Opinion
Rob: Timing is Everything
Rob weighs in on why this Roman angle has been effective and well-timed! Do you agree?
The last ten minutes of Clash of the Champions made it clear once and for all that the Roman Reigns lots of us loved and most of us argued over is for the time being no more. While there may have been some doubt when he first came back at the end of SummerSlam, it quickly eroded over the last few weeks until it was totally wiped out when he brutally beat down his cousin Jey Uso in the main event. Reigns is not only the Universal Champion again but he is now a full fledged heel with Paul Heyman at his side. This version of Reigns is here to dominate, to show up and win, to wreck everyone and leave. And not to be nice or play within the rules while doing it. Jey found out the hard way and he won’t be the last one for sure.
So now that we have a bit of a clearer picture of where Reigns character may be going, and that the reaction to the change has been very positive, some of the usual suspects have been asking why didn’t they do this sooner? Why did Vince spend five years trying to get us to accept Roman as a good guy instead of making him a heel from the jump? Well I have a few answers to that. For one, no matter how loud people got on social media or at televised shows about it he routinely sold more merchandise and got more views than the rest of the roster as one of the good guys, so you don’t just up and change that. But just as important though is the timing. If you’re going to turn your top guy, and make no mistake Reigns is and has been that for several years now, then it shouldn’t happen on a whim and shouldn’t be done to appease a loud section of the fanbase that isn’t truly representative of the entire group. And that’s what turning him in 2015 would have been, a knee jerk reaction to how some crowds had turned on him that year. Were there some moments in 2016 and 2017 where it would have fit? Sure. He could have flipped around or after the brand split (imagine him in Kevin Owens place as Universal champion then) or after beating the Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 but outside of those situations I don’t really see a point when it would have made sense before now.
By holding out until now, and the perfect storm of him being out for five months and being able to make a surprise return at SummerSlam emerging, has given us an earned change in character that’s the culmination of five years of frustration for the character and Joe Anaoi in real life. Too often in modern day wrestling the heel and face turns are telegraphed out from miles away or done for no other reason than to try and shake things up. And the character changes that come with them are often contrived and not well developed. Here we got everything you want – a full change in character, not just in how they talk or an adoption of heel tactics, and a nice mix of abrupt moves and slower reveals. And having his cousin Jey Uso involved to make the full turn really hit on an emotional level took it to the next level. This is quite frankly the best heel turn I’ve seen in years. In terms of execution and what it sets up for the future this is right up there Hogan joining the NWO and Austin siding with Vince McMahon.
Both of those are examples of how timing matters. Hogan turning in WCW where he was never totally welcome in the first place was a lot easier to pull off than if it had been tried in the WWF were he became the biggest act in the world (look no further than when he came back in 2002 working heel and was cheered like the old days at WrestleMania 18). Austin on the other hand turned at a point when the fans still wanted more of him as a face and it never quite took; while it made sense on paper because they were three years into Austin vs Vince McMahon as the main program, normally long past time to change up, the people still had some more juice they wanted to squeeze out of it. And while in hindsight it doesn’t look so badly executed, it’s hard to argue against how people reacted at the time.
So ignore all those people that say this should have happened long ago, and not just because of what I said earlier. A lot of those folks just flat out didn’t want him in that position in the first place and came up with what they think are good reasons to justify it. Turning Reigns heel in 2015 while Seth Rollins was all the way into his first heel run as World Champion and Money in the Bank winner before that would have caused a logjam at the top, with Roman taking a backseat to Rollins. 2016? Heel Reigns post-brand split would either have been Universal Champion instead of Kevin Owens or would have taken another backseat to another heel champion. 2017? With Brock Lesnar as Universal Champion, same issue. By 2018 it seemed to me at least that the big push to turn had died down, although the detractors still wanted him to step aside for Rollins or Braun Strowman. 2019 was a no go because of the sympathy he was getting after returning from leukemia, and he was largely out of the top spot on the card anyway.
(Please note the game that the naysayers were playing; turning him heel earlier would have caused a booking conundrum that these same folks would have wanted solved by putting Reigns in the lower spot; the problem was always the position not the alignment as we saw when he started moving back up the card in early 2020.)
So yeah, we’re at a place where the Empire can ride with him in this role (For the record I would do the right thing as a fan and boo him if I were in the building), he was personally ready and eager to take up that role himself, and things are properly aligned with the rest of the roster draft notwithstanding to have the right foils for him. So let’s sit back and enjoy the ride here folks.
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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