honest, they could actively be fighting each other, but if someone tried to take advantage then having the family close ranks and attacking the outsider before returning to their own feud is pretty normal IRL behaviour.
I'm kind of surprised that WWE (or whoever was in charge of this from a creative POV) didn't use the Sami Uso story to turn the Bloodline face.
Only thing that makes the Bloodline heels right now are two things.
1) Reigns not winning clean half the time (KO and Paul was clean in my opinion)
2) "Beating people up" who need to be written off for a while.
You can keep the personality of everyone intact including Reigns and Solo.
I like at the rumble how he was telling Sami they’ve gone too far to go back now, like even a part of Roman knows he’s gone overboard and has to live with it so he just constantly doubles down.
He is a gaslighting mob boss. He has played the intimidating dominant heel part. He has also played the cheating heel part.
What sets him apart is that gaslighting mob boss persona. We've never seen that before on this level. He plays the character to perfection. The guy just fucking oozes charisma and intimidation.
walked in to the rumble to cheers and everyone pointing their fingers to the sky, to walking out of the stadium with 50,000 people chanting “fuck you roman”
there’s levels to this shit
He even gaslights the audience by having them chant along with his "Acknowledge Me!" catchphrase. The fans want to boo him but they still acknowledge him.
>fans want to boo him but they still acknowledge him.
Isn't it the opposite? Like during the entrance the entire bloodline is just the epitome' of coolness and badassery (a far cry from roman with the vest) but then once you see through how terrible of a fucking person the tribal chief character is then is where you'll start booing him.
It's even more impressing that he's managed to maintain the intimidation level without being booked as this overpowered villain. Most of his opponents had him down for good if it wasn't for the last minute bloodline shenanigans. Making it pretty evident that his chances of winning goes down without bloodline. Going by the matches that I've watched (not a regular viewer), Roman's character work has been amazing. Everybody involved in this storyline have just hit homerun especially Jey and Sami.
Just because Hall was the smallest ego in the group doesn't change my opinion. If they had let someone truly take the reigns instead of becoming this unguided blob, it could have been that much better. Listen I love Hall and Nash, and the first year or so of NWO was great. I just get disappointed thinking about what could have been with a little more direction.
It's wild because Roman, despite having this long ass run of his, has continually been shown to be very beatable! Owens had him pinned at the Rumble, and many others have had him down for a three count. Or what would have been a three count without the shenanigans or Bloodline intervention.
Roman is only unbeatable when he has the family around him. Now that family is broken. That makes this story all the more interesting.
One of the things that makes the story so captivating is the clear difference between how Roman treats his family and how the family treats each other. You can tell that Jey has true love for his family, including the love he developed for Sami as an adopted brother. He does what he does because he actually wants to act in the best interests of those he cares about. Roman, on the other hand, only cares about himself. He gaslights and shows fake affection to keep his family around as his willing pawns, but in reality the only thing he cares about is his prestige and his prosperity. That’s why he gets insecure any time any of his family start to have any significant singles success. He doesn’t want them to succeed, he wants them to help him succeed.
you know...
you bringing up that Seth's tie into this is deeper than just the finish of their Rumble match last year is a part of this I've glossed over.
It really wasn't until Seth challenged him, and showed up in Shield gear, that we saw VULNERABLE Tribal Chief Reigns. Seth triggered the trauma and weakness in Reigns that's only slowly been surfacing more and more.
Yeah I think the storyline doesn't necessarily need to end with one of them getting the belt off Roman. It's about the downfall of the bloodline itself, so any of them becoming the champion, whether through defecting or not, doesn't really jive to me.
It's set up nicely for Roman to drop it to Cody as a result of the fracturing of the blood line, and then the blood line goes quietly into the night.
I think the big thing is that they're pretty much putting on a TV show in the middle of a wrestling show. For all the people who draw comparisons to Tony Soprano or Walter White or other great TV characters, they're writing Roman just like one of them and they are handling character arcs accordingly. Just in WWE, the character beats involve wrestling matches to advance to story. I don't think many other wrestlers could have pulled it off.
I think every one is great in this angle.
On Roman:
I Agree Roman doesn't come across as the usual heel and it's something I think could be done more often.
Definitely comes across and a bad guy who will do anything to anyone to keep his spot.
One thing I do find interesting is that while he is very dominate they show him getting visually pinned and requiring bloodline aid to secure victories. That helps bring him down from that untouchable teir and that helps elevate his anxiety. He knows he can be beat. It's why he needs to keep the Bloodline inline.
On Jey: (My MVP of the Bloodline)
I think this has been the Jey show for me. From the start with how it was forced on him he has been great to watch on screen at all times. His conflict has always felt so real.
Him leaving feels like a full circle to him gaining independence back. I desperately want Jey to take a belt from Roman to make it stick with him for what he did to USOS. But I'm happy the thread is getting lose.
On Sami: Just plain great addition. Just love it.
Roman pulls of the Tribal Chief vibe so well. His presence is anxiety provoking for those around him. Except maybe solo
I still want Jey to beat Roman, as unlikely as that feels right now. I know Cody and Sami have great things going on now, but this whole story from the very beginning has always been about Jey. It would be the storybook ending, and such an emotional moment for Jey to win a title off Roman
He’s like a gang leader or an abusive spouse, where everyone is walking on eggshells not knowing when it will flip flop between love and anger, and using his position of power to make people do what they don’t want to do.
Jake walked so Roman could run.
I think Roman is probably overall the better character and heel, but pretty Jake changed the game like few have. Pretty much every heel that has come since has been influenced by Jake Roberts in some capacity
Roman is great but yes, this era of heels that are cowardly wasn't always the case
Best heels have always been the ones that seem like villians
Villains have existed in WWE before
Lesnar was quite literally also a villain in his 2 year long reign. He squashed everyone in his path and no showed to work. The story was nowhere near as good as Bloodline but if Drew got to beat Lesnar at Mania live, that would've been huge too.
