The Wrestling Observer Publication Corridor of Fame consists of a very powerful and most gifted wrestlers and personalities that the trade has ever seen. Every year, a handful of wrestlers are anointed with the distinctive honor of receiving 60% of the vote from a large pool of present and former wrestlers, journalists, and historians, thus etching their identify into the historical past books and cementing their standing as a real all-time nice. 

Roman Reigns just isn’t worthy of being inducted into this Corridor of Fame. 

A career-long failure who has solely not too long ago turned it round because of the assistance of a gifted supporting solid, Reigns has failed upwards since he first dawned a tactical vest in The Protect. He has been shockingly unremarkable within the ring, largely a non-entity on the field workplace, and provides no historic significance regardless of his fixed presence on TV for the world’s largest wrestling promotion. 2023, to most pundits, has been one of the best 12 months of his profession, however a vote for Reigns would solid a shameful shadow over a Corridor of Fame that, at instances, has had a merciless and inflexible voting course of. 

Dave Meltzer describes the standards for his Corridor of Fame as “…a mix of drawing energy, being a fantastic in-ring performer or excelling in a single’s discipline in professional wrestling, in addition to having historic significance in a constructive method.  A candidate ought to both have one thing to supply in all three classes, or be somebody so excellent in a single or two of these classes that they deserve inclusion.”

I fail to seek out Reigns to excel in any of those classes, not to mention all three. 

My largest gripe with the inclusion of Reigns is that some will argue that he’s been a “star” for practically a decade. I argue that, in actuality, most of his profession has been spent being a Randy Orton-like determine that has no actual impression on enterprise. He’s merely been introduced as a “star,” and thus, folks have had it crushed into them that he’s a “star.” Wanting again on the standards, Meltzer mentions the significance of longevity by noting, “Longevity must be a chief consideration reasonably than a scorching two or three-year run, until somebody is so vital as a trendsetter or a historic determine within the enterprise, or priceless to the trade, that they should be included.” 

That, alone, ought to disqualify Reigns from the dialog. It’s beneficiant to say that he’s been on a “scorching two or three-year run.” So far as I’m involved, 2023 is the one time in his fundamental occasion profession that you possibly can classify Roman Reigns as “scorching,” and that’s completely as a result of onerous work of Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes. After an preliminary spike within the SmackDown rankings when the long-awaited Reigns heel flip kicked off in 2020, issues started crashing round him when Sasha Banks left the model at first of the brand new 12 months. It turned very obvious to anybody paying consideration that the sturdy rankings that WWE obtained within the again half of 2020 have been resulting from both the arrival of the Thunderdome or the continued success of Sasha Banks. As soon as new, shiny issues misplaced their luster, and Banks moved on to different issues, the model sank with Reigns as its captain. 

Famously, there’s the Madison Sq. Backyard debacle that very same 12 months. With WWE again on the street after a 12 months of seclusion because of the pandemic and their first MSG present in 18 months, Roman Reigns didn’t drum up any curiosity within the present. After being slaughtered by the presale for AEW’s inaugural Grand Slam present, WWE was pressured to pivot to precise stars, first bringing over wrestlers from the Uncooked model, then later asserting John Cena, who then proceeded to really transfer tickets. 

Later that 12 months, in that very same market, Reigns was accountable for an abysmal quantity within the UBS Area. Jesse Collings wrote in 2021, “On September 18, WWE was internet hosting RAW on the new UBS Area on Lengthy Island, New York. WWE had distributed 2,365 tickets to the UBS Area present following the pre-sale (all information courtesy of WrestleTix). By October 12, they’d solely distributed 2,837 tickets, in order that they introduced that Roman Reigns can be on the present. This was a fantastic take a look at for Roman’s drawing potential, since we’d have the ability to instantly see what sort of impression his presence would have on ticket gross sales, since he beforehand wasn’t introduced for the present, and followers wouldn’t have anticipated him to look on the present earlier than he was introduced.

On October 24, two weeks after Reigns had been introduced for the present, WWE had distributed 3,169 tickets to the present. So Roman’s presence solely led to an extra 332 tickets being distributed. 332!”

Collings continued, “A crowd of beneath 6,000 for a RAW present in New York Metropolis, in a model new space, just isn’t factor for enterprise. John Cena, who’s a reliable enterprise mover in a method the corporate desperately needed Reigns to be, was routinely promoting 5,000-7,000 further tickets for the reveals he was introduced on throughout his tour over the summer season. WWE’s rivals are doing near 10,000 followers in the identical enviornment every week later.”

