Ten Other Big Names Who Could Put Roman Reigns Over

Everybody Loves Roman

Roman Reigns defeated John Cena at No Mercy, despite being hit with 32 Attitude Adjustments and seven Super Attitude Adjustments. And also a missile. Or something. We're not sure. All we know is that he won. That's just how great Roman Reigns is.

Don't believe it? Ask Cena himself.

Or ask The Rock:

Or Daniel Bryan:

It's obvious that Reigns is great. The greatest, actually.

Don't know who made this but thanks pic.twitter.com/E2HCedEl0h

— MaffewBotchamaniaGuy (@Maffewgregg) September 26, 2017

Look what he did to The Undertaker.

And Triple H.

And the Big Show.

Roman Reigns is the greatest competitor in history. This is a man who beat Rusev so badly that he couldn't compete in a match. He basically murdered Braun Strowman. He even knocked out Vince McMahon. And speared Stephanie McMahon. He is simply the greatest. He's the toughest. He's The Guy.

Still not convinced? Still booing him like someone who doesn't know what's best for business? Still not doing what Vince McMahon wants?

Figures. For whatever reason, a very, very small fraction of the audience is still booing Reigns. Or, more accurately, they're giving him a mixed reaction. He's controversial, but in the way that people can't decide between really loving him and really, REALLY loving him. 

But, if there's something wrong with your hearing and you think they're booing him, first of all, know that they're not. They're saying "Suuuuuuuuuu-perman Punch." If you think they're booing, it's because you don't understand that he's incredible. That's okay. It's probably because not enough big names have put him over. Once the right number of people do, those boos will turn to cheers and Vince McMahon will start smiling again. 

Here is a list of ten other big names that could put Roman Reigns over. They're likely all dying to do it, because Roman Reigns is already the greatest of all time and there's no shame in losing to the best. Before you read the list, know that we're not saying that some of these people should put Reigns over. We're saying all of them should, and hopefully one right after another. Poor Roman just needs some respect.

Shawn Michaels

Sure, HBK has turned down returning to the ring several times and is adamant on staying retired. But this isn't some loser like Daniel Bryan or AJ Styles we're talking about. This is The Big Dog Who Owns The Yard. This is THE GUY. HBK would be honoured to return to the ring and be squashed in five minutes. 

Shane McMahon

Roman Reigns has punched out Vince and speared Stephanie, but has he faced Shane yet? What better way to truly showcase how tough Roman Reigns is than by having him kill the man who cannot be killed. Think about it. Shane McMahon jumped off the TitanTron and lived. He jumped off Hell in a Cell and lived. He was in a helicopter crash and lived. But none of those are as devastating as Roman Reigns. Reigns should murder Shane O Mac live on pay-per-view to show how tough he truly is. A more noble death does not exist.

Donald Trump

The Donald is no stranger to wrestling and he's probably desperate to return. After all, WWE audiences may actually cheer for him. Plus, think of the credibility Roman Reigns would get after defeating the President of the United States. 

Stone Cold Steve Austin

It's actually surprising that this hasn't happened yet. The Rock, Triple H, and The Undertaker have all put Reigns over, so Austin should be next. Maybe, after Reigns bounces up from a Stunner and then spears Austin four times, Stone Cold can also tell the world that he went drinking with Reigns and that Roman can handle way more beer than he can. Also, Roman Reigns has a much bigger penis. This needs to be said on television by Steve Austin.

Hulk Hogan

Hogan will eventually return to the WWE in some capacity, but unless he does it to talk about how Roman Reigns is greater than he ever was, it will be a wasted opportunity. He could also say something about how Reigns could have slammed Andre the Giant 14 times without breaking a sweat, because it's clearly true.

Andre the Giant

If Hogan is going to put Roman over, so should Andre. Ignore the fact that he's dead. Have a hologram of Andre come out and tell the world that he's glad that he died before Reigns came around because, if he hadn't, Reigns' incredible ability would definitely have killed him. That should stop some of the boos, right?

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather is 50-0 in boxing and 1-0 in wrestling, but all undefeated streaks are destined to be broken and they should all be broken by Roman Reigns.

