About a year ago, Roman Reigns was implicitly revealed as the biggest acquisition in WWE SmackDown’s history. After WrestleMania 36, he will have a title reign that allows him to live up to this billing.
Roman Reigns is WWE‘s top male star, and he is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Argue that point with whomever you want. Form a tag team with DJ Storms while you’re at it, I don’t care. Because the search engine traffic sites like ours get, the engagement his fans bring to the table, and the sheer number of people who root for him will drown out your contrarian takes.
Yet despite being the undisputed top star on WWE SmackDown, Reigns has yet to hold a championship on the brand. And he hasn’t been able to have a lengthy world title reign since the last brand split in late 2016.
Reigns’ moment to hold the Universal Championship through WrestleMania was supposed to happen after he won the title off long-time nemesis Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2018. He had to relinquish the title in order to receive treatment for leukemia, and he’s been busy putting over others since in a more low-key role on SmackDown.
But make no mistake, Reigns is destined to be the face of the brand. And without the Big Dog as the world champion, SmackDown has suffered.
The Fiend was a gimmicked champion nobody actually cared about. That’s why he’s not the champion anymore. He’s a great character and an attraction, but he’s not a champion.
As for Goldberg, the guy can’t wrestle. We all know it. He’s just the roadblock Roman Reigns will conquer at WrestleMania 36. And when I saw “roadblock”, I mean he is the “roadblock” to SmackDown finally receiving the top male champion it deserves.
SmackDown hasn’t been as-advertised on FOX since Brock Lesnar squashed Kofi Kingston in the show’s debut, which remains an embarrassing and problematic decision on WWE’s part.
There have been highlights on the Blue Brand, don’t get me wrong. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and her best friend Sasha Banks are terrific. Other women on the Blue Brand have been killing it, too, such as Naomi and the team of Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. And of course, the tag team division is excellent: The Usos and The New Day set a new bar every month.
But the male singles scene? It’s stagnant. It’s stale. Aside from whoever Daniel Bryan happens to be working with, nobody is looking any better.
You know which established star always gives it his all every night and makes everyone look better? Roman Reigns.
Go watch what he did in the ring with Buddy Murphy on SmackDown the year before. That match holds up.
But Reigns with a platform as a dominant world champion can help put over others. There’s no shame in losing to Reigns. And, in fact, wrestlers end up looking SO good when they push Reigns to his limit.
Remember when Reigns and John Cena were feuding and Cena had a great match with Jason Jordan that Reigns topped? And Jordan looked like a future star? Yeah, that’s what Reigns can do with his selling, mastery of in-ring psychology, and prodigious athletic gifts.
Reigns did the same for Finn Balor in the latter’s Universal Title match on the very night after The Big Dog won the title for the first time. He made everyone remember why Balor isn’t a smiling mid-carder, but a formidable, main-event quality foe.
WWE SmackDown needs a world champion who can make the rest of the roster look like threats while carrying the Universal Title. And the Universal Title needs a real, lengthy reign from a full-time champion who can prestigiously defend the title nearly every week.
The Blue Brand will finally liven up with Reigns as a champion. Thankfully, we only have less than a month to wait for WWE’s best man to claim what he never lost.