After all, WWE has turned its enterprise round. The promotion is the most popular it’s been in a decade, and Reigns has been on high for the reside occasion resurgence that the corporate has seen. What I discover so fascinating about this, because it pertains to the Corridor of Fame, is that each when it comes to TV numbers and attendance figures, we’ve by no means had a candidate with extra publicity. We’ve seen all the things Roman Reigns has ever accomplished. Everybody voting on this area has seen this occur in actual time. Nothing can get misplaced in translation or misplaced to historical past. Anybody with a mind is conscious of the truth that the aforementioned Zayn and Rhodes turned The Bloodline program right into a scorching commodity, and as quickly as each of them have been yanked away from the image and the main focus shifted again to Reigns, Heyman, and “No one’s Bitch,” what was as soon as a scorching angle started to chill but once more. 

Affect appears like essentially the most subjective class of the three, however I can not fathom any argument that Reigns has “historic significance in a constructive method.” The kindest factor you’ll be able to say about him is that he has no historic significance, however I concern that as time goes on, the heavy-handed, neighborhood theater-esque “storytelling” that was ushered forth by The Bloodline will terrorize this trade. We have now already seen it infect AEW, and their reside occasion enterprise has cratered in consequence. We’ve seen WWE push their younger expertise in the direction of hammy, embarrassing skits akin to what Reigns has been doing alongside Paul Heyman and The Usos for years now. There’s an opportunity that Reigns might be partially accountable for a generational shift in the best way that wrestling tells its tales, and I can not think about a worse destiny for the enterprise. 

Regardless of being a relentless give attention to WWE programming since his debut, Reigns has a surprisingly quick observe report of memorable matches. The annual Voices of Wrestling Match of the Yr Ballot reveals a startling lack of Reigns close to the highest spot. 

• 2013: *December 10, 2012: Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, & Seth Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan, Kane, & Ryback: (#14)
• 2014: February 23, 2014: Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, & Seth Rollins vs. The Wyatt Household (#3) 
• 2015: March 29, 2015: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (#6)
• 2016: Might 22, 2016: AJ Types vs. Roman Reigns (#12)
• 2017: August 20, 2017: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe (#21)
• 2018: Roman Reigns matches obtained no votes 
• 2019: Roman Reigns matches obtained no votes 
• 2020: September 27, 2020: Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns (#67)
• 2021: March 21, 2021: Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns (#40) 
• 2022: July 30, 2022: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (#60) 

*Matches from December 2012 have been eligible for the 2013 VOW MOTY Ballot.

To his credit score, Reigns was concerned in traditionally nice matches in each 2014 and 2015, though I might argue that he was the least attention-grabbing a part of these matches. Beginning in 2017 with a four-way match that I’ve completely no recollection of, Reigns started to falter regardless of a widening pool of voters. He has develop into an entire non-entity on the subject of high-level matches. 

There isn’t any “if not Reigns, then who?” dialog available on the subject of analyzing doable inductees from this period of WWE. The “content material farm” period of this promotion, which dates again a decade to the launch of their very personal Community, is essentially devoid of advantage at this stage. This isn’t an period of wrestling that must be celebrated. It’s an period of dry tv and uninspired inventive. Relying on her subsequent transfer, I feel we’re a number of years away from having the ability to actually analyze the impression of Mercedes Mone. She, to me, is on the cusp of being celebrated. I fail to spot anybody else with an impressive pedigree in any of the three classes. 

A vote for Reigns is scarily short-sighted with damming long-term ramifications. He would be the least deserving inductee since Shinsuke Nakamura’s rushed crowning in 2015. Almost a decade faraway from 73% of the voting base checking “sure” on Nakamura, it’s obvious that his run atop New Japan throughout their 2010s resurgence was far too quick to be worthy of a spot on this Corridor of Fame. He would exit New Japan mere months after getting voted in, and minus his distinctive debut contest towards Sami Zayn, the Kyoto-born standout has accomplished nothing to pad his resume. A white-hot interval of his profession (in his case, June 2012, when he received his first IWGP Intercontinental Championship by way of January 2016, when he exited the promotion) was weighted far too drastically by the voting base. They ignored a decade of struggles and didn’t foresee one other near-decade of apathy in North America. 

