WWE Is Using Reverse Psychology to Foreshadow a Roman Reigns Win

WrestleMania will certainly have spectacle and star power, but WWE has taken the suspense out of whether Roman Reigns will win in the main event.

The company has pushed the narrative of Brock Lesnar's dominance and Reigns' proving doubters wrong so hard that it's clearly a bit of reverse psychology. Reigns is winning the World Heavyweight Championship; WWE has been telling us so for weeks.

It makes little sense to beat fans over the head with the idea that Reigns is on a journey full of obstacles only to have him fall just short. Just as WWE questions whether John Cena will beat the odds just before he does, just as it questioned last year whether Daniel Bryan could overcome The Authority leading up to the point where did just that, the company is revealing the future via heavy-handed foreshadowing.

WWE has gone this route with Lesnar before. Flash back to when Eddie Guerrero challenged him for the WWE title in 2004.

Lesnar was booked as the unstoppable force, much as he is today. He talked about not just wanting to beat the challenger, but that he wanted to torture him.

Guerrero was the lovable cheater, the massive underdog against the bigger man. The story leading up to the pay-per-view centered around Latino Heat looking to clear yet another hurdle in a life full of them. He told Lesnar on SmackDown, "The only thing I have going for me is that every obstacle that has been put in front of me, I have overcome."

And he did. Guerrero outlasted the monster and won the WWE title. 

This feels a lot like what WWE is doing with Reigns. Much of the storyline is about Reigns moving past obstacles, the last one being Lesnar himself.

Instead of battling his proverbial inner demons as Guerrero did, Reigns is taking on fans who have rejected his Royal Rumble win, who have made it clear they don't believe he's ready for this spot.

And WWE has infused that into the plot.

It had him put his No. 1 contender spot on the line against Bryan, the man many prefer to headline WrestleMania. The language used in this feud seemed to be directly speaking to Reigns' critics in the stands.

About his Royal Rumble win, he said, "Apparently, that wasn't good enough."

After losing to Reigns at Fastlane, Bryan talked up Reigns' heart, stuck out his hand and offered Reigns congratulations. It couldn't be more clear that WWE was trying to address Bryan's fans and convince them that Reigns is worth supporting.

Asking Bryan to put him over like that, both in the in ring and on the mic afterward, is WWE prepping the crowd for Reigns seizing the title. WWE asked Bryan to pass the torch before Lesnar does on March 29.

The story has shifted since then to the doubts about Reigns' chances getting louder and The Big Dog defiantly pushing back against them.

So much of the build for WrestleMania's marquee match has seen Paul Heyman tell fans that Reigns can't beat Lesnar. He has warned that a beating is coming to the No. 1 contender. He has teased that Lesnar can unify the UFC and WWE titles if he wants to.

The manager is painting a Reigns victory as an impossibility so that WrestleMania may end in the impossible happening.

On Monday's Raw, Heyman barked to Reigns, "You can't beat Brock Lesnar. You can't beat up Brock Lesnar. You can't beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. You can't beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE title. And you can't beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE title at WrestleMania."

The message repeats, drummed into our skulls by a hypnotic messenger. This purpose of this Reigns-can't-win mantra is to make the odds seem more against him, to make his inevitable victory seem more special.

WWE wishes to deliver the unexpected and so is looking to shape the audience's expectations. 

It has done that with other voices as well, as Heyman isn't the only telling Reigns he can't win at WrestleMania. Mark Henry stormed back to SmackDown last week just to deliver that same message.

That night, he told Reigns of the damage The Beast Incarnate did to him in the past. The big man questioned whether Reigns even knew what he was getting into.

He said, "You think you know it all, you did it all. You ain't been nowhere."

That's going to change in a hurry. Reigns is set to be in the biggest match of the biggest wrestling match of the year. Some may be unsure if he will succeed as champion, but there is far less uncertainty about whether he will become champion.

WWE has focused on convincing fans that Reigns is the underdog, that Lesnar is no mere man. It's the same story the company told before Guerrero took down The Beast Incarnate.

Reigns' tale will end the same way, championship in hand, elation washing over him. 

Even Reigns' new T-shirt is a means of foreshadowing. It seems to answer the question of whether he can win the title. It's a spoiler of sorts, reading "I can. I will."