When It Reigns, It Pours For the Big Dog

When news broke out that Brock Lesnar has been drug tested five times in a two-week period, I started to laugh. My initial thought was “I guess USADA doesn’t believe that the WWE Wellness Program is legit.” Four hours later, the news broke out that Roman Reigns was suspended for failing a Wellness test. To say I was a bit surprised would be an understatement.

There are a lot of bodies in the WWE that are lower on the food chain, or equal to his level that make one question the validity of the WWE testing. I’m not saying that anyone is beating the tests. I don’t want to get sued for slander. I’m just saying that looking at some of the performers, it’s easy to question whether certain people are either beating the tests or getting a pass. With the suspension of Roman Reigns, that changes the game. The WWE has been doing everything in their power to turn Roman Reigns into THE GUY that the fans get behind as the new face of the company. If the results to the Wellness tests were fudged, or hidden by the WWE, there would be no way that Roman Reigns name would publicly come up as a Wellness test failure.

MAKING IT PUBLIC

As per WWE policy, any time that a performer was suspended due to a test failure, the WWE releases the information to the public. What they do not do is announce what substance caused the failure. After the news hit, and the shock wore off, it was time to question whether the WWE would make an announcement on television. After all, it was Leati Joseph Anoaʻi that failed the test, and not Roman Reigns. Reigns is just a character he plays.

I can’t remember a time when the WWE took to their airwaves to announce a suspension of a character in a storyline way. I figured the WWE would continue this pattern with Roman Reigns. On SmackDown!, the WWE did follow this pattern as the Roman Reigns suspension was not mentioned. However, to my surprise, the WWE, in the form of Seth Rollins, announced to the non-Internet, non-Twitter following world that Roman Reigns was suspended. Stephanie McMahon came out, and called it an embarrassment. The WWE did everything on RAW to call out the suspension. However, what they didn’t do is further punish the character.

DOES HE DESERVE A MAIN EVENT ON THE PPV

In the past, if a performer fails a Wellness test, he would not be put on the pay per view that takes place immediately after the suspension ends. The view of the WWE was always, if the performer can’t be there to build the pay per view, then he isn’t booked on the show. By the WWE allowing Reigns to not only wrestle on the show, but work in the main event, the company is showing favoritism to Reigns by breaking precedence. This is a dangerous move. The next time a performer gets suspended, who was booked for the pay per view, is told that even though they are back from suspension on time, they aren’t allowed to compete on it, the WWE will take a morale hit. Why is it OK to allow Roman Reigns to compete on a pay per view less than a week after returning, by it’s not OK for other suspended performers that come back.

From a kayfabe standpoint, Stephanie McMahon called Roman Reigns suspension an “embarrassment” on RAW. However, she keeps him in the match. Plus, she’s a heel, whose husband lost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Wouldn’t the Stephanie McMahon character be looking for any excuse possible to get Roman Reigns out of the match? A Wellness test failure would be a perfect reason to not reward Roman Reigns character. Thus, having Reigns in the Battleground pay per view main event makes absolutely no sense in a shoot or kayfabe world.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE ROMAN WHEN HE RETURNS

As soon as I heard about Reigns suspension, and started to analyze the situation, I came to the following conclusions. 1. Take him off the pay per view, because he shouldn’t be allowed to work a pay per view following suspension when others in the same situation were not allowed to. 2. Keep the belt off him for a while. The second point has nothing to do with the fact that the fans hate Reigns, and don’t want the belt on him. That’s an article for another time. The reason why the WWE needs to keep the WWE World title away from Roman Reigns for the time being is that the company will look really bad to put the belt back on Roman the very first match that he returns from suspension.

If Reigns wins the belt back at Battleground, what kind of punishment did Roman have? He basically gets a 30-day vacation. Sure, it’s unpaid, but he shouldn’t then be rewarded with getting his spot back immediately. The WWE needs to show their performers that failing a Wellness test will result in more than just thirty days off the road.

One theory that I heard is the WWE believes the suspension will garner sympathy for Reigns, and he’ll get a baby face reaction upon his return at Battleground. Seriously? If this is true then they are very delusional. This past Monday night showed proof of that. When Seth Rollins was reading the tweet that Roman Reigns posted following the announcement of the suspension, the fans booed. It wasn’t a “let’s boo Seth for running down the baby face.” No, it was more in line of “We don’t like Reigns, and don’t want to hear what he said.”

How should the WWE handle his return then? The WWE can go a couple of ways. Since they are determined to have him wrestle on the pay per view, they should not let him win the title. Actually, he should go without the belt until at least the Survivor Series. I would take him completely out of the title picture until them following the pay per view. Have a heel attack him in the main event to cause him to lose the match, and start an undercard feud until the time is right to put the belt back on him. Of course the most obvious thing to do would be to use the fans’ reaction, his suspension, and his contempt for the fans that boo him, to boil him over in frustration, and cause him to turn heel. That’s not the WWE way on Roman Reigns’ road to becoming the face of the company. What will the WWE do when Reigns comes back? We will find out in four short weeks.