Planet Velvet: The Kingdom Before the Empire

From Velvet Jones: After both WWE Payback and Extreme Rules, there are people who are still genuinely surprised that Roman Reigns ...

From Velvet Jones:

After both WWE Payback and Extreme Rules, there are people who are still genuinely surprised that Roman Reigns has retained the WWE World championship against A.J. Styles. Forget the fact that Roman is Styles’ physical superior. It was assumed by many that even though he defeated A.J. at Payback, Roman was destined to lose the championship to A.J. before long. Yet and still, the most-recent World title contributor the Anoa’i wrestling dynasty remains the kingpin.

Holding the wrestling world’s most prestigious title should see Roman adored by the WWE Universe. Thing haven’t gone that way for the young champion. For whatever reason, there are still some people who don’t think Roman’s reign (see what I did there?) is legit. And many people are wondering why this has happened? True enough, the fans turned on John Cena eventually. But in his quest for the belt and a good ways through it, Cena was beloved by the WWE Universe. So Roman’s run doesn’t quite mirror that of Cena. However, it does mirror the ascension of one former World champion. The man I’m speaking of is not just any wrestling king.

He is “The King Of Kings”.

The WWE’s legendary Attitude Era left quite the mark on the organization that can still be seen today. It really kicked into high gear when the WWE World championship was being fought over by guys like The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind, and – most notably – Steve Austin. Meanwhile, Triple-H was the de facto leader of the collective known as D-Generation X. Their common cause along with a boatload of sophomoric hijinks saw many titles flow freely through its ranks. Hunter himself would hold both the European and Intercontinental championships. DX feuded with The Nation, which was l led by Roman’s cousin The Rock. Eventually, The Nation would disband and Rocky would become the champion. Hunter got shot after shot for the gold but would always fall short in his challenge.

By the time the summer of 1999 had rolled around, every one other guy listed before HHH had multiple World title reigns to their credit. Hunter had changed his look in favor of shorter shorts and shorter hair. Finally, Hunter beat Mankind for the title and day after SumerSlam 1999. After seeing him fall short so many times before, his title reign looked like a fluke. Couple that with his real-life relationship with Stephanie McMahon and the jury was out on Trips. It was accepted that he got where he did because of that relationship and he didn’t earn the belt. The fact that he would lose and regain the belt within a four-and-a-half month span didn’t help his cause much either. Physically, HHH looked strong. But as a champion, he looked weak. At this point, it looked like nothing or no one could legitimize him.

Enter Mick Foley.

Tales of Cactus Jack were spread throughout the indies and WCW. Mankind was Jack with some McMahon seasoning. It was accepted that you had to be a different breed of competitor to beat Mankind. Hunter looked vulnerable and Mankind was nuts. The two locked horns in a brutal street fight at the 2000 Royal Rumble with the belt on the line. It was not for the faint of heart. They beat the crap out of each other. In the end, Hunter walked away with the victory. Up to that point, the toughest match he’d been in was probably the Hog Pen match against Henry Goodwin. The ECW influence was there and it showed. Hunter was battered, but still the titleholder. Even after that, people were not convinced. Sure, he made a believer out of some but not all. So how can you top that? Put the World title on the line against Foley’s career at in a Hell In A Cell match a month later. Surely, Hunter can’t beat Foley again, right? Wrong. Hunter did just that and forced Foley to retire. Despite his detractors, Hunter has gone on to have one of the greatest careers in wrestling history. A large part of that is due to his matches with Mick Foley.

Roman Reigns scored two victories over one of the best wrestlers in the world. It could easily be argued that because of his victories, HE is now the best wrestler in the world today. A.J. Styles was a great opponent for Roman. But I’m hoping he can hold on to the belt and have someone bigger and more accomplished do for him what JBL did for John Cena. Or what Andre did for Hogan. Or what Undertaker did for Steve Austin. Three reigns in, I personally hope this is the beginning of a great run for Roman. And even more so, I’m waiting for WWE to give him that career-defining moment.