Roman Reigns Vs. Rusev

After losing cleanly to Finn Balor last week, fans were speculating what would happen to Roman Reigns for Summerslam. Would he be forced into Raw's main event anyway? The popular opinion from many fans was a feud with Chris Jericho. I would have guessed the WWE would pull that. He's the veteran jobber to the stars. Reigns has never beaten him in a singles feud.

Reigns is getting Rusev. Rusev retained the United States Championship against Mark Henry on Raw. The newlywed then had a confrontation with Roman Reigns. Given how Reigns was looking at that United States Championship after sending Rusev running alongside his wife, this will likely not be a non-title feud.

Some fans are talking like this is some kind of demotion for Roman Reigns. Well, what do you expect? If the guy can't handle being pushed as the centerpiece, they have to depush him. It is the smart thing to do. Overpushing him is irritating fans, it is not helping him, and it is not helping the company. Some guys are just not meant to be main-eventers or need time to develop themselves further in the midcard.

I did notice fans chanting for Reigns on Raw during his confrontation with Rusev. I am not saying it will last, but it is better than nuclear heat. I have mentioned before that Reigns seemed to get less hate last year when they stopped pushing him as a main-eventer for a while so he could feud with Bray Wyatt. Fans don't absolutely despise Roman Reigns. They just do not like how he is pushed. When he is pushed with the right character and in the right position on the card, he can get a better reaction.

The United States Championship is in the picture. Should he win it? Dean Ambrose has held that title. Seth Rollins held it last year. Roman Reigns is the only former member of The Shield never to have held it. John Cena, the previous centerpiece, also had some runs with the U.S. title last year that helped to win over some of his haters. How he was booked had a lot to do with that, but the WWE might have a reason to want to let Reigns win this midcard singles title. If they book him right, he might win over more of his haters.