John Cena, Triple H, Daniel Bryan, and The Undertaker

We know what you're thinking. Reigns has already beaten all of these losers, and that's true. But he hasn't beaten all four of them at the same time. Think of how much the crowd would cheer for Reigns if he overcame the odds and won a 4-on-1 match against these guys? Wait... can it really be called overcoming the odds when you're Roman Reigns? Or would Cena/HHH/Bryan/Taker be the side at a disadvantage?

Also, whenever Roman's not onscreen, all the other wrestlers should be asking 'Where's Roman?'

Superman

The Master of the Superman Punch versus Superman himself. Kryptonite is nothing compared to Roman Reigns. After the match, Superman should formally give Reigns the Superman Punch and firmly state that no one can do the move with the same kind of power as Reigns.  

Brock Lesnar

Wait. This one is actually going to happen. So, strike this one for now. The real number ten is...

God

Much like Donald Trump and Floyd Mayweather, God isn't a wrestler, but he does have a history of competing in WWE. I mean, sure, he has a 0-1 record in matches, but it would still be impressive to see Reigns spear God. That would almost certainly get people to start cheering him, wouldn't it?

The Time Bobby Heenan Brought the NWA Title to WWF

As you certainly know, Bobby Heenan has sadly passed away. He was a legendary manager and commentator who defined a generation of wrestling. For more on Heenan's greatness, check out this post of his best AWA promos.

When I found out Heenan had died, I talked about it on Twitter a bit. @Gleasonavenue sent me this video:

People rightfully make a big deal about the shocking cross-promotional moments that took place during the Monday Night Wars: Lex Luger showing up on the first episode of Nitro, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash "taking over," Madusa throwing the WWF Women's Title in the trash on WCW, Rick Rude being on both Monday night shows on the same night, DX invading Nitro, etc.

These are all big moments. But the moment above, from September 1991, well before the Monday night wars, is one of the most shocking from the battles between WWF and WCW/NWA.

Ric Flair, the reigning NWA World Champion, showed up on WWF TV. With the NWA World Title. There's no way something like that happens today. It was amazing.

And the man who introduced him? Bobby Heenan. Here's a clip of Heenan hyping up Flair's arrival:

(As an aside, what I always loved about Bobby Heenan is that he always insulted Hulk Hogan, no matter what company he was in or whether Hogan was a heel or a face. That kind of consistency is important. That's why "whose side is he on?" wasn't a flub. There's no way Heenan would ever trust Hogan, no matter what.)

As a kid, I only watched WWF. I was aware of other companies, like the NWA and AWA, but I had no idea who wrestled there. Therefore, Ric Flair coming to WWF wouldn't have meant much to me. Except he had the belt. Even as a kid, I thought it was shocking to see another company's belt in WWF.

But what really made Flair legitimate in the eyes of someone who knew nothing about him was that he was coming in with Bobby Heenan. I knew Bobby Heenan. I hated Bobby Heenan. But I also understood that whoever Heenan managed was a big deal: Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, the Brain Busters, Harley Race, etc. Almost everyone who Heenan represented or managed was destined to be important in the WWF.

Having Heenan announce and represent Flair was better than having Flair just come out on his own. The NWA Champion being in WWF was a big deal. But the NWA Champion represented by Bobby Heenan was an even bigger deal.

That's how great Bobby Heenan was.

Top V Bobby "The Brain" Heenan AWA Promos

This might be the hardest Top V of all. 

On Sunday, Bobby Heenan, the greatest manager and comedian in professional wrestling history, passed away. That might seem like hyperbole, but no one in wrestling history was able to so effectively blend arrogance, indignation, wit, and hostility into his or her performance.

If you don't believe me, check out the Wikiquote page of Heenan's most memorable quotes.

So narrowing down that body of work is next to impossible for a couple of reasons: first, I would have to comb through at ...uh....*does math in my head*......18,000 hours of material to find his best moments; second, Heenan's best moments are often the throwaway lines and the zingers in which he's moving more quickly than his fellow announcers and wrestlers, as well as the audience. Some of his best lines are those that first make you groan or jeer, but then you realize "damn, that was good" a few moments later.

That out of the way, I thought as a tribute to Heenan, I would focus on some of his best promos from his AWA days (and yes, Nick Bockwinkel appears in almost all of theses promos  because they are the best). These moments might not be as famous as his Royal Rumble 1991 commentary, his "but whose side is he on?" line at Bash at the Beach 1996, or any of his work with Gorilla Moonson, but these moments are still great. And you should appreciate them.

