By Gawd, a wrestling QOTD!
Send suggestions to: mhaas42@gmail.com
This was sent in by Matt Hayden...
General consensus seems to be that Roman Reigns is definitely gonna get the rocket push. We all know that timing is often everything with these things, and pushing a guy too fast, or waiting too long, can mess with his heat or even cause the push to fail.
My question is: if you were booking the Reigns ascension to the top, what's the general gameplan and timeline you'd follow? How soon do you do the Shield split? Does he feud with Ambrose first? Do you give him a long run and a variety of feuds with the IC/US belt? When do you plan on having him regularly wrestle in main events, and, ultimately, capture the world title? Given that it seems Reigns may get to showcase himself in the Rumble, I thought now would be a good time to ask the BoD how they'd proceed with the Reigns push from here.
My only stipulation is that my question assumes the push WILL happen, so answers like, "I wouldn't push him at all, I'd strap the rocket to Ambrose instead!" don't cut it.
Send suggestions to: mhaas42@gmail.com
This was sent in by Matt Hayden...
General consensus seems to be that Roman Reigns is definitely gonna get the rocket push. We all know that timing is often everything with these things, and pushing a guy too fast, or waiting too long, can mess with his heat or even cause the push to fail.
My question is: if you were booking the Reigns ascension to the top, what's the general gameplan and timeline you'd follow? How soon do you do the Shield split? Does he feud with Ambrose first? Do you give him a long run and a variety of feuds with the IC/US belt? When do you plan on having him regularly wrestle in main events, and, ultimately, capture the world title? Given that it seems Reigns may get to showcase himself in the Rumble, I thought now would be a good time to ask the BoD how they'd proceed with the Reigns push from here.
My only stipulation is that my question assumes the push WILL happen, so answers like, "I wouldn't push him at all, I'd strap the rocket to Ambrose instead!" don't cut it.
This is SO easy to me. Do a slow burn of dissension between Ambrose and Reigns with Rollins being ambiguous caught in between.
ReplyDeleteHave Reigns go in a monster winning streak until here until mania, which only increases Ambrose disdain for Reigns. Night after WM, have Reigns spear the shit out of Ambrose and he's on his way
I agree. Slowly does it is the answer.
ReplyDeleteI would basically do the diesel push. He dominates the rumble and he accidentally takes out Rollins and/or Ambrose.
ReplyDeleteAt elimination chamber, I would have him come down to the final 2 and lose by miscommunication and that's when he snaps. That leads to a wrestlemania match against the Ambrose. No us title on the line because reigns causes him to lose it before that. Besides any lower level title is the kiss of death.
I would have him do one ppv where he main events against the champ and loses. This helps cement that he is a main event player. Diesel had this vs Bret; Austin had this at final 4, wrestlemania and one of the iyh against undertaker.
I would also make sure he has one clear feud after the shield breakup like against orton, Sheamus, or Brock. This would help show that he can play with the main event guys. Sheamus could have used this before he won the title and got it with hhh afterwards. Goldberg never had that big feud before the title which I think hurt him a bit in the long run. However, rock, hhh, mankind and austin all had that before they won the title and help cement them long term.
Have him in series of mid card matches with various talent such as Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, The Miz etc... have him win 50% of them and lose 50% of them. Havr him win a mid card title then continually lose once he wins it so people will really like it when he finally wins a match... then when he wins a match have him drop the mid card title to Santino. Then shoe horn him into a main event feud where HHH continually looks good so ifhe eventually goes over HHH it will pop huge, but if ratings go down it will be a clear indicator that the fans didn't want him because, hey we tried. Then just keep him around to wrestle matches on Superstars and do commentary on PPV pre-shows.
ReplyDeleteThe thing they need to take away from the Evolution break up is that Reigns needs to be the one to break away from The Shield, not Ambrose / Rollins kicking him out.
ReplyDeleteOrton being turned on by Evolution made him look weak from the off that he didn't see that coming a mile off.
Batista turning made him look smart and the master of his own destiny.
