JBL has gone back to the argument that Roman Reigns is overrated, this time with a story about a fan in Dallas who hated a wrestler enough to pay double to watch him lose.
The row began when Conrad Thompson told Eric Bischoff on 83 Weeks that he considers Reigns the most overrated main eventer in WWE history, and Bischoff agreed. Jim Ross would not go there. JBL argued with Thompson about it at length on Something To Wrestle last week, and Thompson has since set out the fuller version of his case, which is less about Reigns than about Paul Heyman.
This week JBL reached for something from the territories.
“This reminds me of the very first time I met a smart mark who hated people, kind of describes you, in Dallas, Texas. He was telling me about Killer Tim Brooks, and he hated Killer Tim Brooks. He goes, I hate him. His work rate’s terrible. First time I’d ever heard that term.”
“And I said, what do you mean his work rate’s terrible? He goes, well, he can’t work, and he’s not over. And he goes, I just don’t like him.”
Then the question that made the point.
“I said, well, if they brought in Stan Hansen to work with Killer, would you pay to see that? He goes, oh my God, I’d pay double. Yeah, you’re right. He’s not over.”
JBL’s argument is that the same applies here.
“That’s the way this is with Roman Reigns. Whether they boo or jeer, people saying people don’t want to see him. If you want to see him get beat, you want to see him do something.”
“Roman Reigns gets a response very much like John Cena out of everybody in that building. Everybody has a feeling about Roman Reigns. Some want to see him get beat. Some want to see him win. Some just want to see the spectacle that is Roman Reigns, because he’s headlined so many WrestleManias.”
He did give up ground on one part of it, having spent last week insisting the top man deserves the credit when business is good.
“The top guy gets a lot of the credit, and he deserves all the credit. He doesn’t deserve all the credit, because he’s got a loaded roster underneath him. Just like the top guy when business is bad, he gets most of the blame, which you can certainly throw that shade on if you want to, but he doesn’t deserve all that.”
He also allowed that the credit may be moving.
“If Oba Femi is selling the most tickets, then yeah, he would. It’ll be a hell of a match next year if that’s the match.”
That is a reference to Thompson’s prediction that unless The Rock returns for the Saudi Arabia WrestleMania, the main event next year will be Femi against Reigns. JBL was less willing to hand Femi the whole of SummerSlam’s business, though, pointing out who else was on the show.
“You’ve got Brock Lesnar in his hometown. That’s a big deal. Brock’s one of the biggest ticket sellers of all time. That first night was loaded. You had Brock Lesnar, what could be his last match, it ended up being his last match. People knew that, in a home state that loves him. That’s a big freaking deal.”
“It’s not just Oba Femi. Oba Femi is a great draw, I believe. I believe that guy’s going to sell a massive amount of tickets. But you also have Brock Lesnar in what was probably his last match, in his home state.”
Femi beat Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell in the main event of SummerSlam night one at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Lesnar raised his hand afterwards, called him the future, and confirmed his retirement days later. WWE has since moved him to the alumni section of its website.
Reigns retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins on night two. He defends it on Raw from Arena CDMX in Mexico City on September 14, against a challenger being determined by a tournament of luchadores drawn from Raw, SmackDown and AAA, and is advertised for Money in the Bank in October and Survivor Series in November.
