On November 18, 2012, a Samoan warrior flanked by his partners-in-crime—decked out in all black tactical clothing— accosted Ryback in an effort to ensure CM Punk remained WWE champion. The warrior? Roman Reigns. Alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, Reigns was the powerhouse of The Shield. This trio terrorized the good guys of the WWE for months on end. From the get-go, it was clear: Roman was being protected. Anytime the Shield got bested? He wasn’t the one looking up at the lights. In the span of 2 years, he never submitted, and only was pinned four times. Two out of the four were dirty; with interference and shenanigans such that Roman couldn’t even be at fault for the loss.
When The Shield broke up, Roman was immediately thrust into singles stardom. He feuded with all the top stars, and eventually won his first world championship in about a year and a half. He lost that belt five minutes later to a Money in the Bank cash-in. And he won the title back a month later, cementing his top dog status.
I’ll spare everyone any more of Roman’s Wikipedia page; if you’re that curious, read it. With rampant tribalism now en vogue among the pro-wrestling fandom, I figured I’d indulge a bit and join the fray.
Roman Reigns sucks. He’s always sucked. He will never not suck.
Before I go any further, let me be extra clear: I personally have nothing against Joseph Anoaʻi, the man. I have no doubt he is a humble, respectful, marvelous man. He’s a husband and father. A cancer survivor. A true mensch of whom I’ve never read a single bad word about in the dirt sheets concerning any backstage politicking, or similar antics. OK? Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man 127: An Indictment of Roman Reigns”
Perennial “Underground Underdog”, Sami Zayn (
At the recent 
I know it’s creating a bit of controversy among certain 
Not to bury the lede here, but the story was falsely reported. Brody King wasn’t benched at all. He was simply not slated to be on the card. Full stop. AEW is a big company with a lot of moving parts. They also don’t like to overload angles between wrestlers, and King’s upcoming title shot against Maxwell Jacob Friedman has already been perfectly set up. Nothing else needed but to ring the bell and let the violence commence. 
During the run-up to this year’s WrestleMania main event, The Rock interjected himself into the burgeoning storyline. Playing to the old hits as once being 
As of the writing of this column, AEW’s Men’s Heavyweight Championship is being decided in a four way bout between the defending champ Samoa Joe, “Hangman” Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, and the recently-interjecting MJF. That 
Fed up with being tied to a continuously grosser-and-grosser version of the company that once offered him the biggest platform possible, Mrs. Foley’s baby boy had enough. In a single, delectable Instagram post, Mick Foley cut ties to the WWE for their continued support of the Trump administration in the wake of Donald Trump’s subhuman response to the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner. 
Even if it feels like 
OK this is a purely indulgent pick for me, and maybe me alone. When AEW’s homegrown tag team “The Acclaimed” split, I was genuinely curious how both Max Caster and Anthony Bowens would fare alone. Max’s big idea? To get arenas full of people to spit back his word-vomit catch phrase “Let’s go Max, you’re the best wrestler alive!”. By Crom? He did it. Not everytime… but 
Dear Dwayne,