Having Roman Reigns keep barely brushing his fingers against theWWE World Heavyweight Championship, unable to possess it, unable to celebrate, is the key to having him win over a resistant audience.As a man many see as the next John Cena, the usual march to the title won't be enough. WWE needs to generate pathos for him. He needs to struggle.His critics often see Reigns as WWE's golden boy. In their minds, he's being elevated too high and too fast. Some feel that he's less deserving of center stage than other wrestlers.And so WWE is tasked with convincing those detractors to invest in Reigns. It has discovered a smart path to that, casting him in aGreek tragedy of sorts.At Survivor Series, Reigns blasted his way into the WWE title tournament finals, then bested his friend Dean Ambrose to become champion. But amid all the raining confetti, just moments after Reigns had clutched the gold in his arms, Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to erase that triumph in an instant.A tearful Reigns didn't move up from the canvas at first. He was gutted.That is the emotion WWE needs to further tap into as Reigns' chase continues. The more he suffers, the more fans are liable to feel for him. Make him the victim of injustice, and it'll only be natural to side with him, to eventually want him to break through.This is the secret to making Reigns his own man and not Cena 2.0.One of the main issues with Cena is that he is too superhuman. He wins no matter the odds. He has defeated two men at once, fended off Damien Sandow with one good arm and seems to shake off even the most thunderous blows. WWE has to avoid that with Reigns.Instead of having him tear through the roster in predictable fashion, making him experience disappointment afterdisappointment makes him more human, more relatable.Yank the rug from under him enough times and eventually, he goes from Superman to Charlie Brown.WWE already has a foundation for that narrative to build on. In addition to Survivor Series, Reigns was painfully close to title glory atWrestleMania 31. He was in the midst of rocking Brock Lesnar, seemingly one big move away from downing the beast. Then, in came Seth Rollins with the Money in the Bank briefcase to steal away Reigns' chance.At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, he had the contract-laden briefcase within his grasp. But Bray Wyatt sent him tumbling downward.As PWTorch's Greg Parks pointed out, it's ironic how that briefcase was later Reigns' downfall:At Survivor Series, WWE toyed with fans' expectations. At WrestleMania, the company threw a hell of a curveball. Each time out, Reigns was left empty-handed, a tragic figure in an unpredictable drama.The more WWE does this moving forward with him, the better.One of two paths then awaits. Reigns can fight through all the disappointments and show off his resiliency as he makes his way to the mountain he can't seem to summit. Otherwise, Reigns can unravel.Failure makes him crazy. It enrages him. It forces his character to change, to darken.There's a chance there to have him shift naturally into a heel role, becoming a monster rather than a warrior, a man made fearsome by becoming completely unhinged. There's a wealth of inherent drama in that story.And it's a role Reigns will thrive in.He's come through in big spots several times over thus far. His collection of memorable matches continues to grow. Against Lesnar, Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, Big Show and Alberto Del Rio, he's looked every bit like the star WWE has hoped he would become.Kyle Fowle of the A.V. Club wrote of Reigns' bout on Monday's Raw against Rusev: "The match just proves once again that Reigns is currently doing the best work he's done post-Shield, something he's been doing for most of 2015."WWE has the right idea of how to proceed with him, to make the arc of his journey most intriguing.Piling on the obstacles to prevent a character from attaining a goal he pursues with every part of himself is Storytelling 101. And the best shot of winning over the section of fans rejecting the idea of Reigns with a crown on his head is to tell a great story.A Sisyphean journey for Reigns is exactly that.
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