Like fans, old wrestlers are biased against today’s WWE compared to their favorite era. WWE looks much different than it did 20 years ago and according to former WWE Champion, Psycho Sid, it’s made a turn for the worse.
In an interview with Hannibal TV, Sid said today’s current WWE product is reminiscent of an era when the company was on hard times and was forced to use some questionable talent. To Sid, there are a couple of wrestlers who are prominently featured on WWE programming who shouldn’t be there:
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“I hate sayin’ it, but I see people like Kevin Owens and this Yakamora guy (Shinsuke Nakamura), and these other people like this. When I see that, I’m going, ‘Business has gotta be bad, or they’re at a point where they don’t care.’ That’s all I know.”
But Sid had glowing things to say about Roman Reigns, especially if he’s standing next to Kevin Owens.
“I think [Reigns] is one of the better talents they’ve got. He looks credible, he looks good, [he’s] a good interview. And if we’re gonna compare him to anybody, let’s just compare him to the last guy you said, the fat guy in the T-shirt, Kevin Owens. There’s no comparison. I think he’s light years ahead of that guy.”
Ouch. Let’s start with the good. Roman Reigns is a great WWE Superstar. In just a glance, he instantly gratifies. In just 2 years Reigns went from a fringy main eventer to the face of WWE. That was not accidental.
For Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Yakamora, er, Nakamura, things are less clear. While they certainly don’t have some efforts of the WWE machine as Reigns, they still have their role in WWE’s upper-mid-card. That said, is Sid’s opinion valid?
For most wrestling fans, Kevin Owens is a departure from the traditional WWE Superstar. Yes, he wrestles in a t-shirt and gym shorts and may actually be a little undersized. But is he as out of place as Sid asserts? Well, it may not be fair to compare Reigns to Kevin Owens as the former is playing a much different role in WWE than the latter. Owens will not be a perennial main eventer for the company while Reigns will headline WrestleMania for the next decade.
WWE has designed both personalities to play distinct parts in their ecosystem. So of course, Roman Reigns looks better than Kevin Owens. With Reigns, WWE is trying to appeal to the entire planet. Where Owens has been crafted to appeal to fans that look like him.
