How Goes Reigns Vs. Styles?

The WWE is running with the interesting feud of Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles. Both guys are worth paying attention to right now for different reasons. Roman Reigns is the new centerpiece of the company and is having issues connecting with the fans. AJ Styles is a hot wrestling talent that just debuted a few months ago and has not really broken out yet. What could the WWE be thinking putting these two faces together in a feud? What has the second week of this feud brought?

This week has been pretty lackluster for this feud. Styles had to hold off Sami Zayn on Raw to make sure the title match did not become a triple-threat match. Roman Reigns was confronted by The League of Nations. Considering that heel stable had issues brewing with The Wyatts, smarter feud development for that might have involved them actually calling out The Wyatts, or something like that. Instead, they target Roman Reigns. The Wyatts come out to attack The League of Nations, helping Roman Reigns in the process. The main event for Raw was then Reigns and Bray Wyatt teaming to face Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. The WWE Champion and the challenger for his title did not interact in these segments. That is not good feud development.

In slightly related news, Gallows and Anderson recently debuted. Wrestling fans were eager to see how they would debut. These are the guys that I felt the WWE could possibly debut as part of the Reigns/Styles feud. Even after they did debut this week, I have seen some fans speculate that they might still get involved in the eventual title match between Reigns and Styles. If the WWE was going to handle it like that, I would think they would just hold these guys off until then. Make their debut mean more by having them get involved in the title match. With how the WWE has handled their debut, I think it is less likely that they do get involved with AJ Styles, yet. But it is still a possibility to keep alive.

Overall, it has not been a good week for this feud. They are not developing enough heat between Reigns and Styles. Wrestling fans will be interested because most of them love Styles and hate Reigns. There is still plenty of time to develop something before Payback, but it will not work if the WWE just continues more of the same from this week. The WWE will probably not fix the issues Roman Reigns has with this feud, but this can be an opportunity to help AJ Styles get to that next level. CM Punk was a great wrestler before coming to the WWE. So was Daniel Bryan. But it took these guys some time in the WWE before they reached that next level in the WWE in terms of how they were connecting with fans, and thus truly earn a better career for themselves. AJ Styles is obviously the kind of guy to follow in their footsteps, but he is not yet at that god-like tier, if I can put it like that. This feud with Roman Reigns can do that for him, but not the way they have handled it this week.