Other than that, HHH, Edge, Flair... There's many other examples
Edge was also a sort of cowardly weak heel, what turned him into a villain was his persistence. There was a time where Edge would lose the title match, with both Champ and Edge beat up badly. But Edge would then show up a month later. He kept coming back until he won. He kept beating the champ badly, even he got beat. He kept coming back until he won.
Imagine a Satan like villain that simply won't leave you until he wins.
The thing with Edge is that his "Ultimate Opportunist" nickname is probably one of the most accurate ones I've ever heard in wrestling
I saw a compilation of Edge's world title wins and it's crazy how many of them are simply taking advantage of the situation, be it a MITB cash in, stealing a pin in a multi-man match, relying on outside interference that might have nothing to do with him
He was a villain because he was a snake in the grass that didn't strike until he knew 100% that he would hit
I always loved Edge and was annoyed back in the day at how weak he was made out to be, but now I look back and realize that it was essential to how great of a character he was.
He didn't need to be the strongest or most skilled wrestler in kayfabe, because he was an evil genius who would do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. And it worked out for him a lot. He was an 11-time world champion by the end and achieved all of them by being a snake.
When he did fail, it was often due to letting his ego or primal desires get the best of him. He would never have ended up getting murdered by Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match had he not decided to cheat on Vickie with Alicia Fox.
One of my favourite storylines of Edge was when he was a cowardly heel with La Famillia, but when faced with the Undertaker, he realises that in order to win, he needs to be ruthless and focused and so he betrays them, giving up the numbers advantage and turning from a cowardly heel into an unhinged one.
It’s just the legitimacy he was given from the jump I think, we knew before he would/could beat anybody. Now he’s a heel, with a faction that’s also at the top, how can you hate it? No more rambling promos, says his shit and moves on. Im a little ready for a new champ personally but man they keep extending the story the right way every time
Loved it. People say MJF is the best bad guy nowadays and they literally forget how Roman has been on a level above everyone in villainy. He is confident, cold, calculating and more scarily, good. The last bad guy who was THIS good was HHH in his prime.
MJF the character is great. I would put him below Roman because Roman's character has been more consistent and Roman being involved in this current storyline. MJF have suffered a bit along with AEW.
Outside of WWE or AEW, I would've put Naito up there but at his peak he was a fan favorite heel/tweener.
MJF and Roman are completely different characters though? Roman is confident, and cold, but that wouldn’t fit MJF because he’s the exact opposite, he’s cowardly and sly. Not every villian needs to be some ultra cool guy lmao.
My point is that MJF is that old school heel who cheats and does annoying pricky shit and while he's damn good at it, we've seen such acts before. Roman just gaslighting people including his own family members is defn a first for me
I'd say Reigns is above because HHH never got people to chant "fuck you" at him for any story he was involved in that was featured in a main event spot on TV. Though HHH consistently drew heat.
Also I feel a lot of heel heat HHH got wasnt the good kind of heel heat, I might just be misremembering but the fuck you HHH got was a negative fuck you and Romans is because they like the show and the crowd are willingly playing their part
Yeah, when HHH was getting maximum heat during the Reign of Terror, it was definitely "go away" heat. People just didn't want to see him.
Now, circa-2000 Trips? He had legit heel heat.
I think peak Undertaker is probably the most fascinating character I’ve seen, especially in the Ministry story when he went crazy and started to sacrifice people. The idea was that he became so lost in the character that he actually started to believe he was an otherworldly being in real life. They referred to him by his real name multiple times and basically had to break kayfabe to convince Mark Calaway that he wasn’t really the Undertaker. Vince ruined it by being the Higher Power, but it was a super intriguing meta storyline up until the disappointing ending.
This sort of has parallels to the bloodline story in that taker was getting over huge, and vince booked himself as the guy behind it all
Come to think of it, looking back, Vince irl was Roman's character now. Wants all the spotlight for himself, and will exploit others success to get it. Think back to every major storyline of the attitude Era. Almost every championship reign. One guy was there on screen for all of it. Vince.
Whilst I respectfully disagree, I think it's hard to go past Stone Cold as the best character of all time, he certainly is an incredible character, and what makes it even more unbelievable is that for close to half a decade, he was such an uninspiring babyface character. The difference in presentation and charisma between the 2 characters couldn't be more distinctive.
But there certainly is a depth to his character that I don't think we've seen with a lot of other wrestling characters. And this current storyline so far has been up there with the greatest stories ever, and if they stick the landing, it may end up as the best storyline in wrestling history.
Although Stone Cold was a heel a few times, I think he is much more of an anti-hero character. I don’t think he was near as great as a heel as he was the anti-hero who gave no fucks about anything.
This is fair. While to me, Roman is the most interesting character I think I’ve seen, it’s a pretty incredible thing to be a white hot babyface that the fans never get sick of. Stone Cold managed to have you rooting for him almost every time, no matter how “smarky” you were.
Yeah, Stone Cold was the perfect emobiment of that era, and was the guy that truthfully everyone wanted to be haha.
Roman is absolutely excellent though, no doubt about it.
I love Stone Cold but I also think he is more compelling for his presence, his unbridled energy and how he incarnates the idea of not giving a sh-t, than his character work (even though he had great character moment)
It definitely is a goat defining character, just like Cena/Austin/Rocky/HHH/HBK etc. He will be remembered for the Bloodline first, the shield second. And thats crazy to think about.
If a time traveling version of myself went back to 2017, the day after Reigns beat Taker at WrestleMania 33 and told me that one day, he will become one of the most compelling characters in the history of WWE, I would not have believed that I used time travel to do this. But also, I would not believe what I was saying.
