Vince McMahon and the WWE have long liked to talk about wrestlers grabbing "the brass ring". Recently on Austin's podcast, Vince said the reason the company wasn't building more new stars is because the wrestlers in the company weren't reaching for the brass ring. They weren't trying hard enough to be the next big thing. It wasn't his fault, it was their fault.
Most of us called bullshit immediately, because that's what it was. But I think now we can finally put this piece of WWE propaganda horseshit to rest.
Because finally they're behind a new wrestler 100%. In a way that they haven't been since John Cena and Batista. This is the first time since 2005 that a new wrestler has won the Royal Rumble and will main event Wrestlemania. We've had a decade of the company failing to commit to popular and talented guys like Punk, Bryan and Ziggler in between. But now they're finally committing to somebody. Roman Reigns has been given the fabled green-light push.
So Reigns has been the first guy to reach out and grab "the brass ring" in 10 years? Not a fucking chance.
Are we supposed to believe that this guy has worked harder than any other young guy on the roster this past decade? That he wanted it more? I don't see any evidence of that:
- He hasn't put in more hours than the others. He's only been around a couple of years.
- He hasn't paid his dues more than the others. He's barely lost.
- He hasn't gotten more over than the others. Last night is proof of that.
- He hasn't done more media than the others. He barely does any at all. Rollins & Ambrose used to do media without him when the Shield were still going.
- He hasn't worked harder on his craft than the others. He's currently an average performer. Far from the best young prospect they have.
I'm not a Reigns hater. Far from it. I think he could be a good main event star some day. But today is not that day, and it brings me great pleasure to debunk this garbage that WWE has been trumpeting these last few years.
So when Vince McMahon talks about grabbing the brass ring, what he really means is that you should be huge, have a great look and an extremely famous relative. It's not about hard work or talent. Only the shallow stuff really matters.