The fans are always going to get behind a character taking charge of events rather than going with the tide
Couldn't agree more. They should always break a babyface turn as the babyface turning on the heels...NOT the heels beating the shot out of the babyface and kicking him out. They've been doing this alot recently with face turns amd it's not as good thing
ReplyDeleteStart off by having Reigns win the IC title. Ambrose is jealous so he constantly brags on how he defends his title and how he was more dominant. One night Reigns "accidentally" intereferes in a match and almost causes Reigns to lose. Reigns finally wises up.
ReplyDeleteAmbrose apologiges but wants to prove he's the best in the group so he challenges the Undertaker. Ambrose loses so Rollins attacks. They beat on the Undertaker and Ambrose orders Reigns to spear the Undertaker. He walks away and the Undertaker fights back. Ambrose kicks Reigns out of the group.
At the Rumble Reigns and Taker face Ambrose and Rollins. (This is where we find out Taker is mentoring Reigns) Later that night Reigns goes on a monster tear through the Rumble only to be eliminated by the Shield. Next night on Raw Reigns causes Ambrose to lose the US Title to Big E. Ambrose challenges Rollins for the IC Title. If Reigns wins the Shield is disbanded. Reigns wins and starts a feud with Orton which culminates at Wrestlemania.
Start the push at the Rumble. Have Reigns spear and toss several guys. Then, have Ambrose and maybe Rollins toss him out unexpectedly. You can even have Ambrose do it, to potentially start a jealously angle of sorts.
ReplyDeleteThe RAW after Rumble, start the slow turn to face. Have a confrontation between Ambrose and Reigns about the Rumble. From that, slowly build the tension until the February PPV, when the Shield splits.
When the split happens, Ambrose does all he can to terrorize Reigns (on the stick and sneak attacks), seeing Reigns is a lot more powerful. They have a match at Mania and they can even continue the feud after that. As long as Reigns looks good from the match, it doesnt matter and quite frankly, a majority of the matches will probably overshadow this, to tell you the truth.
Reigns can win the feud at the next PPV. Slowly build him up throughout the year and have him win the 2015 Rumble.
Let him clear the ring at the Rumble and eliminate a main player like Kane.
ReplyDeleteAmbrose vs. Reigns at WM.
Unify the IC and US Titles.
Give him a shot at the heel World Champion on Raw but come up short.
Have all three members of The Shield in the ring by themselves with about 8-9 guys left with Reigns eliminating about 6-7 guys early on in the Rumble Undertaker then enters at 23 and shocks The Shield because in kayface and IRL they injured him and put him out last time we saw Undertaker on TV. Taker destroys all of them and eliminates all of them but clotheslines Reigns last and they both go over the top. All four fight to the back and boom there you go. Mania: Shield vs. Taker handicap match.
ReplyDeleteReigns gets the Diesel spot in the Rumble, tension builds between Reigns and Ambrose until WM, Ambrose eats the pin after an accidental Reigns spear. Andre/Heenan moment where Ambrose smacks Reigns in frustration, Reigns flips out and spears the shit out of Ambrose and Rollins to start his push.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with starting his push before Mania is that it's going to get lost in the hype of the big matches. Doing it after Mania at least gives it some time to resonate with the audience better because there isn't as much happening.
I think I'd split Reigns from The Shield sometime around Summerslam when he beats Ambrose one on one...then have him go on an extended winning streak with tentative plans to do a "streak vs. streak" match with Undertaker at WM 31. If he's getting over with the fans and pushing to the cusp of tippy top guy he ends Taker's streak, gets the belt soon after, and boom...you've got your new monster babyface champ.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding
ReplyDeleteThis is my preferred method too. The Shield's loss at Mania (to Undertaker, or to an all-star trio) should be the 'final straw' for the group and Reigns turning on Ambrose should be one of the key points of the next night's RAW. From there you can run Reigns/Ambrose for the US belt, Reigns wins, and then he spends the year defending his title in the midcard, a la Cena in 2004. Build him up all you like and if he's good enough, have Reigns win the 2015 Rumble and then the title at WM31. Hell, if he's doing REALLY well, have him be the one who breaks the Streak.
ReplyDeleteRollins is the other x-factor in this. Ambrose is born to be the heel in this conflict and Reigns is the face....does Rollins remain with Ambrose and a newcomer in a 'new Shield,' or does Rollins turn face himself?