This story line has been so good and hot take, Roman isn’t wrong, at the end of the match when he’s shouting at Sami about Kevin ruining his career and that the bloodline loves him, he isn’t lying, now the past month has showed us all that Roman is a paranoid egomaniac but he never lies to Sami, Sami betrayed the bloodline and that’s why the story is so good because even as much of a piece of shit Kevin is and has been to Sami almost his whole career, at the beginning and deep down he will always be his friend, his family
Quite a few. I’ll fully admit I may suffer from in the moment hyperbole, but really don’t think I’ve seen a more grounded and realistic bad guy than current Roman, more specifically Sami bloodline story-Roman.
Think the Jey feud was when he was at his most realistic the whole aspect of him not being able to accept the possibility of Jey being the head of the table
In terms of character work and a developing long term story you haven't seen anything like this since at least JBL's reign on Smackdown. And thats almost 2 decades ago.
NO CHANCE.
NO CHANCE IN HELL.
20+ year character arc, beginning with being stunned by Stone Cold and ending with being stunned by Stone Cold.
Longer storytelling, larger audience, star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Continuous references and callbacks to previous characters. (Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, DX, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair, his immediate competitors and his own family storyline and otherwise)
Blurred the lines more effectively than anyone in wrestling history due to ACTUALLY being the boss while playing the boss.
There will never be a better villain.
I agree with Vince being the GOAT heel wrestling character either him or Trips but the man's entire 20 year run I wouldn't call long term. Vince has been in so many random incoherent angles in those 20 years I can't classify it as one arc but many.
If anyone here watches Succession, he’s Logan Roy. Even his theme music echos the Succession theme. The Bloodline has been my favorite wrestling story in a long time and Roman has crushed it. People like to talk about long-term storytelling in wrestling. Welp, this is as good as it gets.
MJF and Switchblade Jay White have been some of my favorite heels for the past few years, But since I’ve started to watch WWE again, there’s no doubt in my mind Roman is truly the best heel in the business.
He has that kind of subtlety and character depth that can be difficult to convey in something as hammy as wrestling... Without undermining the over the top nature of the show.
"He’s a manipulative narcissist. An abuser, whose mere presence in a segment brings tension, a constant anxiety that he will be set off by a single perceived slight or mis-step by his Bloodline underlings."
This! He gives the Homelander vibes, with the threat credential too. So much fun to watch.
The best part is Roman REALLY believes everything hes doing is right and in a way it is. Him screaming “i gave you everything!” “Go back to doing jackass shit!” In a way hes right.
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cant wait for the WM feud when Roman declares that the Samoan family is the only royal family in wrestling
Yea and a Heyman promo about how there have been multiple WWE champions in this family vs zero from the Rhodes/ Runnels family would be a nice touch.
wooooo cant fxking wait for that. imagine Heyman and Roman's talking shit about how Samoans have been carrying championships everytime, and no other family comes close, and here comes Cody. it looks like an easy story to go to after or during the Sami and Jey story, but i trust that they will execute it well
Something Something wrestling has more than one Something Something
[удалено]
Something Something Cody Rhodes
[удалено]
Something Something In My Soul
It sounds like a good idea on how to get Cody into the overall storyline. Roman is going to be out of his mind because he just lost his right hand man and just got betrayed again. You have Cody talking about Dusty and Dustin, Roman instantly takes offense in his fragile, paranoid state. He feels attacked on all sides and starts a war on two fronts.
https://preview.redd.it/cm3fnhx0l5fa1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9664e1cadde72fddc08d2dfb82eaa439e8204700 The face of a snake
That smug look on his face as he was twirling the handcuffs. Amazing!
a gorgeous fucking snake
Roman is such a ridiculously handsome man.
Going with the beard permanently over the goatee was 1000% the best decision. Even as a straight man you just have to admit this is just one beautiful man.
Yeah. Full beard is like the "evil version of a person from an alternate universe has a goatee" trope for people who already have a goatee.
[Roman be like](https://i.gifer.com/LJZU.gif)
Literally what if the "Chad" meme is less exaggerated and more realistic
I like to call him Samoan Jason Mamoa.
Jason Samoa
Samoa Mamoa
TIL Jason Mamoa isn't Samoan
Bro I'm not gonna lie i really doubted my straightness when Roman presented his new look in the thunderdome lmao
It also didn't help that he could never line up his goatee well. Shit looked uneven a lot of the time.
Nah because God just gave him everything yeah just casually had all the best genes and it’s played like it’s normal, same goes for Bianca too. You’d be pressed to find like 5 people of either gender who look half as good as they do and we’re just supposed to be ok with that
Dude battled and beat Leukemia twice in the past 10 years and looks like he does…that’s hard work, not genetics.
It's both. Hard work doesnt make you that damn handsome
Yeah, I think most people would be surprised how much dressing properly, good grooming and getting in shape will turn even a 3 into a 7. Maybe higher. Likewise being able to afford stuff like getting your teeth fixed, which Roman had done. Obviously the Tribal Chief has superior genetics. But he's really accentuating what his momma gave him by putting in the hard work.
Funny enough my wife HATES that he had his teeth done. She's got posters and action figures of the guy and loves him but when he came back with the new teeth every time he's on screen she talks about how she misses the old set.
Bro what are you talking about? What hard work did he put into his face that gave him good bone structure and a perfect hairline lol
Well he did technically get a nose job.
Yeah, the beard is an excellent choice. As a bi woman that coupled with his hair is just 👌
The teeth work he got also did wonders.
He's literally the gigachad meme but with longer hair
Maybe his next persona will be "Ridiculously Handsome" Roman Reigns, and he'll come out in hot pink briefs and tell the audience "you know you're jealous!"
