MachoLibre Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 So, it seems Roman Reigns' return is imminent. And that anticipation of his return and potentially so as a babyface has been handled really, rather well. "WE WANT ROMAN', indeed. Feels like a good time to take a look back at his career and everything that has led him up to this point, as well as what now lies ahead. It's been a hell of a journey the last 4 years, with the emergence of the Tribal Chief character and dawning of the Bloodline saga, all seemingly playing a significant role in taking WWE to new places, greater heights and helping improve the product tremendously from those years just prior. Has Roman now put himself in the conversation for 'Greatest of all time'? Personally, I certainly think so and feel he may well be just that. His return run could really cement that case. There's this odd narrative among certain internet fans that any heavily pushed talent by the WWE machine is a rubbish wrestler. Even when Roman was 'The Big Dog', his stuff in-ring was tremendous. It's odd he suffers that criticism, as he's got an almighty back catalogue at this point, spanning a good decade. Where his 'Big Dog' run maybe struggled in character work and promos, he rarely missed with matches, having banger after banger, with a variety of opponents and very few poor outings. He long had that aspect of his game down. Putting all the pieces together, finding his confidence with all other aspects and becoming what many always felt he had within him put him on an entirely different level. Which also brought us The Bloodline, which is considered by many as one of the best stories WWE have ever produced. I'd be one of them. I'd been hanging on by a thread barely keeping interest on WWE goings on and once the pandemic hit, with empty arena shows I was ready to call it a day. It was all things Bloodline that reeled me back in and has me thoroughly invested again. It's somewhat crazy to consider the butterfly effect of a global pandemic and Roman's own health concerns played a role in bringing us to this point. Bloodline has consistently been the hottest part of the show throughout those 4 years and has brought about so many memorable moments. What lies ahead for Roman and The Bloodline now upon his return? How and when should he return, how would you handle it and the ongoing Bloodline developments? What will the next 9 months look like when it comes to Roman/Cody/Rock/Bloodline and all the big events en route to WrestleMania? Acknowledge your Tribal Chief, discuss his career, notable moments, matches, upcoming return and anything Bloodline if you like. ☝️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted July 14 Paid Members Share Posted July 14 46 minutes ago, MachoLibre said: Acknowledge your Tribal Chief, discuss his career, notable moments, matches, upcoming return and anything Bloodline if you like. ☝️ Only when you tell us who you used to be on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachoLibre Posted July 14 Author Share Posted July 14 1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said: Only when you tell us who you used to be on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 Babyface Roman will hit like crack. Hopefully he returns within the next two weeks. But he'll likely show up after Solo loses to Cody at Summerslam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted July 14 Paid Members Share Posted July 14 3 hours ago, MachoLibre said: Acknowledge your Tribal Chief It was great when he came back at Summerslam 2020 and the run started. By Mania 39 it was getting real boring with every match being formulaic and normally involving a run in. I’m glad Cody finished the story, and I’m hoping the plan is for him to come back, run through Bloodline 2000 and have Rock/Roman at Mania. But the Bloodline angle is on life support without him or Dwayne fronting it, just put it out of its misery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted July 14 Paid Members Share Posted July 14 12 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: But the Bloodline angle is on life support without him or Dwayne fronting it, just put it out of its misery. I mean, that's, like, your opinion, man. But the Bloodline have been superb TV the last few weeks from the clips I've seen on YouTube and Twitter. And even if you disagree, it's obviously not on 'life support' considering the ratings are still excellent and they're still the main event act on Smackdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted July 14 Paid Members Share Posted July 14 Last Summer, it felt like The Bloodline angle was dead, being dragged out for the sake of it, with endless filler before they returned to Cody at Wrestlemania. Summerslam especially, with Jimmy turning on Jey. Felt like the biggest shark jump of all time. I don’t feel that at all this time. Real development. Real drama. Heyman getting murdered. Jacob Fatu feeling like their most exciting signing since RVD in 2001. I’m all in. I mean, Jesus. There’s going to be an episode of Smackdown soon where Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes end up fighting alongside one another. I literally got goosebumps just typing that sentence out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted July 14 Paid Members Share Posted July 14 31 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: But the Bloodline angle is on life support without him or Dwayne fronting it, just put it out of its misery. Thought you stopped watching after WrestleMania? Can't be that bad an angle if it's dragged you back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachoLibre Posted July 14 Author Share Posted July 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said: But the Bloodline angle is on life support without him or Dwayne fronting it, just put it out of its misery. Au contraie! Just as it seems as though it's cooling off it takes a direction that pumps new life into it. Far from on life support, feels as if there's so many notes yet to hit, that there's ample life yet. Roman returning, Rock returning, Roman and The Usos reconciling (which, judging by the rest of the angle, previous comments from Roman, Triple H's booking I'd imagine wouldn't be rushed), Rock potentially being responsible for the new Bloodline, Bloodline Civil War, Rock vs Roman. 