Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s decision to name Roman Reigns as its wrestler of the year was a controversial choice but it wasn’t the wrong choice.
WWE superstar Roman Reigns is the farthest thing from a fan favorite wrestler. His controversial rise to the top of the WWE upset a lot of fans and his wellness violation earlier this year further tarnished his likability.
After being named the No.1 wrestler of the year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the internet erupted in anger and confusion over the magazine’s selection of Reigns as this year’s top wrestler.
When I heard Roman Reigns was #1 in the PWI top 500. #WWE pic.twitter.com/z5iwqKt8Ic
— The Fan's Podcast (@TheFansPodcast) September 1, 2016
Regardless of how fans feel about Reigns, his selection as PWI’s wrestler of the year is well deserved based on the magazine’s kayfabe criteria and what he accomplished during their evaluation period.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s writers take several things into consideration when they make their list including “win-loss record, championships won, quality of competition, major feuds, prominence within a wrestler’s individual promotion(s), and overall wrestling ability.”
This year’s evaluation period started in mid-2015 and ended at about the same time this year. During this time, Reigns was in the middle of his controversial push to the top of the company.
He spent the first part of this time period feuding with Bray Wyatt. The two superstars went back and forth in singles and tag team matches with their feud coming to an end at Hell in a Cell where Reigns won clean.
After this feud, Reigns returned to the main event picture where he beat Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens in a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It was an impressive win for Reigns, but he had to earn yet another shot at the title after it was vacated by Seth Rollins after he suffered a knee injury.
This led to a tournament to crown a new champion, where Reigns defeated the Big Show in the first round, Cesaro in the quarterfinals and then Alberto Del Rio in the semifinals. He faced Dean Ambrose in the finals of the tournament at Survivor Series, where he won and became the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.
His reign as champion did not last long because he lost the title that same night after Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned him to become champion. This led to a feud with Sheamus, The League of Nations and Triple H where Reigns won the title again but later dropped it to Triple H at Royal Rumble.
Reigns spent the next month chasing the WWE title, leading to a match at Fastlane where he defeated Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar to earn a title match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32. Reigns went on to beat Triple H at WrestleMania to become a three-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
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Prior to Reign’s 30-day suspension in June for violating the WWE’s wellness policy, he successfully defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles twice. He later entered a feud with Rollins and later lost the title to him at Money in the Bank. This was around the time where PWI’s evaluation period ended.
It is clear Reigns deserves to be ranked as PWI’s top wrestler for the year if you base it on the quality of his competition and his win-loss record. Reigns rarely lost during the year and he picked up impressive wins over superstars like Aj Styles, Triple H, Bray Wyatt and Brock Lesnar.
One argument that can be made against Reigns being ranked at the top is that he is not the greatest wrestler. Reigns is talented but he isn’t a wrestling technician. He is outclassed by most of the other wrestlers below him on PWI’s list like Kazuchika Okada, Finn Balor, AJ Styles and Jay Lethal.
People can also argue that Reigns isn’t great at cutting promos, which is true. Reigns is not as talented on the mic as other wrestlers like Bray Wyatt, Chris Jericho or Enzo Amore, but he is getting better. He has certainly come a long way since he started his single’s run after The Shield split up in 2014.
Reigns’ rise to the top of the WWE was controversial, but that shouldn’t take away from how talented he is. He has shown time and time again that he can put on great matches and make storylines interesting. Reigns is a star and he can only get better.
Regardless of how fans feel about Reigns and his PWI ranking, his overall performances and achievements over the year make him worthy of being number one.
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