Roman Reigns and The Rock: Similarities and Differences
At the onset of this piece, we would like to clarify that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Joe Anoi'i are not cousins at least not by blood but they are part of the most influential family in professional wrestling, the Anoi'i family.
Over the years, the Anoi'i family has given us superstars like Rocky Johnson, Peter Maivia, Yokozuna and the list is long as practically every male member of this family has been associated with professional wrestling.
The legacy of this great Samoan family continues with the likes of the Rock, The Usos and Roman Reigns carrying the mantle. While this family has given us performers par excellence spanning four generations, two names that stand out from the rest of the pack is that of the Rock and Roman Reigns.
While Yokozuna, The Usos, and Umaga have had successful runs in the WWE even capturing world titles, they certainly did not capture the imagination of WWE audiences like Reigns and Rock have.
They were the blue chip prospects of their time and they both made their debut/ had their first match at the same event i.e, Survivor Series. The Rock had his first match at the event in the year 1996 as the lovable Rocky Maivia, Reigns debuted at Survivor Series 2012 as part of the heel faction - The Shield.
The career trajectory of Reigns and The Rock have been quite similar and starkly different at the same time. While personality wise they are poles apart, here are some similarities and differences between the Big dog and the Great one.
#Similarity: The Chosen One
Belonging to the Great Anoi'i family, it was only natural for The Rock and Roman Reigns to be propped up as the next big thing in the company as the powers that be believed that they were destined for greatness inside the squared circle.
While Reigns was somewhat protected by the presence of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, both of whom had spent a good amount in the independent circuit, The Rock was left all on his own as he debuted as a singles star while Reigns knocked on the main roster as part of the Shield.
The Rock did have the advantage of not being scrutinized day in and day out by the online wrestling community as the medium wasn't even there when The Great One debuted in 1996. But with that being said, both Rock and Reigns were hand-picked by Vince McMahon to lead his company for years to come and they did with a varying degree of success.