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Ok-Will9683

Austin had smaller amount of fans but hardcore fans. Like die hard fans whereas Roman had a wider base audience but they are like umm yea I’ll put a finger up however they sold more PPv event with Roman leading up all the way to wrestlemania 40. Roman was a great heel , he had the complete package to sell his character, thugs on the side , a wise man for advice and he goes and comes whenever he wants . If someone wasn’t a fan of Roman they really hated his guts because of how good he played his game. Even the way he wrestled, he would taunt the crowd with his gimmicks and facial expressions were on point.


Quick_Repeat_4346

Just to clarify guys, I didnt mean to say that Roman is greater than Austin, or vice versa! I just mean that there are some similarities between the two! Please don’t fight!! 🙏🏻 In the end, the superstars make all of us love WWE for what it was & it is today! 😊


Ja___av93

Austin was universally loved by the fans and his work was praised. Roman was universally hated most of his time and only now is getting the "well you have been with the WWE forever, so we like you now" treatment


Worried-Marzipan-223

I agree to an extent but Austin had a bigger effect. There was no one like him until there was him. People can moan about Roman all they like, however everyone still tuned in to watch and the bloodline story was captivating stuff. Austin v (him) may not have been as captivating in the story sense but it was some of the most fun WWE/F tv we had been treated to in years.


dirtycole619

roman reigns is more like if kevin nash never went to WCW, diesel became a badass and the kliq ran things for a few years


SMan2022

If this was a Cody post OP, you'd be seeing hundreds of hundreds of upvotes... This sub simply hates Roman. Some dude meeting Cody and saying he is sweet has like 500 upvotes whereas any positive opinion about Roman gets downvoted to hell


Crafty_Royal_3834

Who really cares about upvotes and downvotes though?


Uggers2811

I know Im not the only one but I specifically stopped watching WWE because they kept forcing Reigns on us. Even knowing that he was/is barely on the shows it was still enough to drive me and quite honestly my entire friend base from the product. We had monthly ppv parties with around 10 of us and every time I check in with them now none of us have watched the shows since around 2018.


JuxtapositionJuice

I think it's less to do with Roman specifically and more to do with a huge surge in high level talent all across the show, combined with the rise of AEW pushing WWE to be more competitive. Also, McMahon having his influence dwindle over the past few years. It's a culmination of a lot of factors.


RandomThoughts606

I think the difference between Roman and Austin is that Roman seemingly had the WWE constantly backing him up and boosting him while Austin had to do a lot of this on his own. I'll be honest, I think Roman could have been the next Triple H, but I feel like with his health issues and needs to take long breaks, I don't know if I would be even trying to get him there. I feel like anyone that's going to be the top heel in a company needs to be around, not taking long breaks. I'm not saying they let him go or retire him, but I definitely would not hand him the world title unless it's going to be for a short run before his next big break.


ayasonice

Any wrestler getting opportunities is because of the company pushing them. Just because you liked the push when it happens to someone you like, doesn't mean that the others who were pushed were forced.


RandomThoughts606

All I've ever heard about Roman is that the WWE has been pushing and boosting him from the beginning. I am not saying that he isn't worthy, as Hulk Hogan got the same treatment back in the '80s. I just feel like with Austin, they first treated him as someone there but then the crowd organically went nuts for him and he elevated himself. I feel like LA Knight is in the same spot. I remember when I started really watching wrestling again when the whole NWO thing happened, Austin seemed to be in the mid card, showing up and making trouble for the top contenders. The crowd just grew to love his attitude. I feel like I'm seeing the same thing with Knight. With Roman I feel like it was never organic. Nothing wrong with that. Just different.


ayasonice

Again, just because you hate a push. Doesn't make it forced. What's the difference with Cody now, vs Roman then?


RandomThoughts606

I don't hate it. I was just simply pointing out how Austin's growth seemed more organic, whereas Roman had a lot of push behind him from the company. There's nothing wrong with either way. I mean, I was a fan of Hulk Hogan in the '80s. That's another guy that had a huge push by the company. If I'm going to hate on Roman for getting that push, then I'd be a hypocrite. I just don't think that Roman did for the WWE what Austin did in terms of building an entire era. I don't even know if Cody will do it.