5. "Who Cares About the Olympics?"

In 1978, Verne Gagne signed Wisconsin native Laurent Soucie -- who had starred at UW-Madison and on the 1976 Olympic Team. In this promo from that year, Heenan was having none of the "AWA-hype" for Gagne's new star. He bashes the Olympics by noting "who wants to see kids wrestling?" and the University of Wisconsin by declaring that one gets a degree from there by using three crayons. Also: "His parents had nine months to come up with Laurent?"

Soucie apparently is a teacher in a school district outside of Madison and tried running for the State Assembly a few years ago. I'm going to send him crayons as a gift.

4. "Cujo"

Name the greatest manager / wrestler combination in wrestling history. Okay, pencils down. If you said anyone other than Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan....well, you've failed the course.

Take their rant against Mad Dog Vachon here: Bockwinkel -- ever the elitist, arrogant heel -- bemoans the cheating and dastardly tactics of his soon-to-be opponent; Heenan -- more working-class than his partner, but equally as dangerous and arrogant -- compares Mad Dog to Cujo and spoils the ending of the film to the chagrin of Okerlund. But I love how Heenan begins his promo, demanding that people from the University of Minnesota stop demanding he take over the head-coaching duties for the Golden Gophers.

3. "Reenactment"

There's not much else to say here except I love Bockwinkel and Heenan's reenactment here. It's so deliberate and their outrage at the illegal move is outstanding.

Also, heels are almost always right. That's science folks.

2. "Ray Stevens Breaks Bobby Heenan's Trophy"

This is one of the most famous moments in AWA history, the breaking-point of a long angle where Heenan and Bockwinkel would slowly and deliberately anger Ray Stevens by no" letting "The Crippler" talk. Heenan and Bockwinkel's treatment of the former tag-team champion can be seen in the first part of the clip above -- I do love their interrupting of Stevens with both verbal and non-verbal gestures -- and Stevens's reaction -- breaking of Heenan's Manager of the Year Trophy and declaring he's free from the Heenan Family -- can be seen in the second part. 

I like this clip for a lot of reasons -- Bockwinkel's smooth delivery and his use of the term "Humanoids" is solid -- but primarily for how this shows Heenan's temper. While a lot of his best lines in the WWF and WCW were ultimately goofy, his dangerous rage is on full display here when he banishes Stevens from the Heenan Family at the end.

1. "Winnipeg"

In the summer of 1984, Heenan decided he would head to the WWF, following other AWA figures like Gene Okerlund and Hulk Hogan. Unlike those two, Heenan gave Verne Gagne notice that he was leaving. In a show of appreciation to Heenan and his work to the AWA, Gagne scheduled a series of matches against The Fabulous Ones and Blackjack Lanza where Heenan would forced to wear his "weasel" costume -- matches that always drew big money.

Insofar as I can tell, this *might* be Heenan's last promo for the AWA (in which he trashes Canada, referees, Rick Martel, and demands his partner be given the AWA Championship). There's something bittersweet about this promo: we know -- with the hindsight of history -- that Heenan will become an even bigger star with the WWF and later WCW, but this is also the close of the one of the best partnerships in wrestling history, and I think both he and Bockwinkel project that sadness in this promo.

So there we have it: five of Bobby Heenan's most memorable AWA promos. RIP Brain. You will be missed.

Throwback Thursday: The Nazi Gimmick

One of the ways I defend my continued interest in professional wrestling is by noting the art-form often has "its finger" on the cultural pulse of the United States. As a professor of mine from my undergraduate days often repeated, "if you want to figure out who or what American society regards as 'evil,' watch Monday Night Raw."

And to be honest, more often than not professional wrestling's villians reflect a nationalist and / or conservative ethos: when I was growing up in the 1980s, two of the WWF's biggest heels were the Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkov, representatives of America's most bitter enemies Iran and the Soviet Union.

But if you were a wrestling fan in the 1960s or 1970s, the most dastardly heel in your local territory was very likely a wrestler with a Nazi persona. So for today's Throwback Thursday, I decided to revisit this element of wrestling's past by charting the history of the gimmick, its legacy, and potential future.