Oooorrrr... color hos hair blomde and Cut it into a short buzz cut. Put a purple t shirt and jorts on him. Give him a sudden obsession with the military, even though he has no formal connection to them, all while holding babies and kissing fat chicks. Oh yea, and rename him "Cohn Jena" to go along with his new persona. New top babyface
ReplyDeleteEither scenario works well
So Reigns does the clean-out spot in the Rumble, and gets eliminated by Ambrose and a couple others in such a way that you're not sure if Ambrose was trying to help or hurt. Build a bit of dissention between the Sheild up to the Elimination Chamber, and at that show in a Chamber match against the Wyatts, have Reings spear Ambrose to set up the pin. Wyatts win, Ambrose slaps Reigns, Reigns spears the shit out of everyone and he breaks free from the Sheild.
ReplyDeleteThe following night, a new Sheild member debuts with Ambrose and Rollins and beats the shit out of Reigns 3-on-1. Reigns comes back over the next few weeks and beats each member of the Sheild individually to build to a 3-on-1 handicapped match the Sheild at Mania. Reigns wins there, beats Ambrose the following month for the US title and defends that all summer, building up his prestige and the prestige of the championship.
They should hold off until after WM. I'm still skeptical about any impact it has since they don't hardly talk and are rarely involved in any sort of angle to actually make people give a crap about them.
ReplyDeleteHHH or someone in THE AUTHORITY orders The Shield to do something, it doesn't really matter what. Reigns stops the proceedings and says this is bullsh&t. The other members of The Shield ask him what his problem is. So they order another one of these 3 on 1 type deals and Reigns says f--- that it's going to be 2 on 2. Face turn and plus he's got people to feud with and a reason to feud with them.
ReplyDeleteI also like Parallax's idea of trading wins with Kofi and The Miz, whichever.
Remember how Batista was built up before he split with Evolution? It should be done the same way. Ambrose plots behind Reigns' back, Reigns plays along all while smirking in the background. You have to make the fans WANT the split first. Give the fans a chance to cheer Reigns while he is STILL with The Shield. Don't just do the split, and then hope the fans go along with it. It's the crowd reactions that make this work. So do a slow burn, make the fans give a shit, and then pull it off.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to have him read scripted promos.
ReplyDeleteHave him start acting like Rockstar Spud.
ReplyDeleteI just wish they'd actually do something with the Shield's characters to make their inevitable break up mean something. Currently they're three guys who team. How about a video package talking about how they grew up, faced adversity and trained together and are life long friends? Then Ambrose betraying Reigns might mean something. Or even just have the announcers talk about that.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess it's all too much effort to try and portray them as people when you can just have Reigns turn because Ambrose gets too cocky, or whatever.
Three easy steps!
ReplyDelete1. Crew Cut
2. Smile
3. Handicap Matches
Welcome to the booking team.
ReplyDeleteThen what? According to the WWE formula, he then has to lose for 6 months.
ReplyDeleteAmbrose and Rollins are getting dominated in the Rumble. Reigns enters and starts laying out the entire ring with power moves. But after each dude is laid out Ambrose tosses them and its actually Ambrose who gets the record. Ambrose is celebrating that and Reigns gets in his face and they're eliminated.
ReplyDeleteAmbrose hellishly gloats about being the star of the Rumble (typical Cole " yeah right") and just when it seems Reigns is going to finally shit him up the Wyatts interrupt. 6 man Eliminatiom Chamber follows and after discord causes a loss Reigns spears Ambrose. They have a match at Mania. Reigns goes on a winning streak thereafter and is ready for the WWE belt by Summerslam or Mania 31. Ambrose keeps the Royal Rumble record schtick, because that sort of thing works best for heels.
Rollins? Eh, dunno.
Losing streak
ReplyDeleteI'd have him cut a promo leaving the Shield because tag teams don't draw money and all teams are only together because they're forced to be anyway....from there he sets about his goal of becoming the face of the company, leading to him winning the Royal Rumble for a shot at cementing his legacy with a Wrestlemania moment.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you have him end the streak and be the handsome face they want him to be, but I think he's as good a choice as anyone if they were to end it - he's young, he's their creation, and they're likely to push the fuck out of him until he retires or loses his good looks. He has a long term future, unlike a guy like Batista who didn't need the win and only had a couple of years left anyway.
ReplyDelete