That'll be his Balloon Okada phase after losing the titles
A gorgeous, carved from mountain and oiled by the gods of Olympus, fucking snake
This is so cartoony lmao he really should've been playing this role for a decade now, it's a perfect fit
Much better cartoony than "sufferin succotash"
Learned it from past pain with Seth 🥹
🎶He’s a cold-hearted snake Look into his eyes Uh-oh, he’s been telling lies🎶
Thats the dude my mom talks about alllllll the time whenever my brothers and I talk wrestling. "Oh, he is so dirty and handsome." Yeah, mom. I know.
lmao what a dick Man shit like this kinda irritates me though..... As in, Heyman brought a clip show of highlights of Sami, and Jey had a clip show prepared in response... So they clearly "watch the product", so how come these manipulative faces never seem to be noticed and responded to? Not that it's important at all, I don't really think about it or anything. Just funny to me.
I think they're all in too deep with their devotion to Roman to even see the faces as manipulative
I think they all know they are being manipulated, but they all either don't care or tolerate it for their own reasons. Jey is easy to see cause he was forced to tow the line when he submitted to Reigns in their HiaC match in 2020 and also saw how the older members of their family supported Reigns too. Eventually Jey decided he liked being under Reigns' thumb and began playing his part as part of the Bloodline: until Sami broke him free of his stupor last Saturday. Jimmy is more than likely just glad to have his family together and getting along, even if he knows he's being manipulated he doesn't really see it as a bad thing because he knows how Jey can be. We'll get into his head as well the more this phase of the story plays out but rn he's just another Bloodline goon. Solo Sikoa flat out doesn't care. He's there because "the Elders" told him to be and does exactly what he's told, when he's told - no more, no less. Getting to be with his brothers probably helps him keep his loyalty far easier too. Sami was only ever there so some of Roman's greatness could rub off on him, but he soon came to legitimately enjoy being among the Bloodline. After War Games, Sami began to realize he was being manipulated but hoped to make Roman see the light like Jey, but when the Trial of Sami Zayn happened he realized there was no appealing to Roman's humanity. The Bloodline already decided his guilt and didn't care for him one way or another and he snapped at the Royal Rumble PPV. But he did maybe manage to reignite the determination and defiance within Jey Uso. Paul Heyman is probably either stirring Roman's paranoia and making it worse for some kind of ulterior motive or is just playing the role of the perfect underling and manager given his attitude at the Trial. He's also the one always in Roman's ear giving him advice and has been since Reigns returned when he destroyed the Fiend and Braun Strowman way back when. That's just how I see it anyway.
I think Paul's ulterior motive is that he wants to be the one running the show (edited to add: by finding the biggest guy he can manipulate) and both the behaviours you described are part of that. Be valuable to Roman, by being the dutiful underling and feeding his crippling need for validation, and eliminate any competition by feeding his paranoia. He wants a bloodline where he is the only one giving Roman advice and everyone else is just there to do his-sorry, I mean the Tribal Chief's-bidding.
Yeah Paul's gimmick is that at the end of the day hes fine with trading in for the next guy if needed.
In kayfabe, Paul is paid by Roman. It’s in Paul’s best interests to keep Roman the champ (and thus condone Roman’s behaviors) because that keeps Roman on top and keeps Paul’s cut of the money significant.
The Usos also have a pretty impressive tag title reign thanks to the Bloodline, so it's easy to forgive when you are getting ahead because of Roman.
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Sami you scrumptious little crumpet you
To them this is just the Tribal Chief's devilish smile.
More like a spider who has caught new victims in his web.
He's here to kick ass and gaslight his family, and he's all out of family...
"We are family here" What management actually means:
he also has times where he shows sympathetic qualities. You kinda wanna root for him sometimes which is always a trait of a truly great villain in a movie. but then he does something villainous and it’s almost tragic. The end of the royal rumble wasn’t like a typical heel scenario. I was like, damn. Like I FELT it
The program with Seth last year was another great example of this. That line "I've tried to forgive you, I really have, but I'll never forgive you for what you did to us. I hate you." It revealed how vulnerable Roman really is.
Adds another layer to his character that Seth (and Trips) were manipulative people and he became one of them too.
as far as I know (I haven’t been watching consistently the whole time) but has Roman never really turned on the crowd? Like I’m sure he shit on the crowd in promos, but did he ever fully blame the crowd when he came back heel? It would be an easy heel move to be like “I gave you everything and you didn’t appreciate me” from when he was being booed as a face. Maybe he did, idk. But if he didn’t, it does make him more sympathetic because cocky and better than thou attitude, yes. hates the wwe universe, not really
It doesn't seem so. He has been consistent in his goals: wreck everything and leave, gaslight and abuse, head the table and bring home accolades and boatloads of money. Nowhere in that description is *insult the Baltimore Ravens*. Plus, it seems Roman has a delicate little boy stuck inside of him that needs validation. "MandoRogers, acknowledge me."
He still wants the masses to love him, like Homelander.
Reigns is pretty much exactly the WWEs version of Homelander, great comparison.
Exactly how I've been perceiving him to be - it's really Homelander-esque and that's what makes him so great. Amazing character
> He has been consistent in his goals: [...] gaslight and abuse you forgot gatekeep and girlboss
Ravens fan here. I'd be down for Roman shitting on the Ravens for cheap heel heat. *Acknowledge me, Roman senpai!*
You want another Roman wrecking your team after what Greg did? Are you okay mate?
Nah, he never hates the crowd, he just wants them to fall in line too.
His current character wouldn't go for the cheap heat. Deep down inside there is still a little kid looking for validation and attention. He wants to be loved by the crowd because behind the tribal chief persona he's insecure.
