After both WWE Payback and Extreme Rules, there are people
who are still genuinely surprised that Roman Reigns has retained the WWE World
championship against A.J. Styles. Forget
the fact that Roman is Styles’ physical superior. It was assumed by many that even though he
defeated A.J. at Payback, Roman was destined to lose the championship to A.J.
before long. Yet and still, the
most-recent World title contributor the Anoa’i wrestling dynasty remains the
kingpin.
Holding the wrestling world’s most prestigious title should
see Roman adored by the WWE Universe.
Thing haven’t gone that way for the young champion. For whatever reason, there are still some
people who don’t think Roman’s reign (see what I did there?) is legit. And many people are wondering why this has
happened? True enough, the fans turned
on John Cena eventually. But in his
quest for the belt and a good ways through it, Cena was beloved by the WWE
Universe. So Roman’s run doesn’t quite
mirror that of Cena. However, it does
mirror the ascension of one former World champion. The man I’m speaking of is not just any
wrestling king.
He is “The King Of Kings”.
The WWE’s legendary Attitude Era left quite the mark on the
organization that can still be seen today.
It really kicked into high gear when the WWE World championship was
being fought over by guys like The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind, and – most notably
– Steve Austin. Meanwhile, Triple-H was
the de facto leader of the collective known as D-Generation X. Their common cause along with a boatload of
sophomoric hijinks saw many titles flow freely through its ranks. Hunter himself would hold both the European
and Intercontinental championships. DX feuded with The Nation, which was l led by
Roman’s cousin The Rock. Eventually, The
Nation would disband and Rocky would become the champion. Hunter got shot after shot for the gold but
would always fall short in his challenge.
By the time the summer of 1999 had rolled around, every one
other guy listed before HHH had multiple World title reigns to their
credit. Hunter had changed his look in
favor of shorter shorts and shorter hair.
Finally, Hunter beat Mankind for the title and day after SumerSlam
1999. After seeing him fall short so
many times before, his title reign looked like a fluke. Couple that with his real-life relationship
with Stephanie McMahon and the jury was out on Trips. It was accepted that he got where he did
because of that relationship and he didn’t earn the belt. The fact that he would lose and regain the
belt within a four-and-a-half month span didn’t help his cause much
either. Physically, HHH looked strong. But as a champion, he looked weak. At this point, it looked like nothing or no
one could legitimize him.
Enter Mick Foley.
Tales of Cactus Jack were spread throughout the indies and
WCW. Mankind was Jack with some McMahon
seasoning. It was accepted that you had
to be a different breed of competitor to beat Mankind. Hunter looked vulnerable and Mankind was
nuts. The two locked horns in a brutal
street fight at the 2000 Royal Rumble with the belt on the line. It was not for the faint of heart. They beat the crap out of each other. In the end, Hunter walked away with the victory. Up to that point, the toughest match he’d
been in was probably the Hog Pen match against Henry Goodwin. The ECW influence was there and it
showed. Hunter was battered, but still
the titleholder. Even after that, people
were not convinced. Sure, he made a
believer out of some but not all. So how
can you top that? Put the World title on
the line against Foley’s career at in a Hell In A Cell match a month
later. Surely, Hunter can’t beat Foley
again, right? Wrong. Hunter did just that and forced Foley to retire. Despite his detractors, Hunter has gone on to
have one of the greatest careers in wrestling history. A large part of that is due to his matches
with Mick Foley.
Roman Reigns scored two victories over one of the best
wrestlers in the world. It could easily
be argued that because of his victories, HE is now the best wrestler in the
world today. A.J. Styles was a great
opponent for Roman. But I’m hoping he
can hold on to the belt and have someone bigger and more accomplished do for
him what JBL did for John Cena. Or what
Andre did for Hogan. Or what Undertaker
did for Steve Austin. Three reigns in, I
personally hope this is the beginning of a great run for Roman. And even more so, I’m waiting for WWE to give
him that career-defining moment.
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