If we merely evaluate a decade of Reigns on the primary roster to the three-and-a-half years that individuals used to vote in Nakamura, Reigns falls quick in each method. 

It’s onerous to explain how “must-see” Nakamura was when he helped spearhead New Japan’s westward growth. Now misplaced to a bygone period of deleted tweets and forgotten blogs, there was a palpable buzz amongst Western followers for every essential Nakamura match, backed up by native followers packing buildings to see mentioned affairs. In 2014, a fan vote determined the primary occasion of Wrestle Kingdom 8. Nakamura had elevated to the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to a “1B” title to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship’s “1A”, and the folks of New Japan awarded Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi the primary occasion over Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito. 

The Wrestle Kingdom fundamental occasion started a string of profitable Nakamura fundamental occasions. In an effort to proceed to intensify the profile of the Intercontinental Championship, Nakamura would do the next: 

• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: January 4, 2014 (35,000 followers, +20% YOY)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: February 9, 2014 (5,040 followers, +5% YOY)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: April 6, 2014 (8,500 followers, +4% YOY)
• Dangerous Luck Fale vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: June 21, 2014 (7,300 followers, +1% YOY)
• Dangerous Luck Fale vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: September 21, 2014 (8,000 followers, flat YOY)
• Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: November 8, 2014 (7.500 followers, +17% YOY)

Nakamura spent 2014 routinely outdrawing reveals from the 12 months prior that weren’t solely headlined by Okada title defenses, however oftentimes featured a Nakamura IC Championship protection on the identical present. A shift in enterprise practices in 2014 noticed NJPW broaden their schedule and put Nakamura and Okada title matches on separate reveals. With much less help beneath, Nakamura was nonetheless in a position to elevate NJPW’s profile. 

At no level in his profession has Reigns had a match as beautiful or essential because the one between Nakamura and Ibushi on January 4, 2015. 

Second from the highest on one of the crucial essential New Japan reveals in historical past, Nakamura and Ibushi took management of the wrestling world. After two full years of surging curiosity on USTREAM pay-per-views, New Japan discovered its method onto American pay-per-view. It’s very doable that with out the overwhelming charisma of Nakamura or his second-to-none charisma with Ibushi, that Japan’s high promotion by no means takes off in any palpable method in America. It was the best profile New Japan match to American followers on the time and a transparent powder keg in New Japan’s enterprise explosion in America. Its legacy stays far stronger than the arguably higher fundamental occasion between Okada and Tanahashi. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL6Lzxyc5TM

Not solely has Reigns didn’t ship at that stage all through any time in his profession (forgetting two-dozen different high-profile Nakamura outings that have been world class), Reigns has usually didn’t ship, interval. 

Reigns has wrestled at WrestleMania 10 instances in his profession. His profession Cagematch Scores at WrestleMania appear to be this: 

1. Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus, & The Large Present: 5.52
2. Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, & Seth Rollins vs. Billy Gunn, Kane, & Highway Dogg: NR (sub-five minute match) 
3. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins: 8.76 (a genuinely nice match and maybe one of the best Reigns ever seemed) 
4. Roman Reigns vs. Triple H: 2.78
5. Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker: 4.15
6. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: 2.74
7. Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns: 4.71
8. Daniel Bryan vs. Edge vs. Roman Reigns: 8.91
9. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar: 4.63
10. Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes: 7.53

Common: 5.52

Thus, not solely do I strongly disagree with the notion that any credit score for the humongous homes at these reveals belongs to Reigns, however time after time, he’s didn’t create a constructive reminiscence on a present that may be a launching pad for “moments.” Even in his greatest matches, he’s nothing greater than a system quarterback, current merely as a punching bag for Lesnar after which failing to “end the story” towards Rhodes (I refuse to simply accept the lauded three-way in 2021 as being something greater than common). 

The truth is, Reigns is likely one of the least constant “huge match” employees in historical past, particularly amongst those that are lauded as a fantastic wrestler in some camps. He was the point of interest of the 2 largest Royal Rumble disasters in historical past in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and has tallied up plenty of sub-5.0 matches in line with the Cagematch inmates. Of observe, 11 pay-per-view fundamental occasions of his failed to satisfy the 5.0 mark. Time after time, media rights cash has bailed out a creatively bankrupt performer. WWE has by no means needed to transfer away from Reigns as a result of the cash has by no means stopped coming in, regardless of WWE’s direct-to-consumer enterprise plummeting throughout his reign of terror. 