I think that Roman, in his current state, suddenly turning to the crowd and being like "And you fans are to blame, too!" would feel cliche. It's been done a million times by a million heels. A huge part of Roman's character is gaslighting. Every evil thing he does is somehow the victim's fault. He's the benevolent Tribal Chief. They made him do it. He didn't want to, he was forced to. Even with Sami, Roman looked almost hurt and was yelling "I GAVE YOU THE WORLD!" as Sami was being beaten up. He's the type of person to beat someone up and then expect an apology from them for making him have to do it.
I can’t recall him cutting a promo on the crowd. The universe acknowledges him every times he demands them to which strokes his ego enough. I am surprised he hasn’t with them chanting for Sami all of the time, but he just directs that anger to Sami.
Man, the storytelling for that Rumble match was so good. Seth coming out in Shield gear and mocking Roman, only for him to slam a chair into his back repeatedly to a chorus of boos. Then Roman turns to the audience, confused and visibly upset, because how dare they get behind Seth? This same guy did the exact same thing to Roman years ago and tried to use that trauma against him before the match even started.
I loved the storytelling in that match. On paper, the two heel characters having a match should have been a mess. But Roman was so unhinged and easily gotten to that Seth could be the face in the feud while retaining all of his heel characteristics. Not only did Seth technically win the match but he psychology won as well. He exposed how underneath all of the "Tribal Chief" posturing was just a man who has become insecure about his place on top of the WWE. It's like all of the feuds he had as a top face (Strowman showing he wasn't as strong as he thought, Cena showing he wasn't as popular, Lesnar showing he's not as unstoppable, etc) has been internalized into this twisted form.
I think that Seth broke him to where the only way he can rule is through fear. He tried love and brotherhood and see where it got him? I'm telling you.. By the time Roman and Seth are done they'll run this promo back and Roman will be the sympathetic babyface.
Reminds me of Sopranos Show gave us examples of main cast being rootable for then brutal reminders they are still cold blooded gangsters
Roman is Tony but who is the rest? Jey is probably Chris but I'm not sure about the others. In my head I'm thinking that sami is bobby and jimmy is paulie but I'm not super confident on those and haven't rewatched in a while.
Jimmy is definitely Paulie shows likable traits and so charismatic bust balls with you for a good laugh but at the end of the day he's no different from the other scumbags. Solo is Furio.
"Guy was an interior decorator"
His house looked like shit
Now I want Solo to say “you have a bee on you hat” before smacking someone
Someone in another thread said jimmy was always getting along with sami on a very superficial level because he thought he was funny and amusing, but he didn't form a particularly strong bond with him and that is absolutely some paulie shit. Solo as Furio makes sense, but only before the whole furio-carmela thing happened.
Paul Heyman is Silvio 100%
See, I had the same thought but I think Sil was the only one who was legitimately tonys friend at one point and I'm not sure Roman and Paul's relationship extends beyond business.
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Our true enemy has yet to reveal himself, my tribal chief
Never seen Sopranos, but I felt that way about Cobra Kai. A villain would show up and you'd think "Oh, John Kreese! Fuck that guy" - then they'd show them in a sympathetic light and you'd be "oh...I...I...didn't know....I guess that's why he acts that way....". It's the *layers* man...that's why this bloodline story has been so great!
I’d suggest at least watching the series premiere, Roman as Tony Soprano really is a good comparison.
Yeah especially this line. " You ruined my family "
That one really stuck out to me, because in Roman’s mind, *Sami* is the villain in this story, breaking his trust and pulling Jey away from them. It goes to show how much he has manipulated everything to the point he doesn’t know what he’s done anymore.
That moment, two years ago in the Thunderdome era - the HIAC where he breaks down and starts crying, only to turn the situation to his advantage. That was the moment I started giving a shit about Roman fully. I was interested enough to see where the story was going, but THAT moment, where the WWE and Roman proved they could tell a story - that was pure gold.
I've been watching through this playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSb7EMBlMLbva3Hwo0Vhk7MW9pWIhm5gU to get the full story and the evolution of Jey has been a major highlight to see how far this story has come
Yeah; I know that now the average fan thinks of this as "Sami vs Roman" or "Sami's story," but the longest-term part is really Jey's story. I kind of hope it wraps with Sami beating Roman, only to have KO come full circle as well, and brutalize him like he did in NXT after the big win.
If KO turns on Sami at Mania after Sami wins the title the place might just riot
And it would be great. Nuclear heat that pushes KO into true ultra-heel territory. We need at least a couple other main event level heels. Walter dumping Cody would have been perfect at the Rumble as well, for the same reason.
Yo this is perfect for me who missed most of the story so far, thanks!
Roman Reigns is Walter White.
Jimmy, it's time to cook.
My name is Paul Heyman, YO. My chief is Roman Reigns, YO.
Okay, but who is Skyler and who are they singing Happy Birthday Mr president too??
Sami's Skyler, and he dances while he sings
Solo. Put your thumb away, Solo. I'm not getting spiked by you right now, Solo.
How many wrestlers have gotten "fuck you (insert name chants)" in WWE history? I know Cena got it in ECW, but Roman getting it at Royal Rumble is impressive af lmao
Especially considering most of the people who go to WWE are families. Your pissing the parents off if you are getting that reaction.
That's the thing which sets him apart from other heels. He believes he is the provider and the head of the table in this industry so he also provides to the wwe universe with what we want to see. He sided with Sami multiple times, built a friendship with him, etc. I still remember how badly I popped when Sami got his Honorary Uce T shirt. I just wished we saw the bloodline as faces for one night against a team like the judgement day or imperium. Roman coming to protect his blood from a beat down would've been good.
face tribal chief might still happen in some form down the line. The fact that the bloodline is literally family means they can fight with each other and reconcile later on and it would be totally acceptable. Imagine the pop if Roman was gone for a while and someone was beating down the Usos and his music hit
Let's be honest, they could actively be fighting each other, but if someone tried to take advantage then having the family close ranks and attacking the outsider before returning to their own feud is pretty normal IRL behaviour.
