Smark Out Moment

On this ninth edition of SUPERSTAR SCORES, we take a look at the man who is under a heavy microscope after having won this year's Royal Rumble: Roman Reigns.

If you're unfamiliar with how the segment works, here is a quick breakdown: Each edition, a wrestler will be put under the spotlight and rated on a 0-100 scale based on 10 categories that have been broken up into 5 umbrella sections: In the Ring Skills, On the Mic Skills, Appearance, Backstage, and Crowd Reaction. The rating scale is as basic as you can get: 0-1-2-3-4 | 5 | 6-7-8-9-10. It follows the Three-Count Critique method of green being the good, yellow being in the middle, and red being the bad. A perfect 100 is the goal.

*NOTE: Keep in mind that Roman Reigns is still finding himself and that a lot is likely to change even in the next month. This is a preemptive edition where our opinions will definitely change soon enough (positively or negatively), so we'll be revisiting this in the future to see how things plan out.


Update: On March 20, 2020, we did a recalibration of points for a 25th episode special. In that episode, nearly every wrestler saw some adjustments. Below, you'll see the original scores on the left and then the updated score on the right, with the original description for the original score underneath based 2020 instead of 2015. For explanation on the updated points, check out the 25th edition podcast.

IN THE RING SKILLS

Athleticism: Does the person have a good signature moveset and finisher? Can they perform a wide variety of moves on a regular basis and not botch them?

My Rating = 7
I like his spear, I'm a big fan of the Superman punch, and you've got to give him points for that dropkick he does on the ring apron, which is awesome. Being a big guy, he moves around well. Sure, he can botch some things once in a while, but you don't see him getting a 9 or 10 on here, do you? When it comes to future stars in the company that are on the roster right now, I'd much rather sit through a half hour Roman Reigns match than most 15 minute Bray Wyatt matches, yet he seems to get more credit for maneuverability.

Psychology: The wrestler's ability to tell a story in the ring. Do they make you believe it's real or do they forget to sell their injuries properly? Can they make a long match stay interesting and not get boring?

My Rating = 6 / 7
Roman is still finding himself in this regard, but he's getting there. Being booked as the tough guy in The Shield didn't allow for a crazy amount of psychology on his part in comparison to Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose, so he'll naturally look like the weak link on the team for that aspect, but since branching off into a singles career, he's been developing this skill more and more.

ON THE MIC SKILLS

Charisma: If they get a mic, can they cut a promo without stuttering? Are they repetitive or do they keep things fresh?

My Rating = 6 / 7
Reigns is not The Rock on the stick, but he's upgraded in the past few months when you look at where he was before his injury. He's still got a long way to go before he can be trusted to go out and cut a good promo any given night and he might not ever reach that level 100%, but he's certainly not the worst out there.

Character: Is their gimmick(s) interesting? Can they pull off being both a heel and a face?

My Rating = 6
Reigns doesn't have much of a gimmick to him outside of being a tough guy, so he loses a lot of points for a lack of creativity. However, The Shield kicked so much ass and he was a big part of why they appeared menacing. He was still able to keep that powerful visage up when transitioning to a babyface role, which others in the past were unable to do.

APPEARANCE

Physique: Are they in the proper shape for their gimmick or are they out of shape? (note: someone like Mabel isn't supposed to look like John Morrison, but Matt Hardy gaining weight deducts his points).

My Rating = 8
Reigns is a good looking, tall, muscular guy who you can see being a top echelon star in the company. It may seem like a stupid thing to do, but I'm deducting some points because of his ring gear. If you think of his physique in terms of marketing purposes, he doesn't really show off a lot of those muscles for the women to gawk at and so forth like John Cena or others do.

Entrance: Their music, the pyro if they have any, whatever taunts or actions they do to make it interesting.

My Rating = 7
His theme is still cool and it fits him. Coming through the crowd isn't something revolutionary that hasn't been seen before, but it works and it might end up being one of the things that helps him stay connected to the audience in these trying times when the crowd is turning on him. Still, I could use a little more.

BEHAVIOR

Backstage: Are they a locker room leader or do they cause problems behind the scenes? Are they bogged down in politics? Do they put other people over or screw people over?

My Rating = 7 / 9
I've heard mostly positive things about Reigns when it comes to backstage chatter. Supposedly, he's a hard worker who got to the spot he is without having to step over a bunch of toes.

Public Relations: Is this wrestler a public relations problem with arrests and such, or are they someone that promotes the company well, does charities, talk shows, etc?

My Rating = 5 / 10
No matter what, once someone's been arrested, it puts a huge dent on their score for this part of the segment. Reigns was arrested in 2010 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct of some sort, so that hinders his score right off the bat. Since then, though, he's done charity events, appeared in promotional footage about being a father, and so on, so it's not as though he's causing a scene and being an embarrassment in any way. It'll be interesting to see how he fares with talk shows and the like while building up to WrestleMania. That will be a big test to see what his range is for marketability.

CROWD REACTION

Popularity: How loud are the cheers and boos for them? Do they sell merchandise? Are ratings up or down when they're on screen? How many Twitter and Facebook followers do they have?

My Rating = 7 / 8
Reigns is in a tough spot right now. Before the Royal Rumble, he was getting big pops, but the audience has turned on him quite a bit in favor of Daniel Bryan. Does that take away from his previous popularity? A bit. Does it mean he's doomed? Far from it. The way WWE handles the next few weeks will be perhaps the biggest factors in Roman's career when it comes to popularity. If they don't drop the ball, he can soar to greater heights than he's been, but if things go awry, it will take a while before he's viewed as a potential top guy in the company again.

Credibility: Is this person someone you would see as a main eventer and a future legend or are they doomed to forever be a jobber?

My Rating = 8 / 9
Some points are docked because he has not had a long enough career to see where his standing power is, nor has he had many singles feuds or a solitary singles title reign. He did, however, have a run with the Tag Team Championship. Plus, don't forget that he and his Shield brethren literally debuted straight into the main event scene and he's been a part of that ever since. Reigns is a believable challenger for Brock Lesnar's title, which says a lot for someone so fresh to the scene.

TOTAL SCORE: 67/100 - 78/100

FINAL THOUGHTS: Since Reigns only has a little bit of time on him, it'll be fun to go back and see where things change. Right now, he's doing very well—better than what mostly anybody can boast about at this point in their career histories. He is a top guy, popular, talented, and can go a long way if the cards fall in his favor. That being said, he's far from perfect and there are definitely things that he needs to improve upon. Will he end his career in the 70s or above or has he already hit his peak and will only drop further down the scale in time? We'll just have to keep tuning in to find out.