1 hour ago, Supremo said: Last Summer, it felt like The Bloodline angle was dead, being dragged out for the sake of it, with endless filler before they returned to Cody at Wrestlemania. Summerslam especially, with Jimmy turning on Jey. Felt like the biggest shark jump of all time. Felt similar at the time about Jimmy vs Jey, which has still been the only real hiccup. There's a great twitter thread (if I can figure out how to link it, I will) detailing all the key points of Jimmy's heel turn and why his motivations were logical. I wasn't really a fan of how the turn was done at SummerSlam, but I think the real issue with their whole thing was nobody really wanted to see them against each other. I love The Usos, it was nice they were getting their moment and living their dream of wrestling each other at 'Mania...but deep down it felt like the audience just knew that, accepted that aspect, only, really we love them together and don't have any desire to see them opposing each other. In much the same way I'd want New Day to always be mates. It's great such teams exist today and don't have to follow the typical separation angle, so it was also a disappointment that it seemed to be going that tired route, when so much of The Bloodline story had been quite novel up to that point and that much of the crux of the story's roots was their relationship. One thing that is great about The Bloodline story as it develops, is there seems to be a lot touches and foreshadowing that'll reward revisiting previous parts. I don't think every single thing has been planned out perfectly years in advance, but there's certainly a lot of things done intentionally to become relevant later. I don't know that this recent Solo stuff has long been a plan, but there's plenty of previous elements that make total sense of this direction. Edited July 14 by MachoLibre Buenos Noches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted July 14 Paid Members Share Posted July 14 58 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said: Thought you stopped watching after WrestleMania? Can't be that bad an angle if it's dragged you back in. Like Devon I’ve based it on seen social media clips, I do sometimes have the first hour ish of Raw and Smackdown on as background noise while I’m doing other stuff. The only wrestling I put on to actually watch is AEW, but if something were to grab my attention while it’s on in the background I would watch. Solo just appears to be an awful leader, every promo (or really backstage segment I guess) he is the complete opposite of Roman to me, a charisma vacuum. As for the new additions, Jacob Fatu looks tasty, the others look pretty bad. @Devon Malcolm100% it’s just my opinion, and I could be in the minority, though my timeline is far more mixed then they were on the OG bloodline. The ratings are down post Mania, although I think that happens every year and are only going to get worse when Smackdown moves from Fox in a couple of months (although that’s enough ratings chat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachoLibre Posted July 14 Author Share Posted July 14 2 hours ago, TheScarlettChad said: But he'll likely show up after Solo loses to Cody at Summerslam. This is most likely. And probably expected at this point, so might fall a bit flat and bring disappointment if he doesn't. Part of me feels like it could be stretched out further yet though, that you could even hold off until Survivor Series or the Rumble. Rock vs Cody at the Rumble and Roman in the rumble match, maybe. Either way, I'd enjoy Kane's return on that early 2000's Raw following that cracking 10 man tag being recreated. Heyman comes out first looking absolutely elated, giving a moment for everyone to register what's about to happen before the first notes of Roman's music play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew "the ref" coyne Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 (edited) Ignore Edited July 15 by andrew "the ref" coyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 15 Paid Members Share Posted July 15 I maintain nobody would ever have turned on Roman if they’d played to his strengths in the immediate aftermath of The Shield split and not had him wrestle Randy Ortons match, too long with lengthy chinlock sell, at SummerSlam. Five minutes, Drive By, Superman Punch, Spear. It’s all they needed to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted July 15 Paid Members Share Posted July 15 16 minutes ago, air_raid said: I maintain nobody would ever have turned on Roman if they’d played to his strengths in the immediate aftermath of The Shield split and not had him wrestle Randy Ortons match, too long with lengthy chinlock sell, at SummerSlam. Five minutes, Drive By, Superman Punch, Spear. It’s all they needed to do. I agree. They tried to shove him straight into the John Cena role which didn't fit him at all and it naturally backfired. It didn't help that he kept the same gear and music so he immediately felt stale, combine that with a Randy Orton at his most boring feud and of course he was dead in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted July 15 Paid Members Share Posted July 15 Remember though - when Roman comes back, it won’t be a proper babyface turn unless he starts wearing the weirdest-looking, most insanely-distracting blue contact lenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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