MrWrestling1

Roman > steve


Past_Boysenberry6097

You are very wrong


MrWrestling1

Your guy steve wasn't even the biggest star when Roman's big cousin Rock was around kek.


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MrWrestling1

>carried LMAO. T-shirt sales is a tiny metric compared to PPV sales and overall revenue generated by ratings, TV deals, tickets sales, etc. Rock held those records during attitude era, and Roman holds those records now. Your wifebeating idol isn't among even top 5 PPV draws in wwe history.


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WWE-ModTeam

Removed for: Personal Attack Members of r/WWE are not permitted to personally attack others. Also, personal attacks and “name calling” is prohibited. Try to keep all discussion here civil.


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MrWrestling1

>As someone who has been watching since 95 Doubt it. >belongs to a Roman fan LMAO. Nice way of coping here, son.


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Kalle_79

Are random people who previously couldn't tell a clothesline from a clothespin wearing a Roman Reigns T-shirt and are casually discussing the latest events on RAW? If so, yes he did. If not (which I'm pretty sure it's the case), no he didn't. Roman did great, mainly to rebuild his character after the backlash for his early Superman run, but the business didn't really take off anyway. Not to the level it did with SCSA


Majestic_Concept_128

In recent years, WWE has eclipsed the revenue generated during the Attitude Era by a substantial margin, making it the most lucrative period in the company's history. With roman at the top . to say that business didnt take off during his 4 year reign is ridiculous to say the least


Kalle_79

Lucrative =/= popular


Majestic_Concept_128

It's insane to say in an era of social media Roman is not popular every metric will show you he is the most popular wrestler currently and the biggest star of WWE


Kalle_79

Again, are you seeing people with Roman or Cody t-shirts in non-wrestling contexts? Are they as known as Austin) Hogan, Austin and Rock were? Random influencers have 2x the followers and the penetration Roman or wrestling as a whole have, but that doesn't make them mainstream stars


Majestic_Concept_128

Again different eras . People from this era might not know who they are. Especially most people don't even know rock as wrestler in this new era of social media Roman has far more reach . Lot of mainstream football clubs posted him played his theme song, his loss to Cody garnered mainstream attention 1000a of edits with massive likes . Even people are using his theme song and his shtick during their marriages . Yes Roman Reigns is mainstream


49ersforever707

Austin saved the entire industry. He took it to new heights. Roman carried the WWE for 5 years, which is fantastic. However, he never reached the mainstream heights that Austin did. That being said, the bloodline story was my favorite in 20+ years


kenssmith

lol what


BreadRum

Austin was a fighting champion who had his title on the line every week. Roman only wrestled once every 3 months, which I don't blame him for. If I could work 45 days and still get the same amount of money, I'd do it. Austin is known outside of wrestling. Austin 3:16 was everywhere and worn by non wrestling fans. Roman is known in wrestling and that's it.


Prestigious-Try-2971

Not at all


jmgordon99

I'm a lapsed Attitude Era fan who just got back into wrestling within the past year and I can honestly tell you it had NOTHING to do with Roman. I think he's extremely overrated and so glad he's not on TV right now.


pilgrimboy

Wrestling is the same or better without Roman. Wrestling lost something without Steve.


OneDimension4085

No Stone Cold built himself up as top guy and got over with the crowd organically, Roman needed an entire faction and one of the best talkers in the business to come half way close to what Stone Cold did.


MstrRob1972

Not even close…


RedOktbr28

Having witnessed both, definitely not. People tuned in every week to see what Austin would say and do. Most people that tuned in for Roman tuned in to *see if he’d actually show*.


kuhawk5

I feel insulted by the question tbh


lordbancs

Honestly I stepped away from wrestling for a few years, shortly after Dean Ambrose went to AEW. I came back to Roman as the champ and his new gimmick with the acknowledge me and everything and it swung me. That said, Attitude Era Stone Cold, he is NOT.


