Life After Roman

[d-d-d-dAz]

In a promo after the house show last night, Roman insinuated his time as a full-timer was coming to an end and that he might be off soon.

Probably not hugely surprising, as I guess it’s Hollywood calling, but still feels… a bit soon, maybe? I don’t know. 
 

Cena was 40 when he got the call from Hollywood he said he didn’t want, but the Rock was early 30’s. Felt to me like Roman might follow the Cena timeline, particularly as it seems like he’s only recently found his feet.

To me, Roman doesn’t feel like he really cracked it as a main eventer until very recently. If he does go out now, what legacy does he leave?

And, perhaps more interestingly, does it feel to anyone else like it doesn’t really matter? I’m not old enough to remember Hogan leaving, but when Rock and (particularly) Cena left, it definitely felt like there was going to be a big period of transition and upheaval whilst the shows found themselves again. When Roman walks out, it sort of feels like they’ll carry on as is. It may even be a good thing for the quality of the shows.

I like Roman, but this doesn’t feel like it…matters. Probably more of an indictment of the quality of WWE right now, where nothing matters, but it’s still a weird thing.

[Merzbow]

Would giving him the Rumble then 'Mania win in '14 have been a better idea than waiting til '15? Yeah it's early but the rumbling from the fans was already there and with hindsight being 20/20 they'd have missed the fans turning on the push.

[simonworden]

For me both Cena and Rock were somewhat transitional, Cena certainly more than Rock. As a youngster the 3 months or so that Rock went off for the Scorpion King (or whatever it was) felt an age so come 2002 when he left after Mania and then again after Summerslam it came as less of a surprise. The product still suffered from it. 

Cena seemed to start transitioning out after 2015 to me and I didn't really notice he was ever gone as a full timer until the end of 2017. It wasn't until Mania 35 that I accepted it either.

Reigns is 36, he's a charismatic, handsome devil that I could see Disney snapping up for a Marvel movie in the future but I expect he isn't done quite yet. We'll maybe get periods of 3 to 4 months off at first before its 6-8 and then maybe a year off, like most he isn't simply going to vanish. It definitely wouldn't surprise me if following next years Mania he takes a breather. I'm expecting the big Rock/ Reigns match more and more which would be a good ending point for this incarnation of his character before it returns as a pseudo face after a break.  

[Supremo]

I’ll laugh my arse off. It’s so typical of WWE to slaughter absolutely everyone on the roster to make Roman as big a star as possible, with no forethought for what’s going to happen when he’s gone. It won’t really matter to their bottom line because of how their revenue is now structured, but fuck me. Imagine this company without him right now? Imagine Smackdown without him?! Who the fuck is the new top guy? Fucking Ricochet?!

Good for him, though. Even when they found a role that worked for him there still feels like there’s leagues of potential left unexplored. He’s far too good and they’re far too lazy once they stumble across something that half works. This current act could’ve evolved into something amazing instead of becoming a nothing, one-note bore. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Hollywood scooped him up and made him ten times the star he’s ever been in WWE.

If he does leave, I look forward to Seth feeling like he has to step up as the new top guy and making a tit of himself slagging Roman off.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Supremo

[d-d-d-dAz]

6 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I’ll laugh my arse off. It’s so typical of WWE to slaughter absolutely everyone on the roster to make Roman as big a star as possible, with no forethought for what’s going to happen when he’s gone. It won’t really matter to their bottom line because of how their revenue is now structured, but fuck me. Imagine this company without him right now? Imagine Smackdown without him?! Who the fuck is the new top guy? Fucking Ricochet?!

Good for him, though. Even when they found a role that worked for him there still feels like there’s leagues of potential left unexplored. He’s far too good and they’re far too lazy once they stumble across something that half works. This current act could’ve evolved into something amazing instead of becoming a boring, one-note bore. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Hollywood scooped him up and made him ten times the star he’s ever been in WWE.

If he does leave, I look forward to Seth feeling like he has to step up as the new top guy and making a tit of himself slagging Roman off.

I get what you’re saying to a point, in terms of how ubiquitous he is on the shows - but I think their cadence won’t get disrupted, they’d just move Orton or Lashley over or something and crack on. It doesn’t feel as seismic a change as it should.

I definitely agree that there’s a massive untapped reservoir of potential with Roman, that Hollywood could capitalise on. Someone made a compilation of Roman’s reactions when someone’s music hits, and he’s actually a superb facial actor - subtle, but tells you everything you need to know.

If he can act at a level you need for films/TV, he could be an absolute superstar. He’s easily more handsome and telegenic than Hogan/Rock/Cena, and has youth on his side still.

*edit* Found it…

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by d-d-d-dAz

[Vamp]

I'd disagree that there's been no forethought about what happens after Roman leaves. Maybe on TV, sure, but they've clearly changed NXT and the performance centre to what they believe, rightly or wrongly, will be more likely to produce the next Roman Reigns or John Cena. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

Just now, Vamp said:

I'd disagree that there's been no forethought about what happens after Roman leaves. Maybe on TV, sure, but they've clearly changed NXT and the performance centre to what they believe, rightly or wrongly, will be more likely to produce the next Roman Reigns or John Cena. 

