Roman Reigns Will Ride Massive Momentum to Successful Stay Atop WWE

After months of scalding its hands in the laboratory, WWE finally found the right formula to showcase Roman Reigns.

A wrestler fans had so vehemently resisted earlier in the year now stood atop The Usos' shoulders, with not just the WWE World Championship in his hands, but the crowd as well. A grueling journey had ended in glory. 

What Reigns showed of his grit and his ability in the clutch en route to that makes it clear that he's destined to hold tight to that spot. Go ahead and glue his name onto the marquee. It's going to be there a long while.

When WWE first anointed Reigns its crown prince, a vocal part of the audience recoiled. He raised his arms in victory at the Royal Rumble, only to be soundly rejected. Many fans wanted Daniel Bryan in his place. Many fans didn't believe Reigns was ready to ascend.

And so the company spent months trying to convince the detractors.

Reigns' failures became his path to prosperity. Rather than WWE simply handing him the crown, it scripted an arduous climb that saw him tumble down the mountain several times over. At WrestleMania, Money in the Bank and most recently TLC, his fingertips grazed the holy grail, only to have it slip away.

Reigns showed off his wrestling chops in impressive bout after impressive bout. 

It all culminated in an electric win, in WWE finding something magical with him at TLC and then on Monday's Raw. After losing to Sheamus at Sunday's pay-per-view, The Big Dog ripped off his babyface veneer and revealed a howling beast underneath.

He beat down Triple H, a mad dog tearing apart a rabbit.

Credit: WWE.com

Gone was the John Cena-esque act, and in walked an ass-kicking warrior. The next night, the momentum carried over. 

WWE had found the right version of Reigns—defiant, resilient, a force of nature. He showed no respect for Stephanie McMahon or even a returning Vince McMahon. Reigns challenged Stephanie to fire him; he essentially spat in Vince's face when ordered to apologize.

Now fitted with more of an anti-hero role, Reigns had the audience invested in his struggles.

He had one last shot against Sheamus as Monday's Raw came to a close. Victory meant the world championship was his. Defeat meant the end of his days as WWE Superstar.

Reigns then fought off Sheamus' best moves, The League of Nations' goons charging at him and Vince yanking the referee out of the ring. He was the action movie star fighting on no matter how many bullets filled his body. 

And he did so with a Steve Austin-esque disregard for consequences. Reigns flooring Vince with a Superman punch threw lighter fluid on an already raging fire. Blood sliding down his face, Reigns speared Sheamus to knock him from his throne.

The crowd now roared in support of him.

And when he won the world title, the outcome WWE had tried to reach for the majority of 2015, the reaction was nothing like what he experienced at the Rumble. Less than a full year removed from a flood of boos washing him away in Philadelphia following a Royal Rumble victory, here he stood, title in his grasp, the City of Brotherly Love offering him a hero's welcome. 

WWE had not only crowned Reigns, it managed to swing a resistant audience along the way.

As Kyle Fowle wrote for the A.V. Club, "WWE has made a lot of people care about Roman Reigns, and that's all we ever ask for; a little stakes, a coherent, compelling story, and a champion who’s infinitely more interesting than Sheamus."

ProWrestling.net's Will Pruett praised how well WWE told this story:

He's absolutely right. Reigns' rise was great.

The success of that angle, along with Reigns' ability, will equal him flourishing in his new position. This won't be The Miz's run as champ. This was the coronation of a megastar.

Reigns has stepped up at every turn. Each time that WWE increased the heat of the spotlight, he made the company look smart for backing him.

Against Bryan at Fastlane, with a good portion of the crowd rooting like hell for the other guy, he put on his best match up to that point. At WrestleMania, he looked tremendous, a beast that belonged opposite Brock Lesnar. At Hell in a Cell, he wrote the final chapter of his rivalry with Bray Wyatt with an emphatic, enthralling performance inside a cage.

Credit: WWE.com

He has shown himself to be main event-worthy with each step to this final triumph.

And now, he doesn't just have the company's backing and big-match ability in his favor, but the support of the crowd. As we saw with Bryan during his ascension, that's the vehicle most equipped to take one to the promised land.

WWE has found a way to present Reigns as an underdog, a rebel with a snarl, a beaten-down fighter with no quit in him. In a way, that makes him an amalgamation of Stone Cold, John Wayne and Cena. But more importantly, he feels like his own man, enough freshness among the familiar to make what happens next worth watching.

And so he begins his second world title reign, one that Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated believes will last for the remainder of the road to WrestleMania:

It should. Reigns came out of Monday's Raw and TLC red-hot. WWE has worked tirelessly to convince the crowd to root for him.

It only makes sense to continue to harness that, to have him fend off a succession of enemies charging at him. Whether that includes Triple H, Lesnar or Kevin Owens, expect great things from him.

He's spent 2015 bolstering his resume with highlights, putting on great matches with everyone from Seth Rollins to Big Show.

The key, though, to keeping Reigns' title run as electric as it began is to play to his strengths. Keep presenting him as a man who speaks with his fists, who pushes back against tyranny the way the audience wishes it could.

That means WWE has to have him talk less. Reigns must stop using cheesy lines a la referring to Sheamus' "tater tots." Really, what's his fascination with comparing testicles to food items?

WWE has a chance here to benefit from having the top-tier star it has so desperately needed. Trying to force him to emulate Cena's goofy side is not how to do that, neither is handing him cartoon dialogue.

The crowd on Monday's Raw and at the close of TLC wasn't rooting for him because he was quick with insults, but because he is a gritty combatant at the heart of a classic rebel-against-empire narrative. Continue telling that story and Reigns will prosper, leading WWE into its next era.