It’s okay for Roman Reigns to appear at WWE live events while ‘injured’

Despite WWE describing Roman Reigns’ extensive “injuries” following the attack of Braun Strowman on RAW, he still appeared at a live event. That’s perfectly okay.

Some WWE fans were absolutely livid over the weekend — what else is new — and once again their angst was directed toward one man and one man only — Roman Reigns. Last Monday on RAW, in one of the best segments in the show’s history, Braun Strowman interrupted a backstage interview with the man who ended the career of The Undertaker and proceeded to savagely beat him to a pulp. The beatdown included everyone’s favorite large adult son trying to squash him like a pancake into a wall, lobbing him off a loading dock while the Big Dog was strapped to a gurney, and then of course, finalizing it all by tipping over an ambulance with Roman inside of it. Truth be told, it was perfect work by both men here; Roman sold the beating like a champ and Braun looked as damn scary as ever.

The Roman haters were naturally pleased at what they had seen from this amazing segment on the show, so you may be asking why they quickly turned a bit ornery later in the week. Well, this is why …

This is footage from a house show in Providence, Rhode Island on Friday night showing the “injured” Roman not only making an appearance at live event, but getting the best of the man who had tried to legit murder him a few days prior and damn near succeeded — in storyline. In typical babyface fashion, Reigns appears to be in trouble with the monster, but eventually overcomes the odds to put big ol’ Braun threw a table, which may or may not have been a short preview of what to expect in an upcoming bout between the two at the June 4 Extreme Rules show, which happens to be a RAW exclusive event. Tables match, anyone?

Now people weren’t necessarily upset about the fact that Roman took Braun to task by making him eat a table spot, rather they were livid because Roman was even there in the first place to make the appearance. If he was suffering from all the storyline injuries WWE noted a few days earlier, then he shouldn’t be showing up in Providence, Rhode Island on a Friday night getting his Superman impersonation on.

Well you see, it’s perfectly fine for this to happen, and there is nothing wrong with Reigns going to work despite some storyline boo-boos.

If you’re a wrestling fan who also happens to follow the NBA, then you’re very well aware of the issue the league has been dealing with where playoff teams rest their starters in the regular season. Fans pay their hard-earned money to see big stars such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry in person, some of these fans patiently waiting weeks for this amazing opportunity, only to find out at the last minute they ultimately ended up paying that coin only to see their favorite star’s backup. Simply put — it sucks.

Whether people want to admit this or not, Roman Reigns is the guy — no pun intended — in WWE right now. He’s their main attraction from both brands on the main roster, and he’s the man they advertise heavily for these live events well in advance. There was probably a good portion of adults in attendance who paid for tickets to either cheer Roman, jeer him, or more importantly, give their children the chance to see their hero up close and personal. That’s what live, non-televised events are for — a more personal, intimate setting to see your favorite WWE television stars perform right in front of you. Robbing people of that just so you can say Roman’s in the hospital nursing storyline injuries so you can save your precious kayfabe does a disservice to both WWE and the paying fans.

Live events don’t necessarily serve the purpose of continuing storylines. Now RAW, on the other hand, does. RAW is the television show. RAW is the platform where you began this injury storyline. So RAW television every week, for as long as this needs to play out for WWE’s plan, is the home for everything “OMG ROMAN ALMOST DIED!”

Do people go to RAW yearning to see some of their favorite stars in action live? Sure they do, but they are also buying a ticket to go see a weekly episodic television show. Roman being mangled on television has every right to be followed up on through the television screen. Therefore, while it would of course be horrible for some who were waiting to see Reigns live on RAW in some form or fashion after purchasing their ticket to not get that opportunity, when you do commit to going to RAW — or even SmackDown Live too, for that matter — you have to understand that some television storylines may prevent that from happening.

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But live events, again, are not made to cater to the TV stories. Live events are there to cater 100 percent to the paying fans. With Roman not legitimately injured, there was nothing wrong with trotting him out there to get some semblance of revenge on Braun for the attack, be it to anger a longtime kayfabe truthers who probably did pay to boo their lungs out at Roman anyway on that night in Providence or get a young child to cheer is head off seeing their hero overcome those insurmountable odds against the monster.