In a move that, depending who you talk to, is either a sign of his superstardom or harmful to the WWE product, Roman Reigns has not graced Raw or SmackDown ahead of his return for the Men’s Royal Rumble
match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
So the Royal Rumble premium live event will be the first time we’ve seen Reigns since Survivor Series WarGames two months ago. As my opening line told or reminded you, Roman’s schedule is a topic of conversation around the wrestle web. His comments on it during an appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show earlier today (Jan. 30 — embedded above) should keep that convo spicy…
“There’s always a mindset of that [WWE always being ‘His’ show]. But to be completely honest and transparent here, two years ago it all changed around and what I’ve been doing out there hasn’t exactly been the same of what I’ve done before. And the way I look at it is, I’m a generous Tribal Chief. I give the people plenty of time. These young talent, they say we hog all the TV time. They’ll complain about one thing, and then I leave an opening, I give them plenty of space to create whatever type of superstardom they want. Get over, kids. Get over. You know what I mean?
“And we’re two years here now, and we haven’t advanced. We haven’t evolved. We have great leadership in Nick Khan. God bless him, what a businessman. He’s a genius. But we have to be able to keep up with that creatively. And that’s why people like me, people who are striving to be the very best, the greatest, the GOATs, the MJs [Jordans], I just can’t sit around and see mediocracy — not when I set it up for everybody to just slam it home. I mean, we’re on Netflix for crying out loud. You gotta capitalize. We have people playing around and trying to figure it out. And I got the formula. I know how to cook it up.
“So it’s been a tough couple of years for me, but at the same time, when you come off such a hell of a run, you’ve gotta kind of just pump the brakes for a second. You know, I’ve got five children at home. We all wear those two important hats, being a husband and a father. And I’ve been on the road for a long time. So I needed to be able to pull back a little bit, but I’m fully capable. And I’m only 40 years old. With all the tech and all the information we have now, I feel like I’m 25 years old. So I’m still good to go.”
It’s a message that will resonate with those who feel WWE has fallen off since the peak of Reigns’ Bloodline reign and storyline. But is it the right way to deliver it? For the ”kids”, it very well might be. Tough love from a respected leader can do that. Everyone reacts differently, though.
And if we’re looking for signs of OTC1’s superstardom, getting to throw the word “creatively” into that answer is the best sign I’ve ever seen. Or is it a sign we’re about to get a new kind of reality-type storyline from WWE?
But that’s just my take on what Roman told McAfee and crew. Join the discussion in the comments below to give us yours!
