{"id":48120,"date":"2017-09-19T15:06:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T20:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=48120"},"modified":"2017-09-26T14:07:26","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T19:07:26","slug":"monday-night-reigns-o-meter-36-tracking-roman-raeignss-ability-beat-odds-come-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/09\/19\/monday-night-reigns-o-meter-36-tracking-roman-raeignss-ability-beat-odds-come-top\/","title":{"rendered":"MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #36: Tracking Roman Raeigns\u2019s ability to beat the odds and come out on top"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2619199467\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><hr \/>\n<p>Roman Reigns is one of the most divisive and talked about WWE performers in history. The company makes desperate play after desperate play to make him their number one star &#8211; thus far to no avail. How do they do it? What do they do?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m <b>Tom Colohue<\/b> and this is the <b>Monday Night Reigns-o-Meter.<\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><b>Monday Night Reigns-o-Meter<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>There was a week, in the slow days of WCW&#8217;s slow collapse, in which WCW abandoned the concept of having wrestling for the first hour of their show. Instead they threw together hype packages for pay-per-views, sketches, and skits with lower card talent and interviews with top brass like Bret Hart. As experiments go it was soon abandoned but it&#8217;s hard to say that last night&#8217;s WWE Raw didn&#8217;t heavily remind me of it a full 17 years later.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s not to say that the hype packages and recaps weren&#8217;t excellently put together &#8211; WWE has a universally respected reputation in this area &#8211; but every now and then WWE shows us how dangerous it can be when a small handful of top stars vanish abruptly while most of your backup established names are feuding over the tag titles.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, whilst WWE used their top talent sparingly, most of their UV7 were used memorably.<\/p>\n<p>Lesnar swore while leaning in close and seducing the camera, sending a flutter of excitement through the lens to all electronic equipment in a six mile radius. My TV still hasn&#8217;t recovered, so thanks Brock.<\/p>\n<p>Strowman also threw suggestive glances at his camera lens, but his biggest moment was undoubtedly his casual demolition job on Enzo Amore. The running ramp slide is one of Braun&#8217;s better maneuvers, not least because of how sparingly it&#8217;s been used thus far. Aggressive pelvic thrusts are all the rage right now, as any good obsessive wrestling fan knows.<\/p>\n<p>Bray Wyatt has had a brief and interesting feud with Goldust, for a legitimate reason and involving legitimate feelings and emotions on both sides. Wyatt has always been best as a long term, slow moving character and this was a perfect example of that.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-914159135\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Balor, meanwhile, appeared on the Titantron to tell touching stories of childhood jaunts through years long past. Nothing says touching and emotional like the mental image of a mini Balor with glorious abs bursting from his chest like an alien parasite.<\/p>\n<p>This left two. Samoa Joe&#8217;s absence was memorable in itself given how strong a push he was being given before his injury and how strong a reaction he is likely to get upon his return. Rollins was involved in what I believe was the majority of the second hour, teaming with backup star Ambrose against backup stars Sheamus and Cesaro. Anderson and Gallows were also there.<\/p>\n<p>That of course leaves the most magnificent of the seven &#8211; Roman &#8220;big dog broke my zipper&#8221; Reigns. Roman&#8217;s last few weeks have been a repetitive but enjoyable collection of trash talking Cena, being buried by Cena and then not punching Cena in the face. As you might expect, and as was likely the plan, I am now very much looking forward to the moment at which Roman punches Cena in the face.<\/p>\n<p>This week, however, there was no Cena. The question on everybody&#8217;s lips was, who was Roman going to not punch if the guy he usually doesn&#8217;t punch wasn&#8217;t there to not punch?<\/p>\n<p>A terrible problem for a guy who loves to cock his fist, isn&#8217;t it? Sure, Roman went for a succinct promo that contained a wonderful piece of sound editing. How anyone in the back knew to blank Roman&#8217;s naughty word from the audio before Reigns actually said it is beyond me. Incredible stuff.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ux0M9QReTHU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>So Roman also swore, but he didn&#8217;t make mental love to any electronic equipment in the process. He verbally attacked Cena, but couldn&#8217;t then complete his role as the guy who doesn&#8217;t punch Cena.<\/p>\n<p>Something was missing and it wasn&#8217;t the patented Dance Dance Revolution t-shirt. He made his promo, he got people booing, he even interacted positively with the audience like a confident, assured top guy should do. So what was missing? He didn\u2019t even get much hate as he walked down that ramp.<\/p>\n<p>There is a moment coming in the not too distant future in which John Cena and Brock Lesnar are not in the WWE. The writing is on the wall for a post-WrestleMania in which Lesnar is replaced by Reigns. In the course of one year are we going to see Roman replace and retire The Undertaker, John Cena, and Brock Lesnar?<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3943510592\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Who\u2019s to say? One thing\u2019s for certain, a WWE without those three is a WWE that might just struggle. Roman Reigns might just be the only guy at the required level to take their place right now.<\/p>\n<p><b>Odds Counter<\/b><br \/>\n&#8211; Nothing<\/p>\n<p><b>Did Roman Reigns beat the odds?<\/b><br \/>\nYou can only say yes when the odds in question didn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n<p>Like what you&#8217;re reading? Help me get to 1,000 followers by the end of the year with a like or a retweet and have my eternal thanks. Thanks!<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Like what you&#39;re reading? Help me get to 1,000 followers by the end of the year with a like or a retweet and have my eternal thanks. Thanks!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Colohue (@Colohue) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Colohue\/status\/902597576687419393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S COLUMN:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/09\/12\/monday-night-reigns-o-meter-35-tracking-roman-reignss-ability-beat-odds-come-top\/\">MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #35: Tracking Roman Reigns\u2019s ability to beat the odds and come out on top<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1347959092\"><div id=\"pwtor-2007538423\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Roman Reigns is one of the most divisive and talked about WWE performers in history. The company makes desperate play after desperate play to make him their number one star &#8211; thus far to no <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/09\/19\/monday-night-reigns-o-meter-36-tracking-roman-raeignss-ability-beat-odds-come-top\/\" title=\"MONDAY NIGHT REIGNS-O-METER #36: Tracking Roman Raeigns\u2019s ability to beat the odds and come out on top\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,4585,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-reigns-o-meter","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ReignsRomanWK1_3x2_600-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48121,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48120\/revisions\/48121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}