Okay, so I decided to spend some time really looking into Roman Reigns. Not just watching the shows, but kinda digging into how he got to where he is, you know? This guy’s been on top for so long, holding that title, and I just got curious. How does that actually work? Is it just being big and tough, or is there more to it? I wanted to figure it out for myself.
So, the first thing I did was figure out what exactly I was going to look at. Can’t just watch everything randomly. That’d take forever. I decided to focus mainly on his big Universal Championship reign. Starting from Payback 2020, where he won it. That felt like a solid starting point. I grabbed a basic notebook and a pen. Nothing fancy, just needed somewhere to jot stuff down.
My Process Stuff
Then came the actual watching part. Man, it was a lot. I started with the pay-per-view matches first, since those are usually the big milestones. Then I started filling in the gaps with important Smackdown episodes where big story things happened or title defenses occurred. While watching, I kept track of a few things:
- Who was he wrestling?
- How did the match end? Was it clean? Did someone interfere? Usually, you know who…
- What was the vibe? Did he dominate? Did he need help?
- Any key promo stuff before or after. The whole ‘Acknowledge Me’ catchphrase development.
It wasn’t always straightforward. Sometimes finding older episodes took a bit of searching. And just the sheer volume of matches and segments meant I spent quite a few evenings just watching and scribbling notes. My family probably thought I was nuts, dedicating time to this, but hey, I was committed.
What I Noticed
After going through a whole lot of footage and my messy notes, a few things really started to stand out to me. This is just my take, of course.
First off, The Bloodline. Seriously, you can’t talk about his reign without talking about The Usos and Paul Heyman, and later Solo Sikoa. They were involved. A lot. In commentary, at ringside, sometimes directly in the match. It wasn’t always just Roman winning on his own, especially in those really big, tough matches. That support structure was huge.
His style in the ring felt different too, compared to his earlier days. Slower, more methodical maybe? He dictates the pace. Less crash-and-bash all the time, more picking his spots, using his power smartly. And that Spear? Still his go-to finisher, and it mostly gets the job done. Simple, but effective for him.
And the character work is consistent. The ‘Tribal Chief’, ‘Head of the Table’ stuff. He really leans into it. The way he talks, the way he carries himself, even his entrance walk. It all fits together to make this larger-than-life figure. You gotta give him credit for sticking to it.
Wrapping It Up
So yeah, that was my little project. Spent a good chunk of time watching Roman Reigns matches and segments, trying to piece together how this dominant run happened. It’s a mix of things – the character, the presentation, the smart booking, and definitely the crucial support from his group. It was kind of interesting to lay it all out for myself instead of just taking the weekly shows at face value. Took way more time than I first planned, but I feel like I get the whole picture a bit better now. Satisfied my curiosity, anyway.