They won’t pay dividends in time to replace Roman though, surely? Unless they’re going to chuck Bron right in at the top floor, it feels like those changes won’t make any difference at that top level for 5 years or more.

If Roman’s going part time in the next year, they’re going to have to make-do with what they’ve got.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Would giving him the Rumble then 'Mania win in '14 have been a better idea than waiting til '15?

No. People would still have shit on it, for being a direction other than Daniel Bryan. Reigns got good noise in that Rumble because they didn’t want Batista, but what they wanted most was Bryan to not be denied after five months of being screwed over.

[HarmonicGenerator]

1 hour ago, Vamp said:

I'd disagree that there's been no forethought about what happens after Roman leaves. Maybe on TV, sure, but they've clearly changed NXT and the performance centre to what they believe, rightly or wrongly, will be more likely to produce the next Roman Reigns or John Cena. 

This would be the most interesting thing for a post-Roman world. Despite The Brand Being The Star, for the most part they've still built everything around Roman in a way not dissimilar from when they'd relied on Cena / Rock / Austin / Bret / Shawn / Hogan / Backlund / Sammartino / whoever. As Cena was winding down, you could tell that at least one of the Shield lads was going to end up at the very top (and I think it was his Survivor Series '13 performance that cemented Roman as the next big thing to me). I've given up on NXT but is there anyone down there who could be the next next big thing? Or are they really going to go with the "no one individual matters" approach that I bet they've wanted to achieve since Brock walked out the first time?

[Guest]

Good luck to him. He’s faced some life threatening illness in his life and if he wants to see his kids grow up and enjoy the over 8 figures of income he’s made then he should go do it. Plus it’ll be a laugh 

[Loki]

They have almost no A listers besides Reigns, but a host of great B listers so the product will be fine.  Lashley, MacIntryre, Styles, Owens, Mysterio, Rollins, Rhodes can carry the load.  As Supes says, the business doesn’t  require big draws any more for tv at least.

 They are nearly out of A list, genuine draws though.  Orton is the only full timer, and he must be close to easing back.  Edge, Lesnar are part timers.  If you want to pop a WM buyrate it’s slim pickings.

The only guy in the roster who genuinely can step up is Bron Breaker imo.  Outside of that they may need to throw some money at some AEW talent.. 

 

————

The honest truth is that I’m not sure the wrestling industry really needs and therefore can produce a Hogan, a Rock, a Cena any more.  The entertainment market is so fragmented, so fast moving, it isn’t designed around tentpole stars.  Look at Hollywood - they never really replaced the Willis/Stallone/Arnie/Cruise era of big action stars, it’s more about franchises and ensemble casts nowadays.  Nobody thinks “when’s the new Chris Hemsworth vehicle out “, they think “when’s the next Marvel movie out?”.

Hogan had to carry the WWF and then WCW on his shoulders; he was THE draw.  But now it’s WWE or AEW that is the draw.  Perhaps we’re returning to an era where the big names will move from territory to territory (WWE, Impact, ROH, AEW) for a few years in each.

Wrestling is the draw - a live sport that pulls in live crowds but is dirt cheap to produce, it’s the perfect product for the modern network model.

[hallicks]

29 minutes ago, Loki said:

Wrestling is the draw - a live sport that pulls in live crowds but is dirt cheap to produce, it’s the perfect product for the modern network model.

I dunno about that. I really hadn’t been arsed with AEW until Bryan showed up. Punk returning soon after kept my interest for ages. YMMV but they are stars I go out of my way to watch. 

I wonder if WWE will try and make another “guy”, or if it even matters in the live crowd sweetening era? 

[Winston]

Good on, Roman.

After the career he's had and the health scares he should absolutely be looking to Hollywood now.

WWE became terrified of making stars like this after the Rock left so we got years of 50/50 booking, nobody was over and the product really struggled. It should be their goal to make stars for Hollywood. Could be said they're now actually churning them out with Cena and Roman.

It's clear for years WWE have struggled for direction, they pick one guy and just go all in. The goal now should be to try and make a few. Start with Cody, Theory, Bron Breakker and I'd throw in Montez Ford too.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Winston said:

WWE became terrified of making stars like this after the Rock left so we got years of 50/50 booking, nobody was over and the product really struggled. It should be their goal to make stars for Hollywood. Could be said they're now actually churning them out with Cena and Roman.

I would've said it was a little later, after Big Dave left. 

[SaitoRyo]

Think it's come out that Roman is contracted to the WWE for the next few years and that his comments were basically him implying he'll be having a reduced schedule and work less house shows going forward. 

Which is good for him, of course. He should be saving his body and spending time with his family, rather than doing six-mans in third-full arenas.