The Nazi Gimmick actually has its roots in pre-World War II North America: dastardly German characters were fairly prevalent in the various wrestling territories across the US and Canada in the 1930s, but these heels more drew on World War 1-era tropes.  Perhaps the most famous was Karl Von Poppeheim in the Pacific Northwest, who came to the ring in a monocle and aristocratic mustache. By the time Nazi Germany came to power in the 1930s, some wrestlers altered their gimmicks to be more "fascist" to align with the geo-political climate, but soon began to fear for their own safety as the gimmick was a bit too hot: Frederich Von Schacht was one such wrestler who, according to some sources, dropped his Nazi gimmick after frequent stabbings by enraged fans.

Post-war, there remained a great deal of anti-German sentiment in North America, and Boston-area wrestling promoter Paul Bowser decided to tap into this anti-German sentiment by repackaging the French-Canadian Guy Larose as "Hans Schmidt," a bullying, angry Teutonic beast who would frequently disregard the rules of professional wrestling --- sorry, should have put "rules" in quotation marks there -- and gained serious heel-heat with audiences both in arenas and on television as professional wrestling as a staple of the DuMont Network. Schmidt was so reviled by fans in North America that promoters could have their local main-heel turn into a face -- even for just a night -- by facing Schmidt.

While Schmidt was more a Nazi by suggestion --- although he would wear a German helmet and give the Seig-Heil in his later years as a performer --- promoters in other territories were more keen to have their local evil German wrestler or wrestler use Nazi iconography. In the late 1960s,  Baron Von Raschke begin wrestling in Verne Gagne's AWA; declaring in promos that he was "ORDERED TO WIN," Von Raschke would goose-step to the ring and often appeared (at least early on) wearing a cape with a swastika on it (see above).

In the WWWF, Karl Von Hess was Vince McMahon Sr.'s Teutonic villain of choice. A sensational athlete, Von Hess was public enemy number one in the Mid Atlantic. Von Hess would wear track-suits featuring the Iron Cross to the ring and goose-step through the crowd. Just listen to the introductions here for his 1961 match with Ricky Starr and consider two things: one, Ricky Starr -- whose persona was of a ballerina / wrestler and who in reality was trained as a ballerina and then became a recluse in England --- is a heelish face here; second, this came at point in Von Hess's career when his gimmick was starting to lose its fervor with crowds. Despite facing an effeminate foe and being on the back-nine of his career, Von Hess is still booed like crazy by the fans.

The Nazi Gimmick wasn't limited to the US and Canada: in Mexico, one of the most-hated rudos in the world of Lucha Libre in tthe 1960s was El Nazi (pictured above). In his nearly 30-year career, El Nazi feuded with the likes of Blue Demon and Ruben Juraez. El Nazi would later inspire several other wrestlers in Mexico, including the woman La Nazi.

And then we have the Von Erichs. During the 1960s, Fritz and Waldo Von Erich were the NWA Tag Team Champions (although neither were from Germany). After splitting up, Waldo would perform in the WWWF and feuded with Bruno Sammartino and Wahoo McDaniel (whom he assaults in this clip from 1974). Oh, he also gives the Seig Heil in the ring.

Fritz is by far the more famous of the Von Erichs. Like Waldo, Fritz by trained by Stu Hart, and became quite famous throughout the United States and Canada in the 1950s and 1960s by not only using his dastardly "Iron Claw" but by playing up his (fictional) Teutonic roots. Of course Fritz would eventually "see the error of his ways" and become a face in his native Texas; from there, he would take over the Dallas / Houston territory and lead WCCW to become a dominant regional territory in the late 1970s and 1980s by, in part, promoting his sons as the uber-faces of the company.

Speaking of Fritz Von Erich, there's a story about Von Erich encountering a Holocaust survivor during the 1950s that has become legendary in wrestling circles (David Shoemaker recounts the tale in his book, but notes that the story is, very likely, myth). After a match in Chicago, a man approached Von Erich in his dressing room and asked the wrestler how he could portray a Nazi. Von Erich responded that "it was an act" and told the man to shove-off. The man rolled up his sleeve and revealed a tattoo of a number on his arm, told Von Erich that he had lost all his sons in the death camps, and wished the wrestler would know his pain. Of the six Von Erich sons, Jack, Kerry, David, Mike, and Chris would die at early ages.

