Over the last few months, wrestling podcaster Conrad Thompson hasn't been shy about stating his opinion that WWE World Heavyweight Champion and top star Roman Reigns is overrated, drawing a strong reaction in the process. That topic re-emerged this week when Thompson paid a visit to "Busted Open Radio" on Wednesday. Thompson explained he was motivated to give his opinion upon seeing people say Reigns was better than the likes of Hulk Hogan because he main evented more WrestleMania's. He conceded that Reigns may have had more financial success than the likes of Hogan, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, and others but feels that doesn't make Reigns better than them."I'm thrilled for his success," Thompson said. "But I don't think he belongs in the conversation. I've not had a conversation with one wrestling fan ever where we have our dreaded Mt. Rushmore conversation, where they start with Roman Reigns."I've never seen a Roman Reigns t-shirt in public. I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm just saying I remember going into Walmart, and it being wall to wall Goldberg and Stone Cold Steve Austin stuff. I just don't see that with Roman."Thompson also noted that Reigns struggled to get over for years despite his push, only did so after he aligned with Paul Heyman, The Usos, and Sami Zayn, who Thompson gave credit to helping Roman succeed. Ultimately, he feels that works in favor against Reigns being ranked among the best."It's not because...the fans got with him and then they put the rocket to him," Thompson said. "No, they did it in reverse order. 'We're going to make a guy.' And they did, and it worked. And they've enjoyed phenomenal success. But I don't think he has the moments and the memories that we celebrate about Hogan and Austin and Flair. I just don't think he'll be in the conversation when its all said and done."If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Let's get this out of the way first; yes, Roman Reigns is, in fact, overrated. I reckon that will probably upset a few on the internet, but I have to say that Conrad Thompson is right on this one, and that some of his reasoning is also on the spot. That's not all there is to it though. Yes, Thompson is correct that Reigns got a lot more opportunities to succeed than others, and benefited from associating with superior talents that helped put him over the top (Paul Heyman, Sami Zayn). But that can be said for almost everyone else in the industry too; it's not like Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin just became the guys they were by themselves any more than Reigns did, even if they did get organically over in a way Reigns didn't. No, the real reason Roman Reigns is overrated isn't because of that; it's because the wrestling world is really, REALLY big, and the idea that Roman Reigns is among the best ever is just silly when you think about that. And here's the thing; it doesn't mean Reigns is a bad performer. In fact, he's a very good performer.Now yes, I don't think he holds the attention of fans in his big time the matches the way some of his peers do and some of his in-match monologuing is downright silly, but Reigns' overall body of work as a wrestler is quite good, and he's undoubtedly been a draw over the last few years, particularly during WWE's recent boom. He's a star and a very good talent. There's just several stars across the world that I think are/were better wrestlers or draws at the same level Reigns is at, whether you want to talk about CM Punk, Austin, Shawn Michaels, and Ric Flair in America, Kenta Kobashi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mitsuharu Misawa and Keiji Mutoh in Japan, Mistico, El Santo, El Hijo del Santo, LA Park, Negro Casas, Atlantis, and Ultimo Guerrero in Mexico, and countless others worldwide like Bret Hart. And that's just people off the top of my head. It's the one area where I think Thompson's thinking is limited; he's right that Reigns is overrated, but he's comparing it to the United States only, when other examples around the world exist that prove his point better. And again; two things can be true here. Is Roman Reigns overrated? Yes. Is he a big star who's had an awesome career? Absolutely. In the end, Reigns being overrated has little to do with him, and more to do with the fact that sometimes there's just talents out there that are better.