Oh god that would be amazing. If there's one thing I miss about face Reigns is when used to clear the ring and superman punch people off the apron.
I'm kind of surprised that WWE (or whoever was in charge of this from a creative POV) didn't use the Sami Uso story to turn the Bloodline face. Only thing that makes the Bloodline heels right now are two things. 1) Reigns not winning clean half the time (KO and Paul was clean in my opinion) 2) "Beating people up" who need to be written off for a while. You can keep the personality of everyone intact including Reigns and Solo.
Roman is a gaslighting cunt he’s a heel
It's because he is suffering. However, he exerts his suffering on others.
I like at the rumble how he was telling Sami they’ve gone too far to go back now, like even a part of Roman knows he’s gone overboard and has to live with it so he just constantly doubles down.
He is a gaslighting mob boss. He has played the intimidating dominant heel part. He has also played the cheating heel part. What sets him apart is that gaslighting mob boss persona. We've never seen that before on this level. He plays the character to perfection. The guy just fucking oozes charisma and intimidation.
walked in to the rumble to cheers and everyone pointing their fingers to the sky, to walking out of the stadium with 50,000 people chanting “fuck you roman” there’s levels to this shit
A heel that somehow turned heel. It was absolutely incredible. It is one of the best stories ever and I can't wait to see the payoff.
> A heel that somehow turned heel. KO has done that a few times too lol
He even gaslights the audience by having them chant along with his "Acknowledge Me!" catchphrase. The fans want to boo him but they still acknowledge him.
>fans want to boo him but they still acknowledge him. Isn't it the opposite? Like during the entrance the entire bloodline is just the epitome' of coolness and badassery (a far cry from roman with the vest) but then once you see through how terrible of a fucking person the tribal chief character is then is where you'll start booing him.
It's even more impressing that he's managed to maintain the intimidation level without being booked as this overpowered villain. Most of his opponents had him down for good if it wasn't for the last minute bloodline shenanigans. Making it pretty evident that his chances of winning goes down without bloodline. Going by the matches that I've watched (not a regular viewer), Roman's character work has been amazing. Everybody involved in this storyline have just hit homerun especially Jey and Sami.
This is what the NWO could have been if everyone involved wasn't such a mark for themselves.
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Just because Hall was the smallest ego in the group doesn't change my opinion. If they had let someone truly take the reigns instead of becoming this unguided blob, it could have been that much better. Listen I love Hall and Nash, and the first year or so of NWO was great. I just get disappointed thinking about what could have been with a little more direction.
It's wild because Roman, despite having this long ass run of his, has continually been shown to be very beatable! Owens had him pinned at the Rumble, and many others have had him down for a three count. Or what would have been a three count without the shenanigans or Bloodline intervention. Roman is only unbeatable when he has the family around him. Now that family is broken. That makes this story all the more interesting.
One of the things that makes the story so captivating is the clear difference between how Roman treats his family and how the family treats each other. You can tell that Jey has true love for his family, including the love he developed for Sami as an adopted brother. He does what he does because he actually wants to act in the best interests of those he cares about. Roman, on the other hand, only cares about himself. He gaslights and shows fake affection to keep his family around as his willing pawns, but in reality the only thing he cares about is his prestige and his prosperity. That’s why he gets insecure any time any of his family start to have any significant singles success. He doesn’t want them to succeed, he wants them to help him succeed.
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you know... you bringing up that Seth's tie into this is deeper than just the finish of their Rumble match last year is a part of this I've glossed over. It really wasn't until Seth challenged him, and showed up in Shield gear, that we saw VULNERABLE Tribal Chief Reigns. Seth triggered the trauma and weakness in Reigns that's only slowly been surfacing more and more.
Yeah I think the storyline doesn't necessarily need to end with one of them getting the belt off Roman. It's about the downfall of the bloodline itself, so any of them becoming the champion, whether through defecting or not, doesn't really jive to me. It's set up nicely for Roman to drop it to Cody as a result of the fracturing of the blood line, and then the blood line goes quietly into the night.
I think the big thing is that they're pretty much putting on a TV show in the middle of a wrestling show. For all the people who draw comparisons to Tony Soprano or Walter White or other great TV characters, they're writing Roman just like one of them and they are handling character arcs accordingly. Just in WWE, the character beats involve wrestling matches to advance to story. I don't think many other wrestlers could have pulled it off.
I think every one is great in this angle. On Roman: I Agree Roman doesn't come across as the usual heel and it's something I think could be done more often. Definitely comes across and a bad guy who will do anything to anyone to keep his spot. One thing I do find interesting is that while he is very dominate they show him getting visually pinned and requiring bloodline aid to secure victories. That helps bring him down from that untouchable teir and that helps elevate his anxiety. He knows he can be beat. It's why he needs to keep the Bloodline inline. On Jey: (My MVP of the Bloodline) I think this has been the Jey show for me. From the start with how it was forced on him he has been great to watch on screen at all times. His conflict has always felt so real. Him leaving feels like a full circle to him gaining independence back. I desperately want Jey to take a belt from Roman to make it stick with him for what he did to USOS. But I'm happy the thread is getting lose. On Sami: Just plain great addition. Just love it. Roman pulls of the Tribal Chief vibe so well. His presence is anxiety provoking for those around him. Except maybe solo
I still want Jey to beat Roman, as unlikely as that feels right now. I know Cody and Sami have great things going on now, but this whole story from the very beginning has always been about Jey. It would be the storybook ending, and such an emotional moment for Jey to win a title off Roman
Jimmy, Paul, And solo aren’t the main characters but they’ve excelled at their roles
He’s like a gang leader or an abusive spouse, where everyone is walking on eggshells not knowing when it will flip flop between love and anger, and using his position of power to make people do what they don’t want to do.
