One of the higher methods to think about Roman Reigns’ legendary title run because the Undisputed WWE Universal champion is to see him as wrestling’s very personal Thanos. He is the longest-reigning Universal champion within the firm’s historical past and is on the heels of breaking Hulk Hogan’s 1474-day title reign file (Roman stands at 946+ days as of the time of this writing). He’s crushed each rising and well-established superstars in his 28 title defenses, a listing that features John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, and Sami Zayn.
On the second day of Wrestlemania 39, Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to stay the champion, shattering the American Nightmare’s dream of taking the title in wrestling’s largest stage. He had assist from The Bloodline, his personal workforce of precise blood relations that features Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and Solo Sikoa (oh, and Paul Heyman who positively isn’t household). Reigns is their Tribal Chief, the pinnacle of the clan’s desk.
If it wasn’t apparent already, then Wrestlemania 39 made it crystal clear: Roman Reigns is the WWE’s supervillain, the mountain that should be climbed if anybody desires a shot at turning into the face of the corporate in any capability. His Elimination Chamber 2023 opponent, Sami Zayn, as soon as mentioned that preventing Roman was like entering into the ring with somebody who’s on God Mode.
So, we’re speaking a few 6-foot-3, 265-pound titan that calls for everybody acknowledge him in each metropolis he visits, like a conqueror that takes over every thing after which expects whole submission to his rule. This transformation got here all the way down to the best way that the WWE made everybody really consider that Cody, the Chosen One, would get to complete his story because the Universal champion and drop the curtain on the occasion. But that didn’t occur.
Wrestlemania 39 was arrange as the autumn of The Bloodline. The USO’s had been anticipated to lose the tag workforce titles to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens (they did) and Roman was closely rumored to fall to Cody Rhodes, who had rapidly risen to become the WWE’s superhero. Cody’s primarily the present’s very personal Captain America. His American Nightmare persona even encompasses a winged cranium image imprinted with the American flag on it and his in-ring apparel bears the nation’s nationwide colours.
Going in opposition to expectations, and stunning followers to the purpose of heartbreak, Roman beat Cody after Solo Sikoa interfered within the match’s ultimate moments and opened up the #1 contender for a brutal spear from the champ to seal it. After all of the story that went into Cody returning to the WWE with a thoughts to complete the story that his father Dusty Rhodes began, which included being the primary one within the household to predominant occasion at Wrestlemania, the loss hit arduous. This was his second, however Roman took it from him.
Imagine if Thanos had crushed the Avengers in Endgame even after the large assemble second that introduced the complete MCU onto the battlefield. That’s what it felt prefer to see Cody lose at Wrestlemania.
To be trustworthy, the choice got here throughout to me as a little bit of a copout. Legacy was on the road simply as a lot as who can be the long run face of the corporate. Having Cody not break Roman’s streak after which step on the ashes of The Bloodline felt a bit like a missed alternative, a missed shot at genuinely having a type of elusive Wrestlemania moments that flip superstars into legends. While not the identical to any extent, the diploma of pleasure and satisfaction that was felt the second The USO’s had been defeated by KO and Zayn, which additionally got here after months and months of story and buildup, would’ve skyrocketed had Cody come out with the win on that stage.
It even felt considerably merciless to go and dig into the Rhodes household historical past to hype up the encounter solely to have Cody fail on the peak of the rivalry. I even query whether or not conserving The Bloodline on high of the meals chain received’t end in fatigue from followers hoping to have somebody completely different on the helm, although stripping away the tag workforce belts from the USOs can open up some very fascinating storytelling avenues within the post-Wrestlemania 39 panorama.
Despite this, the WWE’s Thanos received the battle everybody anticipated him to lose. He’s nonetheless the undisputed Universal champ and with Cody out of the best way, there’s now a sort of void within the championship contender spot that nobody appears to have the ability to convincingly lay declare to as of but (though if the RAW after Wrestlemania is any indication of, Cody is perhaps taking pictures for a rematch, and rightfully so).
In this sense, that is what having the villain win seems like if you happen to ever questioned what that’d be like in comedian books. This was Ultron lastly remaking the world in his picture or Darkseid invading Earth and imposing the anti-life equation on humanity whereas wiping out the Justice League within the course of.
The second the referee completed the 3-count to shut the match, hope vanished, despair set in, and Roman Reigns grew to become an excellent greater event-level presence on the earth of wrestling. Beating a hero that had efficiently become the individuals’s option to become the brand new champion is the difference-maker right here. You don’t become a feared overlord by killing Hawkeye. You try this by breaking Captain America. That’s what Cody Rhodes was to Roman Reigns in Wrestlemania 39, the fallen savior, and it’s what lastly pushed the champion into supervillain territory.
It’s sort of sensible if you consider it, telling a narrative that refuses to make followers really feel good for such an extended stretch. It makes the loss settle deep with no apologies for the ache. This isn’t Hogan, the Greek god-like hero of the Eighties. It’s the other, the person you like to hate whereas secretly hoping he retains the title only a whereas longer to see how far he can go together with his record-breaking streak.
For the Avengers to lose to a crisis-level menace means the dying of hope. For Cody to lose to Roman means the identical right here. This acquires a unique dimension once you consider it when it comes to comedian e book traditions relating to heroes and villains. It’s very troublesome to think about a cannon-altering story through which Batman is killed by the Joker or the place Thanos’ snap is rarely reversed.
Comics, for quite a lot of causes that go from editorial interference to long-standing storytelling practices, have not often been allowed to entertain the shattering of the established order. The WWE has completed the other with Roman Reigns by turning the villain into the established order. The NWO and its chief Hollywood Hulk Hogan is one other instance of this, however their presence discovered their power in numbers and in being a disruptive various that represented a complete new order of issues in wrestling. Roman Reigns prefers to talk of islands of relevancy and within the drawing of strains that separate him from the remainder of the WWE.
Comics might study from this, to take a villain’s victory and go for a years’ lengthy streak that obliterates hope with no set timeline for its return. Perhaps the dying of Superman by the hand of Doomsday could possibly be argued for example of this, however Superman did win his match. He sacrificed himself to beat evil and maintain the world protected. Roman Reigns would’ve crushed Superman, buried him, after which demand that Metropolis acknowledge him.
The fact of the matter is, be it Cody or every other wrestler (I’m hoping Seth Rollins will get one other shot at it with the percentages in his favor), there’s no denying that it doesn’t appear like anybody has what it takes to dethrone Roman Reigns. He is probably the most dominant wrestler in sports activities leisure now. He descends upon the ring with a way of grandeur and physicality usually reserved for event-type villains in comics, one which is aware of his victory is a foregone conclusion. We live within the Age of Roman Reigns and his title protection at Wrestlemania 39 is the place we bought to witness his change from super-heel to full-blown supervillain.
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