Big Show Is the Perfect Opponent for Roman Reigns on Road to Royal Rumble

Roman Reigns' return to World Wrestling Entertainment at Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December during the Seth Rollins-John Cena Tables match led many to believe that he would pick up where he left off last September, feuding with his former Shield teammate.

That was not the case, however, as he quickly found himself in a program with The Authority's nasty giant, Big Show. 

On the surface, it looks like a poor matchup for Reigns. After all, it is hard to imagine those two Superstars having anything remotely close to a good match. A series of poor contests could easily derail the juggernaut's momentum and earn him further scorn from those perceiving him to be unready for a major main event push.

In reality, the feud is the perfect way to reintroduce Reigns to the WWE Universe.

The last thing WWE could afford was to bring Reigns back and program him against a Superstar that fans would cheer instead of him. There is no threat of that with Big Show whatsoever.

Furthermore, Big Show is still considered a legitimate main event attraction in the eyes of the general audience. Regardless of how stale or boring he may be, he still has the reputation of a former WWE and World Heavyweight champion, and he is still booked carefully enough not to lose his aura.

No matter how many times he turns face, then heel.

Working with him and beating him allows Reigns to enter the Royal Rumble riding a wave of momentum. He needs that one definitive win to tide him over until he gets back into the main event scene.

Losing does nothing to hurt Big Show, especially when programmed against someone clearly being booked like an unstoppable force the way Reigns is at this point.

Most importantly, the program keeps Reigns away from any other potential WrestleMania opponents. Unfortunately, with the amount of television time WWE fills each week, it has a tendency to overexpose feuds and matches, leaving fans overwhelmed by the time the big pay-per-view bout arrives.

That will not be the case with Reigns, at least not right away. The Big Show program will keep him busy and far away from either John Cena or Brock Lesnar should he win the Rumble match and advance to WrestleMania.

Anytime someone is poised for the type of success that Reigns appears en route to achieving, every step of the journey there becomes more and more important. It is imperative that fans do not feel as though he is being shoved down their throats.

By keeping him away from the main event, at least until after the January 25 pay-per-view event, it prevents that feeling. How WWE Creative handles him the rest of the way on the road to WrestleMania will determine his success.

For now, it is off to a good start.