Remember Roman Reigns?

Roman Reigns won the "Superstar of the Year" Slammy on Raw last night. The awards were supposed to be voted on by the fans. How likely is it that the WWE rigged the poll? When you leave it in the hands of the fans, it essentially becomes a popularity contest. They will vote for the superstars, matches, and moments that they enjoyed the most and they talked about the most. Who has been hotter this year than Daniel Bryan? I am not saying Roman Reigns is not over, but Daniel Bryan is more over and had a bigger year that more fans are likely to vote for. Roman Reigns won no titles this year, didn't win the Royal Rumble, didn't win anything major at all, and spent most of the year either as part of The Shield or injured. Dean Ambrose has been hotter this year than him. Ambrose held a title for part of the year, had a singles feud that was hotter than any singles feud Reigns has had, and just seems like a more likely winner than Reigns. Even John Cena seems like a more likely winner. I can't think of any fan group that would give Roman Reigns enough votes to win this. It wouldn't be the first time the WWE possibly rigged the results of a poll. I know fans sometimes rig polls, but I can't picture Roman Reigns being the benefactor of fans rigging a poll for him.

Before you accuse someone of doing something, it helps to make sure they have a motive to do whatever you are accusing them of. That might help your argument be stronger. Why would the WWE want to make Roman Reigns look like a big deal by handing him this big piece of hype? It has been said for a while that this is the guy they want to be a major star. Even during his days in The Shield, he had some moments where they put big focus on him. He has been in some WWE Championship matches this year, although they were all multi-challenger matches and he never won. He was a likely candidate to win the Royal Rumble even before the Slammy win. If they are grooming him to be a top star, and possibly be the next centerpiece, hype is a key ingredient and there might be no greater piece of hype, outside of title reigns, than saying he was the superstar of the whole year.

Will all this work out? You are giving him all this hype, but what if he does not properly connect with the fans? It is easier to hype someone when they naturally connect with the fans. When you use hype as a tool to make stars, it may backfire. You might overrate whomever you are trying to hype. Roman Reigns might end up like John Cena and Batista, and I don't mean that in a good way. He is a WWE guy.