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First things first, I wish Roman Reigns a speedy recovery and my prayers are with him. Joe Anoa'i is as human as all of us and nobody deserves to go through such a life threatening disease like Leukemia. I hope he does beat Leukemia and, lace up his boot and get back to the ring to reclaim his yard.
Talking about Roman Reigns, the character, whether you like him or not, he is the central figure around which the whole show revolves. Even the blue brand gets affected by Roman's presence, even though he is not even on their roster. He is a genuine attraction with his merchandise sales and appeal to the WWE universe.
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Loss of such a star certainly leaves a huge void on the WWE product but there are certain positives that comes out in the absence of Roman Reigns which we can go through in this article.
#5 Braun Strowman becomes Babyface again
Braun Strowman was a monster heel after separating from the Wyatt Family but it was his feud with Reigns that brought him to the main stream. Mauling and beating Reigns to a pulp every week made Strowman a pseudo face, whom the WWE adored and supported with all their might,resulting in a full fledged face turn .
Strowman went through a great face run, matches against Brock Lesnar and Kevin Owens being the highlights. He went on to win the Money in the bank contract and announced that he would cash in the contract against Roman Reigns at Hell in a Cell.
Strowman turned heel again during his feud with the Shield to even the odds. He remained a heel during his entire feud with the Shield, but as soon as Reigns was sidelined due to his illness, Strowman again secured the top face spot and returned to being a face again, much to the delight of the WWE universe.
#4 Dean Ambrose's turn meant more
Dean Ambrose returned to the WWE TV after being sidelined due to an injury during the last Shield reunion. After the Shield reunited again, they went to war with the Dogs of War.
Among the Shield members, Dean was the only one without a title and there was frustration building up. Ambrose showed signs of turning heel and betraying the group but did not pull the trigger.
During the last episode of RAW, Roman Reigns came out to deliver one of the most heart felt promos informing the WWE universe of his illness and that he has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Reigns then relinquished his title and reunited with his brothers for the last time on his way back.
After the segment, nobody expected Ambrose to turn heel, and this thought grew stronger when they won the RAW tag team championships from Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. Ambrose chose the right moment to turn heel, when nobody expected it.
I would be lying if I say I didn't know that Dean's heel turn was coming but everyone in the WWE universe thought it would happen at Crown Jewel, or the RAW after it, or even at Survivor Series, which made his turn predictable.
Ambrose turning on the night of Roman's announcement and just after he won the tag championships with Rollins made his turn mean more. It was a betrayal on par with Rollins' chair shot, resulting in a huge moment.
#3 Frees up all the men's title on RAW
As of the last episode of RAW, the Universal title was held by Roman Reigns which he relinquished, Seth became a dual champion again after winning the tag team championships with Dean Ambrose, while already being the Intercontinental Champion.
With rumors of Reigns defending his title against the Rock or Drew McIntyre at Wrestlemania, there was very little chance of any other superstar winning the title from him before the event.
The Shield was put together to support Reigns which resulted in Seth Rollins taking a back seat with his Intercontinental Championship and giving the group priority. As a result, the championship was not defended in the last two PPVs, and with Seth taking part in the World Cup, it won't be featured on WWE Crown Jewel as well.
As discussed in the previous slide, Roman's announcement led to an unexpected turn from Ambrose, which means the tag championships are again vacant and it also frees up Rollins to again start defending his title.
#2 Opportunities for upper mid carders
During Brock Lesnar's historic 500+ days title reign, his absence made RAW depend more on its other main event level talents and upper mid carders. This resulted in more and more mid card level talent migrating to upper mid card and subsequently the upper midcarders resonated and worked to reach main event level.
As discussed in previous slide, the plans for WrestlMania were already rumored to be Reigns against Rock or McIntyre, which meant no other superstar like Finn Balor, Bobby Roode or Bobby Lashley was going to win the title during this period. Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley were turned heel in order to get a shot at the title.
With Reigns out of the title picture, superstars are forced to level up, resulting in more opportunities for the upper mid carders like Finn Balor to win the title.
#1 WWE Championship gains prominence again
Its baffling to know that WWE Championship has not headlined since March, when it was defended in a six way match at Fastlane, a B rank pay per view. Its even more perplexing to know that if you take out the brand exclusive pay per views of Smackdown, the title has not headlined a single pay per view after the brand split, not even once.
There have been 15 dual branded pay per views since the brand split, among which 5 were PPV-specific gimmick matches (Royal Rumble, Greatest Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank, Survivor Series), 3 events were headlined by part timers in a non title match, IC title headlined once and the rest are either headlined by the Universal championship or are Roman's non title matches.
While it would be harsh to blame Reigns entirely for it, but Universal title was meant to be Roman's title and Vince wanted his top guy to main event the PPVs, even during Lesnar's reign, he was just a place holder for Reigns.
The biggest backlash occurred when Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe headlined the Backlash PPV. Fans were seen leaving the arena before the match even ended.
With Reigns out for an unknown period of time, WWE championship could regain its prestige back. Maybe a returning Lesnar means that the Universal title would headline Crown Jewel as well but after the event, WWE championship could again main event the PPVs with top talents in AJ Styles, Miz, Bryan and Samoa Joe gunning for the championship.
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