A tale of two champions
So here I am, riled up again by something I saw on Twitter. This time it’s the idea that Intercontinental Champion Gunther is having the right kind of title reign while Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns is not.
That’s nonsense. Comparing the two to each other is either disingenuous or dumb, take your pick. Just taking a look at both should make that clear.
Here’s who Roman has defened against since he won the Universal Title:
Braun Strowman, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, Edge, Cesaro, Rey Mysterio, John Cena, Finn Balor, Brock Lesnar, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Goldberg, Matt Riddle, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Cody Rhodes, and LA Knight. He also defended a couple of times against AJ Styles on house shows. That’s 12 of 19 who previously held the World or Universal Title when they faced him, 5 who’d previously main evented WrestleMania and 15 who’d already main evented a Premium Live Event. 16 of them held a singles title of any kind first, and 4 of them had previously beaten Reigns clean in singles matches.
By comparison here are Gunther’s challengers for the Intercontinental Title:
Ricochet, Mysterio, Shinsuke Nakamura, Madcap Moss, Sheamus, Strowman, McIntyre, Xavier Woods, Johnny Gargano, Mustafa Ali, Riddle, Shanky, Chad Gable, Bronson Reed, Tomasso Ciampa, and the Miz.
That’s 5 out of 16 that were World Champs, 2 Mania main eventers, and 6 PLE Main Eventers. 8 held a main roster singles title of some kind first.
So we’re comparing one heel champion who has faced a whos who of former World champions and main eventers to one has primarily faced midcarders, half of whom have never held a singles title. Talk about apples and oranges. No, they should not be winning their matches the same way; Roman is facing much more difficult competition, including guys who have beaten him before. Roman is also a guy who has had victory snatched from him a million times in a million different ways, is obsessed with winning at all costs, and refuses to let anyone ever get the drop on him again. If there’s even a shred of doubt in the outcome he will tip the scales in his favor in any way possible. Scarred by previous defeats he’s decided it’s ok for people to think you can’t win so long as you don’t lose and prove them right.
Gunther on the other hand has yet to lose to anyone on the main roster. The two men who have beaten him are still in NXT, and those matches took place in NXT before he got in the shape he’s in now so those experiences are a distant memory. He has yet to go through any kind of serious confidence shaking event in his career on the main roster. He went wire to wire in the Royal Rumble on his first try and was thrown out by the guy who came in at number 30 after he’d been in there for an hour. He has never had anything taken from him because an opponent was willing to do something he wasn’t. He has zero reason to feel the need for any kind of contingency plan. Yes he has two lackeys but they have rarely gotten involved in any kind of one on one encounter and I don’t think they’ve ever had to flat out save him from defeat. He has no reason to feel anything but Supreme confidence every time he goes out there.
So in other words we’re talking about two entirely different guys here who have gone through entirely different experiences on the WWE main roster, and consequently they should absolutely approach things differently.
Oh, you weren’t talking about kayfabe?
That sounds like a personal problem to me. If you don’t like the stories being told, that’s fine. But I hope you at least understand what you’re watching before you get to pontificating. Please, everyone
And the characters should win or lose matches based on the nature of their characters at the time, not on how well the men or women who play them can physically execute moves in the ring. If Roman won like Gunther you wouldn’t love Jey, Sami, Kevin, and Cody like you do now. If he showed up every week you’d have no reason to support Seth Rollins as World Champion on RAW. Gunther mostly fights guys he should beat, Roman mostly fights guys who could beat him.
And finally, Roman is the man that drives the train in WWE. Almost everyone that’s been in a prominent role this year at the top of the card got there through some interaction or confrontation with Roman Reigns, or off of anticipation of a future one with him. That doesn’t happen if he’s not triggering some kind of emotional response from us. Needless to say we don’t react the same way when Gunther wins his matches. We’re impressed with him, but we’re not mad at him or with the outcome. Roman is feeding an entire ecosystem; Gunther is in a high spot on the card. They are not the same, and they shouldn’t be written that way.
Stroke of Genius 