Not solely does Reigns fail to succeed in the heights of a now seemingly universally agreed upon misfire, however he pales compared to names which have been struggling to maintain their head above water on this voting course of. I can not take anybody severely who finds Reigns to be a extra worthy candidate than CIMA, who helped mould a whole era of (profitable) wrestlers whereas being the figurehead for Japan’s second-biggest promotion and constantly pumped out nice matches for a 20-year stretch (1998-2018). I’m offended on the thought of somebody voting in each the North America and Japan areas and voting for Reigns and never Shingo Takagi, who could very properly be the best in-ring wrestler to ever reside. He’s far much less gifted than Tomohiro Ishii, far much less influential than Hayabusa, and much much less well-known than The Magnificence Pair have been at their peak – and there’s probability not one of the names I simply talked about get voted in. 

Then there are folks in his personal area who blow previous Reigns as a candidate. I’ve been a CM Punk supporter lengthy earlier than he ever stepped foot in an AEW ring. I discover his two years on high in WWE to be extremely underrated and way more impactful than the last decade Reigns has spent because the driving drive behind the promotion.

Goldberg’s peak on the field workplace destroys what Reigns has accomplished, whereas Paul Orndorff quietly constructed up an incredible drawing report of his personal that surpasses what Reigns has accomplished. 

After all, there are the Younger Bucks, who are usually not solely the best in-ring tag staff of all-time, however their affect is unfold far and large all through trendy professional wrestling. Anybody who votes for Reigns and never the Bucks fails to grasp the stranglehold that the Bucks have had on the tradition of wrestling for the higher a part of a decade. 

I’m a believer that drawing, because it’s deciphered on this Corridor of Fame, is relative. I don’t consider that evaluating stars between completely different eras is completely honest, and I’m an enormous believer that dimension and publicity should be factored into what you do on the field workplace. Somebody who was accountable for drawing 700 followers to an indie present when 700 tickets have been accessible ought to completely get credit score for that. The Bucks routinely rose to the highest of no matter promotion they have been in and did record-breaking enterprise, irrespective of the size. They helped shift wrestling tradition within the mid-2010s by being the faces of PWG, they helped push Ring of Honor to new heights alongside their brethren in The Elite, and so they turned essentially the most in-demand stars ever on the unbiased stage.  

Roman Reigns could make none of these claims, nor can he observe any comparable accomplishments. The main narrative all through his profession is that he’s been a failure. Commercially and critically, he has didn’t reside as much as the hype time after time. 

Maybe the obvious case towards Reigns is the truth that he has by no means been a Aptitude/Thesz winner within the subscriber-voted Wrestling Observer Publication Yearly Awards. To be in essentially the most seen firm and essentially the most seen star inside that firm and but to have had such little success on this class is a transparent signal of bother. He completed 2nd in each 2021 and 2022, getting dwarfed by Kenny Omega in ‘21 after which falling quick to Jon Moxley final 12 months. 2020 noticed him end eighth. At no different cut-off date has he completed within the Prime 10 in that class. 

This has not been an issue for the likes of Kurt Angle, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and AJ Types, all of whom have taken house this award whereas beneath WWE’s umbrella. 

2023 will probably mark the primary time that “The Tribal Chief” will take house this award, though it ought to include an asterisk. I can not keep in mind a extra depleted discipline of Aptitude/Thesz candidates in my lifetime. Japan has no apparent frontrunner. SANADA just isn’t a critical candidate, and his world title reign has precipitated each Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay to take a backseat, thus hindering their case. Madoka Kikuta has been a less-than-stellar champion in Dragongate, Professional Wrestling NOAH has no critical candidates, and I haven’t seen the All Japan neighborhood rally round anybody. MJF’s abhorrent inventive will stop me from voting for him. That leaves Mexico, and though I’m a agency believer that Mistico ought to take house the prize, however not sufficient folks care about CMLL this 12 months to make that occur. That, practically by default, will go away folks to vote for Reigns. 

Roman Reigns fails to excel at any of the required classes to justify an induction into this Corridor of Fame. But, I concern that current success will trigger folks to miss a profession of failure.