My Friday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looks at why WWE must Roman Reigns suspension as storyline. Here’s an excerpt:
Roman Reigns has been suspended for 30 days, and it could end up being the blessing his career needs.
WWE announced Tuesday he has been suspended for his first violation of the company wellness policy. He might have taken something he knew would be a violation if he got caught. It also could be a specific ingredient in a supplement taken that technically is a violation without him knowing that resulted in failure.
We don’t know, and WWE won’t tell us. Anymore speculation of what he’s suspended for is a waste of time.
When hearing of the suspension, I thought about how big of a wrinkle it throws into WWE’s plans over the next month. I thought surely they must have just found out about it Tuesday morning. After all, the day before the suspension they spent the entire episode of RAW building to the conclusion of now-world champion Dean Ambrose fighting Reigns and Seth Rollins at the next pay-per-view.
Why spend the whole episode on something that now won’t happen? Well, after more time thinking about it, I’ve realized the answer is they know the match they built RAW on is still going to happen.
It’s possible, and seems likely, WWE knew about Reigns’ suspension Sunday, prompting his sudden loss of the title.
Reigns’ 30-day suspension will end just a few days before the Battleground pay-per-view July 24. He wouldn’t be eligible to be available on-screen for any of the build-in the next four weeks, but that’s where the blessing comes in.
Reigns was WWE champion with fans disliking it, feeling he didn’t deserve it and he was being forced on the audience as the new heroic good guy. He then gets suspended for a drug test while champion. As if the vocal portion of the fans who already disliked him didn’t have enough ammunition conjured up in their minds, add that to their arsenal.
When he comes back, heat is going to be given from the audience at a deafening level. Even the high pitches of kids and females who traditionally support him won’t be able to break through the wall of boos.
This would mean WWE is building a triple threat with just two of the participants. Luckily, the history and conflict between the three men is well-documented and has been going on for the past two years. It’s something new that they need all three guys in order to establish and sell.
This suspension is the most significant I can recall, given the status of the performer as a WWE world champion who hasn’t been getting the reaction the booking was aiming for. Therefore, WWE should act accordingly with the most significant response ever to a suspension.
Acknowledge the suspension on-air and the reaction from it.
CLICK HERE for the how WWE should use this.