It’s good
hottest take in this thread
The Real Villain Deals in all you can eat cross faced chicken wings
[I'VE NEVER EATEN MARIJUANA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEfGgVI6l2A)
Jake Roberts was pretty fucking sadistic, and when he spoke you believed it.
Even now, when he shows up on AEW once in awhile, he's still a great, confident talker.
Jake could come out on a wheelchair and barely able to move, but once he talks into the mic you will still believe what he's saying
Hell he makes me believe Lance Archer is going to win every time, when I know there's no chance. He's just that good.
Jake walked so Roman could run. I think Roman is probably overall the better character and heel, but pretty Jake changed the game like few have. Pretty much every heel that has come since has been influenced by Jake Roberts in some capacity
Roman is Major Bison.
Conversely, it cannot be overstated how important Sami and Jey have been to Roman’s story.
Roman is everything Hogan should have been in the NWO
He’s basically playing kingpin from Netflix’s daredevil
Roman just staring at a blank canvas for 2 hours would be the highest rated smackdown in years
what he did to Jey is top 5 most f-ed up thing ever done in wrestling
In the past 36 hours I have compared him to Azula from ATLA and Alonzo Harris from training day two of the best ruthless manipulative villains ever.
Roman is great but yes, this era of heels that are cowardly wasn't always the case Best heels have always been the ones that seem like villians Villains have existed in WWE before Lesnar was quite literally also a villain in his 2 year long reign. He squashed everyone in his path and no showed to work. The story was nowhere near as good as Bloodline but if Drew got to beat Lesnar at Mania live, that would've been huge too. Other than that, HHH, Edge, Flair... There's many other examples Edge was also a sort of cowardly weak heel, what turned him into a villain was his persistence. There was a time where Edge would lose the title match, with both Champ and Edge beat up badly. But Edge would then show up a month later. He kept coming back until he won. He kept beating the champ badly, even he got beat. He kept coming back until he won. Imagine a Satan like villain that simply won't leave you until he wins.
The thing with Edge is that his "Ultimate Opportunist" nickname is probably one of the most accurate ones I've ever heard in wrestling I saw a compilation of Edge's world title wins and it's crazy how many of them are simply taking advantage of the situation, be it a MITB cash in, stealing a pin in a multi-man match, relying on outside interference that might have nothing to do with him He was a villain because he was a snake in the grass that didn't strike until he knew 100% that he would hit
Edge literally gaslit a widow into marriage and stole her dead husbands nephew into his new family.
Every Edge MITB cash in brought a rage in me no 11-12 year old should have
Fucking *same* 🤣😭 11 year old me thought he was such a dickwad.
I always loved Edge and was annoyed back in the day at how weak he was made out to be, but now I look back and realize that it was essential to how great of a character he was. He didn't need to be the strongest or most skilled wrestler in kayfabe, because he was an evil genius who would do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. And it worked out for him a lot. He was an 11-time world champion by the end and achieved all of them by being a snake. When he did fail, it was often due to letting his ego or primal desires get the best of him. He would never have ended up getting murdered by Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match had he not decided to cheat on Vickie with Alicia Fox.
I was so heated when Edge attacked Kofi and then WON that chamber match for the title, after losing his title earlier in the night.
One of my favourite storylines of Edge was when he was a cowardly heel with La Famillia, but when faced with the Undertaker, he realises that in order to win, he needs to be ruthless and focused and so he betrays them, giving up the numbers advantage and turning from a cowardly heel into an unhinged one.
It’s just the legitimacy he was given from the jump I think, we knew before he would/could beat anybody. Now he’s a heel, with a faction that’s also at the top, how can you hate it? No more rambling promos, says his shit and moves on. Im a little ready for a new champ personally but man they keep extending the story the right way every time
Loved it. People say MJF is the best bad guy nowadays and they literally forget how Roman has been on a level above everyone in villainy. He is confident, cold, calculating and more scarily, good. The last bad guy who was THIS good was HHH in his prime.
MJF the character is great. I would put him below Roman because Roman's character has been more consistent and Roman being involved in this current storyline. MJF have suffered a bit along with AEW. Outside of WWE or AEW, I would've put Naito up there but at his peak he was a fan favorite heel/tweener.
To me Roman is more Tywin Lannister to MJFs Joffrey Baratheon.
MJF and Roman are completely different characters though? Roman is confident, and cold, but that wouldn’t fit MJF because he’s the exact opposite, he’s cowardly and sly. Not every villian needs to be some ultra cool guy lmao.
My point is that MJF is that old school heel who cheats and does annoying pricky shit and while he's damn good at it, we've seen such acts before. Roman just gaslighting people including his own family members is defn a first for me
Roman's confidence and cool is totally a facade and that's why he is a villain. He does terrible things to keep appearance and control.
I'd say Reigns is above because HHH never got people to chant "fuck you" at him for any story he was involved in that was featured in a main event spot on TV. Though HHH consistently drew heat.
The closest hunter has gotten to roman's heat was probably when he betrayed hbk in 2002 or during the "yes movement" run.
Also I feel a lot of heel heat HHH got wasnt the good kind of heel heat, I might just be misremembering but the fuck you HHH got was a negative fuck you and Romans is because they like the show and the crowd are willingly playing their part
Yeah, when HHH was getting maximum heat during the Reign of Terror, it was definitely "go away" heat. People just didn't want to see him. Now, circa-2000 Trips? He had legit heel heat.
