By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
A semi-regular event in my wrestling fandom is a trip to Loughborough to watch Wrestlemania in a pub alongside wrestling forum fanatics who have quickly become close friends. Whilst life has got in the way of making this my yearly tradition, I’ve been able to drink, watch wrestling and be merry in a way that has often made some of the longer and more turgid recent Wrestlemania events seem more watchable. Misery definitely loves company; ask anyone who was there to watch Wrestlemania 32 and a Roman Reigns versus Triple H main event that no-one wanted at gone 4am if you have any doubts.
The one problem with this gathering of generally like-minded wrestling fans is the ease with which the hive mind attitude towards a wrestler or match takes over. Like how the commentary on a boxing match can sway you to score a contest vastly differently to the judges at ringside, the prevailing feelings of a crowd can temper your more polarised opinions into one that fits somewhat within the norm. We all have our own opinions, sure, but we also tend to gravitate towards a norm that feels implicitly agreed upon.
Though Wrestlemania 31 felt to me like a more interesting, less torturous event than the following year, there was still the sort of cranky atmosphere born of lack of sleep and too much alcohol that breeds a negative atmosphere. For every highlight – an impressive RKO by Randy Orton to reverse a Seth Rollins curbstomp, Rusev rolling into Wrestlemania on a tank before his inevitable loss to John Cena – there was something less than engaging or downright bizarre: here’s looking at you, Triple H versus Sting.
At the time, Roman Reigns was experiencing the first flush of audience resentment, resentment that I felt that I shared with my fellow fans. Following Wrestlemania XXX, where the WWE Universe had been lead to believe that their dissenting voice made a real change and saw Daniel Bryan rise to the top of the card, it stuck in our universal craw that Reigns was the guy that WWE wanted to push this year.
His victory in the Royal Rumble went down like the proverbial lead balloon, especially as the fans worked themselves into a shoot anticipating their power to change the product the previous year still retained some cache. Then, WWE pulled an interesting stroke in bringing Reigns and Bryan together at Fastlane. Whilst Bryan gave Reigns a hard hitting and technically adept contest, the grumbles about Reigns’ position on the crowd were not quietened. If anything, they were amplified, with some fans feeling that the WWE had booked Reigns over Bryan as a slight on them in particular. Just like Reigns/HHH would go on to be at 32, it felt as if no-one wanted Reigns/Lesnar, with the seeming inevitability of a Reigns’ title victory leading to many voices of dissent amongst my friends as the night progressed.
That’s why I, along with the rest of a weary and worn down collective in the pub that morning, jumped to my feet as Seth Rollins interrupted the contest to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. It was really sound booking on two levels: it was a way of shaking up what had been perceived as a foregone conclusion by many a fan, whilst also allowing them to move the title from Lesnar without having him be involved in the decision. Different people have different mileage on the concept of a ‘Wrestlemania moment’, but if you believe in them as a tangible thing, Rollins cashing in would be on your list.
However, distance does interesting things to our interpretation of events. Perhaps we see things more clearly with the benefit of hindsight, or break out of a feeling brought by something akin to confirmation bias or group think. Whatever it is, the reality of the Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns match was that it was already really good before Rollins cashed in. To some around the internet, the turning of the match into a triple threat contest actually detracted from the quality; a completely reasonable argument.
What Reigns/Lesnar 1 did is show Reigns at his best. Outside of the shock and awe of the arrival of Rollins, Reigns had already done wonders to turn a hostile crowd in his favour. Lesnar, the man who had chucked around John Cena for fun, battered Reigns with his strikes and suplex based offense, yet every time Roman was able to get back to his feet and fire back at the champion. This was the bad ass Reigns that people had fallen in love with in the first instance; the Reigns that garnered reactions that had led to WWE pushing him to the moon. In fact, it was probably the perfect time to have Reigns beat Lesnar, with the addition of Rollins perhaps an example of the promotion playing it safe.
With Reigns/Lesnar 2 just around the corner, the argument can’t be made that the booking for this match has been particularly engaging. Nor can we suggest that the Reigns brand hasn’t been damaged by his mismanagement pretty much since Wrestlemania 31. However, the one thing I’m looking forward to is a really good wrestling match. Conclusions may be forgone, booking may be poor, the pushed wrestlers may be the wrong choices, yet Lesnar and Reigns have shown they know how to get it done on the grandest stage of them all. None but the most jaded WWE fan can deny this.
Hopefully, it will resolve a chapter of the promotion that will subsequently allow the company to build new storylines and new stars in the immediate future. I’ll be watching it at home on my own, so I’ll be my own judge this time