By the mid-1970s, the Nazi Gimmick had mostly vanished from American and Canadian rings. There were several pseudo-German heels throughout the era -- and even one or two Neo-Nazi gimmicks in the late 1980s -- but for the most part, the "German as heel" was replaced by Eastern-Bloc, Middle Eastern, or Asian foes for North American audiences.

While the Von Erich / Holocaust survivor story does not appear to be true, I mention it because it still speaks to some of the larger issues with the Nazi Gimmick. Professional wrestling has never been shy about embracing controversy to draw money, but it's telling about the business when men are willing to embrace the attitudes and attire of a reviled political group in order to "get over." At the same time, it's difficult to not be disconcerted by the embrace of this act by wrestlers and promoters for the better part of 20 years. Given the crimes against humanity perpetuated by the members of the Third Reich, it seems like these were moments when wrestling went too far to embrace controversy. Conversely, I think the Nazi Gimmick also served to reduce Nazis to cartoon-ish figures that lessened the significance of the crimes of the Third Reich. While Hitler et al were portrayed as cartoon-ish villains by everyone from Charlie Chaplin to the Three Stooges before and during World War II, such attempts to turn Nazis into cartoon villains after the War seem, at best, misguided.

In thinking about the Nazi Gimmick from our current political perspective, I worry that with the rise of the Alt-Right and Neo-Nazi groups that the Nazi Gimmick may make a return to the squared circle (and as Ed Blair notes, there's an increasing cross-pollination of wrestling and Neo-Nazis). It might be reassuring for us to say "there are lines promoters won't cross" in 2017, but judging by the history of professional wrestling, I think we as fans need to prepare ourselves for that possibility.

Belated Birthday Wishes to Us!

A little over a year ago, Rick_City and I decided to start a blog that's purpose was to rebook the infamous "Invasion Angle" from 2001. We were obsessed about it, and we thought that we had some decent ideas as to how the WWE should have incorporated former WCW and ECW stars.

But we didn't finish them for a variety of reasons. For starters, we both understood that rebooking it was far harder than we anticipated. But we also began to realize that we had a format to vent our frustrations or confusions about professional wrestling: should we review Summer Slam? Yes. Should we praise an indy show one of us went to? Yes. Should we detail some of things we ignore as wrestling fans? Yes.

I can't speak for Rick, but I suspect that neither one of us anticipated the growth of this site, both in terms of fans -- including, but not limited to our 500-plus followers on Facebook --- and the breadth of what we've written about. What started out as an exercise in rebooking a near-unbookable (is that a word?) event, has grown into a site about the absurd, the silly, and shameful of professional wrestling. We've explored the everything from the best Macho Man Randy Savage promos to the things that we ignore about the Attitude Era. I've argued Sting not being a member of the NWO was probably a good thing, while Rick attempted to rebook some of the crappiest Wrestlemanias on record. We've seen live shows, we've previewed and reviewed SummerSlams, Wrestlemania, and we tied in our Royal Rumble match-up.

We are also proud purveyors of our own Hall of Shame, complete with summer exhibits about shameful WCW and WWE themes.

But haven't ignored the reality of professional wrestling. We've pointed out the hypocrisy of the McMahon family, we've talked about injures, and we've noted how politics and wrestling are intersecting too much for the greater good with Donald Trump and Linda McMahon.

So as we take stock of the past year, we've certainly enjoyed writing these things for you. We are busy guys, but I know we would love to write more if time permitted. But we also want to thank our readers -- many of whom we personally know -- who have read, commentated, and shared our stories on various social media outlets. You make this more fun than it should be.

I know we'd like to grow our reach, so if you have a favorite (or SHAMEFUL because branding!) we've written, don't be afraid to share it on social media -- especially either Facebook or Twitter. If you have an idea for a story, please shoot us a message there or on email ([email protected]).

And in our generous spirit, our 100th follower on Twitter will get to pick the subject of a new Top V, Throwback Thursday, or What-If-Wednesday for one of us to do! So follow or else we will do a podcast!!

*pause*

We are going to do a podcast anyway, so that's a baseless threat.