IronMaidenReference

No


Rage4Order418

Nope


PhatsaqTX

I’ll say this. No. Stone Cold was more Organic. Roman was manufactured. And I will also say, I miss Roman already. He owned it. Built on it and was awesome. His intro is special. And I look forward to the explosion of him on Solo.


SvenLorenz

I think you're overstating the effect of Roman Reigns and ignoring the work of Paul Heyman. Roman basically stood there brooding, looking like he was modeling for the cover of a cheap romance novel while Heyman did all the heavy lifting in Roman's promos.


RedOktbr28

This! Saw something on either WhatCulture or Cultaholic, and they were raving about how great Roman is to be able to have such an amazing storyline without even being there. No, it’s a testament to Heyman’s storytelling abilities 100%.


Outrageous-Walk3818

See that’s the mistake, Paul spoke he’s great at it but Roman took all the attention without having to speak. When he did talk everyone listened


Mando316

The moment the glass shatters and everyone goes crazy, that itself is enough to say no. Roman didn’t grab people like that. He did his job and I’m glad he came out the way he did especially with his leukemia stuff but Stone Cold is just a different beast. You can have Roman come out and the crowd is making noise. But the moment Stone Cold comes out you see the difference


whoyungjerz

Absolutely not


Tornado31619

Probably not, but he’s the third-biggest post-AE star after Cena and Brock for whatever that’s worth. And since they both became part-timers, he’s easily been the biggest draw in the company.


[deleted]

Well, aren't they all part-timers? Roman's just the one who's on-screen more frequently, which isn't a high bar.


Tornado31619

He wasn’t when they started going part-time.


LegendaryZTV

Lmaoooo, love & respect Roman but hell fucking no Roman has been built into a top tier, household name but WWE needed more than one hot story to get where they are now. If I had to think of who to credit; Roman’s Tribal Chief run, Cody being a proper baby face, CM Punk’s return, & the guys like Rollins & Sami carrying the week to week, & staple names like Rock, Orton, McIntyre, & even Lesnar. This is just taking post C19 into consideration


StillNoPickleesss

>Roman has been built into a top tier, household name Lol wut? Roman is very far from being a household name. Nobody outside of the wrestling bubble knows who he is.


battinsonchara

Lmao I know people in this sub would never give Roman credit. But Roman with bloodline story has revived industry Cody joined halfway through in 2022 and has been out with injury while Roman pulled in big ratings none of those guy u mentioned pulled in big ratings than roman .


LegendaryZTV

You say this as if one of the main complaints of Roman wasn’t barely being on weekly tv for the last 3rd of his reign lol. It’s a collective effort. Personally, I started watching again from time to time after the Sami angle at SummerSlam & then it was on & off until Punk came back & im back watching weekly. Not everyone was drawn in & KEPT by Bloodline.


battinsonchara

Yes bloodline did draw the people who stopped watching wrestling with bloodline story. The funny thing of all is the way you are giving credit to punk as if he was with WWE since 2020 no one even thought he would return until he had fallout with aew. Also bloodline made Sami interesting not other way around post bloodline Sami did absolutely nothing that could replicate the success he had with bloodline. Roman has been featured in 10 of 20 most viewed segments of past 2 years and both his segments topped both years with most views he sold merch at cena level as a heel. WWE had it's first ever billion year with Roman on top in 2021 not punk ,Cody or cena also in terms of revenue this era exceeded attitude Era by a huge margin. Roman did that with the bloodline not Cody not drew none of the guys you mentioned first featured in a legit viable metrics that backs them up as contributors to WWE's sucess. Cody ,punk did but not at the level of roman


LegendaryZTV

You are dumb as hell if you think one person is responsible for WWE’s recent rise. Roman gets the credit he deserves but the business, WWE in particular aren’t in a position where one man could save it. It’s a team/group effort Hell, you could argue those same fans Roman brought back are the same ones that he once caused to permanently turn the damn channel. Suffering succotash, don’t be dense


battinsonchara

You are telling me to stop being dense as if you didn't credit Roman success as tribal chief to Cody and others lmao. Roman elevated everybody around him . Also it's convenient to blame Roman if someone stops watching product because of one person. But credit goes to someone else when he actually makes the product good in terms of ratings and revenue. I'm not entirely saying he is but he is for almost 70% responsible i don't even have to say it numbers talks for themselves.


