Roman Reigns Lacks Momentum vs. Bray Wyatt on Road to WWE SummerSlam 2015

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt should be a highly entertaining feud. The two men have a history together from their days in The Shield and The Wyatt Family, respectively, and each knows what it takes to work on the main event level.

Their characters are so different and compelling that they should have a good amount of chemistry and be able to get over every time they meet.

Still, their match at Battleground was less than stellar, and while Wyatt continues to shine in nearly every situation, Reigns has lost momentum.

The Eater of Worlds has cut his usual top-notch promos, seizing every opportunity possible to get over. Wyatt is good at being sinister, at psychologically breaking down his opponent from top to bottom—and Reigns is his latest target.

With every word he says, Wyatt is fully capable of sending chills down the spine of any fan who listens to him. He has done some of his best work against Reigns, as he has targeted the former Shield strongman many times on WWE programming.

Wyatt has definitely been on the offensive and has set out to halt Reigns' forward progress. He wants anyone but Reigns to succeed and is convinced he can stop him before Reigns climbs any higher up the ranks.

Wyatt is on point in every way.

However, Reigns has had little to no answer. Therein lays the problem: Reigns has no teeth in this feud, and no teeth equals no momentum. It's not getting any better, either.

Reigns should be the hero of this story, the one fans are responding to every time, coming in like the proverbial house on fire in every confrontation. He should be Superman fighting to save the world of WWE from the villain.

But that has not happened yet, and there is serious doubt about whether it will. 

Reigns is not acting the part. Every time Wyatt has upped his game, Reigns has seemed to lose a step. It could be that the two do not have the chemistry they should. It could also be that the timing of the feud is off; maybe it should have happened at another time.

Or it's entirely possible that the booking is not right. That booking led to their match at Battleground and included one of the creepiest, most compelling moments WWE fans have seen in quite some time: Wyatt's stalking of Reigns' daughter.

The photo Wyatt showed of Reigns and his little girl having a tea party surprised many fans.

Wyatt had previously exposed Dean Ambrose's family issues in their feud, but this was another level of despicable. Targeting a man's child was beyond reprehensible, and though she was not physically used in the storyline, the implication that Wyatt was watching her was evident.

The moment was seen as a pivotal one by many fans at the time, one that would add the final spark to the powder keg that was set to explode at Battleground.

This was a perfect example of a heel taking things too far, and the response from Reigns had to be swift as well as vengeful.

Reigns should have stormed the ring and taken care of his business. He should have beaten Wyatt down from one corner of the ring to the other, and the fight should have spilled out through the entire arena. Reigns should have been furious and focused on the total destruction of Wyatt.

Reigns should have been pulled off Wyatt and disqualified for not listening to the referee's warning. The next night on Raw, Reigns should have continued the fight and perhaps even been ejected from the building because he could not control himself.

But none of that happened.

Instead, Reigns and Wyatt had a typical match that ended with an assist from Luke Harper. The bout was not a war—the contest was not even much of a fight. It was not what it should have been, and since then, not much has improved.

The question is, why did it go down the way it did? Why has Reigns not been as aggressive as he should be? He is already behind in terms of total fan support and has struggled to overcome the notion that he was given too much too soon.

If WWE wanted him to shine in this feud, then every step should have been taken to ensure that his presence in it was relevant and valuable. Fans should have been behind him from the start and should still be supporting him. 

The lack of focus at Battleground and the poor follow-up since then has strongly affected a potential rematch between Wyatt and Reigns at SummerSlam. While no match is booked yet, all signs point to the possibility of it happening—and if it does, this time must be different.

Even if the match booked is Reigns and Ambrose vs. Wyatt and Harper, the intensity and drama must be there between the two primary adversaries.

If WWE hopes to continue this rivalry past its summer event, fans need a reason to emotionally invest. Wyatt can't do it alone.

Reigns needs to deliver, and the booking must allow him to do just that. Reigns' character is a beast—a tough guy who is resilient and can not only withstand a beating but deliver one as well. But more importantly, he has a strong support system in his family, and all of that must come through.

Battleground may not have been the slam dunk many fans were hoping for, but it's not too late to right the ship for SummerSlam.

Tom's work can regularly be found on Bleacher Report. His podcast Tom Clark's Main Event is available on iTunes, Google Play, Windows Phone, Amazon Android and online here.