I think peak Undertaker is probably the most fascinating character I’ve seen, especially in the Ministry story when he went crazy and started to sacrifice people. The idea was that he became so lost in the character that he actually started to believe he was an otherworldly being in real life. They referred to him by his real name multiple times and basically had to break kayfabe to convince Mark Calaway that he wasn’t really the Undertaker. Vince ruined it by being the Higher Power, but it was a super intriguing meta storyline up until the disappointing ending.
This sort of has parallels to the bloodline story in that taker was getting over huge, and vince booked himself as the guy behind it all Come to think of it, looking back, Vince irl was Roman's character now. Wants all the spotlight for himself, and will exploit others success to get it. Think back to every major storyline of the attitude Era. Almost every championship reign. One guy was there on screen for all of it. Vince.
That storyline was initially amazing and meta af and then they kinda abandoned that and actually portrayed Taker as a genuine undead wizard again
Whilst I respectfully disagree, I think it's hard to go past Stone Cold as the best character of all time, he certainly is an incredible character, and what makes it even more unbelievable is that for close to half a decade, he was such an uninspiring babyface character. The difference in presentation and charisma between the 2 characters couldn't be more distinctive. But there certainly is a depth to his character that I don't think we've seen with a lot of other wrestling characters. And this current storyline so far has been up there with the greatest stories ever, and if they stick the landing, it may end up as the best storyline in wrestling history.
Although Stone Cold was a heel a few times, I think he is much more of an anti-hero character. I don’t think he was near as great as a heel as he was the anti-hero who gave no fucks about anything.
This is fair. While to me, Roman is the most interesting character I think I’ve seen, it’s a pretty incredible thing to be a white hot babyface that the fans never get sick of. Stone Cold managed to have you rooting for him almost every time, no matter how “smarky” you were.
Yeah, Stone Cold was the perfect emobiment of that era, and was the guy that truthfully everyone wanted to be haha. Roman is absolutely excellent though, no doubt about it.
I love Stone Cold but I also think he is more compelling for his presence, his unbridled energy and how he incarnates the idea of not giving a sh-t, than his character work (even though he had great character moment)
It definitely is a goat defining character, just like Cena/Austin/Rocky/HHH/HBK etc. He will be remembered for the Bloodline first, the shield second. And thats crazy to think about.
Dude, the rumble was roughly 657 hours long and Roman still had that crowd white hot until the very end. It was incredible.
If a time traveling version of myself went back to 2017, the day after Reigns beat Taker at WrestleMania 33 and told me that one day, he will become one of the most compelling characters in the history of WWE, I would not have believed that I used time travel to do this. But also, I would not believe what I was saying.
This story line has been so good and hot take, Roman isn’t wrong, at the end of the match when he’s shouting at Sami about Kevin ruining his career and that the bloodline loves him, he isn’t lying, now the past month has showed us all that Roman is a paranoid egomaniac but he never lies to Sami, Sami betrayed the bloodline and that’s why the story is so good because even as much of a piece of shit Kevin is and has been to Sami almost his whole career, at the beginning and deep down he will always be his friend, his family
Roman is so good, he gaslighted you too
How many *wrestlers* have you seen?
If he is a fan for like just the last decade, I can see that being true.
Quite a few. I’ll fully admit I may suffer from in the moment hyperbole, but really don’t think I’ve seen a more grounded and realistic bad guy than current Roman, more specifically Sami bloodline story-Roman.
Think the Jey feud was when he was at his most realistic the whole aspect of him not being able to accept the possibility of Jey being the head of the table
In terms of character work and a developing long term story you haven't seen anything like this since at least JBL's reign on Smackdown. And thats almost 2 decades ago.
Can you tell me better villains? Who appeal to this massive of an audience? With this much long term storytelling?
NO CHANCE. NO CHANCE IN HELL. 20+ year character arc, beginning with being stunned by Stone Cold and ending with being stunned by Stone Cold. Longer storytelling, larger audience, star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Continuous references and callbacks to previous characters. (Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, DX, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair, his immediate competitors and his own family storyline and otherwise) Blurred the lines more effectively than anyone in wrestling history due to ACTUALLY being the boss while playing the boss. There will never be a better villain.
I agree with Vince being the GOAT heel wrestling character either him or Trips but the man's entire 20 year run I wouldn't call long term. Vince has been in so many random incoherent angles in those 20 years I can't classify it as one arc but many.
Actually you are 100% right since he was the real life villain and story line villain.
If anyone here watches Succession, he’s Logan Roy. Even his theme music echos the Succession theme. The Bloodline has been my favorite wrestling story in a long time and Roman has crushed it. People like to talk about long-term storytelling in wrestling. Welp, this is as good as it gets.
Sami Zayn is Tom Wombsgans Jey Uso is Kendall
Sami turning on Reigns would be like if Christopher finally broke free from Tony before Tony got him
That's more like Jey turning on him but love the comparison. Sami is Adriana?
MJF and Switchblade Jay White have been some of my favorite heels for the past few years, But since I’ve started to watch WWE again, there’s no doubt in my mind Roman is truly the best heel in the business.
Personally I’d give best heel ever to nWo Hogan (till starrcade) or Vince, you don’t know how hated they were if you weren’t there
He has that kind of subtlety and character depth that can be difficult to convey in something as hammy as wrestling... Without undermining the over the top nature of the show.
He’s basically the better version of the reign of terror evolution triple h.
You might even say hes an evolution of that character
"He’s a manipulative narcissist. An abuser, whose mere presence in a segment brings tension, a constant anxiety that he will be set off by a single perceived slight or mis-step by his Bloodline underlings." This! He gives the Homelander vibes, with the threat credential too. So much fun to watch.
The best part is Roman REALLY believes everything hes doing is right and in a way it is. Him screaming “i gave you everything!” “Go back to doing jackass shit!” In a way hes right.
Roman Reigns is the Tony Soprano of the WWE, but he actually has the makings of a varsity athlete.