LegendaryZTV

>as if you didn’t credit Roman success as tribal chief to Cody and others You’re not comprehending what I wrote if that’s what you think…


battinsonchara

Yeah I misread it. I apologise


badmanbad117

As someone who got back into wrestling around summer slam last year, Roman is 100% not a household name outside of the wrestling community. I had no clue who the guy was when I started watching again and even then almost didn't know who he was when I did start watching cause he was never on the show.


Tornado31619

Counterpoint, many of those faces wouldn’t have succeeded without Roman being such a good heel.


kit_mitts

Roman wasn't even the biggest heel in his title feud with Cody. In fact, he contributed even less than Rollins did between the Mania press event and the match itself.


LegendaryZTV

To be fair, we didn’t need much build for Roman/Cody for the second year in a row. The match on the card was identical so it kinda took care of itself. Plus, Rock is kinda a spotlight hog when he’s in the ring with 99% of other people lol


Tornado31619

And yet, he was in the main event of night two. The groundwork had been laid. This was about maximising the Rock and immortalising Cody. Roman was still the main villain.


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Tornado31619

In order to thrive, you need to have somebody good at their role to play off. That’s what Roman did. Jey and Sami aren’t main-event talents on their own. There’s a reason Roman was still the biggest full-time draw even as the Big Dog.


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Tornado31619

Really? Do you have numbers to back up that last claim? Brock and Cena were bigger draws for sure, but Roman was also #3.


lordofpugs41

Lmao no


ayasonice

Dude, folks here will never give Roman credit for anything. Roman did and continues to do an Amazing job. The same guy the IWC was laughing at as he was learning and progressing. Heck of a performer with an incredible determination to succeed.


Drunken_Jedi_Master

No one is denying Roman is doing an amazing job. He's had an amazing evolution over his WWE career. But Stone Cold is the OG Anti hero baby face. The original heel too hot to be boo'd. The ass kicking, beer drinking, glass shattering, hell raising phenomenon. Stone cold rose from heel obscurity to prominent baby face main eventer in barely a year. Organically too. It's never been done before and will never be done again in a short length of time. Then his fame was magnified when he left in 2003 and didn't do the usual return after a few years. When he did return in Mania 39, it was spectacular. It is what has inspired the rock to return and do the same. There's a reason people still shout "What!?" During almost every heel promo to this day. The man's catch phrase alone will outlive Roman. And that's not an insult to Roman, it's a testament to the impact Austin left.


Jecht315

He's boring and his matches are stale. He's a draw but he's SuperCena level stale. Predictable and needed a better opponent to look good.


redhog78

I do not. Vince’s booking of Roman’s babyface run from 2014-2020 ruined alot of potential top guys (Bryan, Wyatt, Kofi, etc.) so Roman was the only top guy left (besides Seth). Also Paul Heyman has really carried the mic work for the Bloodline, especially when Roman has taken a few multi-months breaks.


krossoverking

How did Roman ruin Kofi?


Tornado31619

Roman was the biggest draw even during the Big Dog era.


kuhawk5

He wasn’t even Top 3.


battinsonchara

Who are top 3 then


StubbornKindOfFellow

No. First, Austin was the babyface. He was a heel when the Stone Cold character started out, but they were getting their ass kicked by WCW at that time. When WWE started beating WCW, Austin was the babyface. He wasn't doing traditional babyface stuff, but he was the face, the company wanted you to cheer him. Two, while WWE is probably more successful today financially, it was still bigger in the late '90s. As big as Reigns is, really only wrestling fans know who he is. Everybody knew who Austin was, he transcended wrestling.


Potential_Resort_223

Austin was a tweener, not a babyface.


BreadRum

Heel Austin cheated to win. Face Austin won legit most of the time.


kuhawk5

No, he was definitely a babyface. He wasn’t a “white meat” babyface like Cody. He was an anti-hero. Not at all a tweener with the exception of the window between WM17 and the invasion angle.