Something I’ve not seen a lot of people talk about is what losing the belts will mean for Roman, what will happen to him and how will he react.
My theory is he’s going to have some sort of fear induced psychotic melt down with a lot of casualties. I noticed that Roman’s fear response is to curl in on himself and hide his face while grabbing his hair as if trying to be smaller. We’ve seen this happen in the Cody match after one of the kick outs and most notably right after Sami’s chair shot at RR (there are a few extra angles from actual attendees that show it clearly, as well as Solo checking on him).
He also seems almost manic in these matches as well and doesn’t shy away from violating his alleged principles (he talks about caring for his family, even using them to justify his behavior all the while taunting his opponent’s family members with their husbands/fathers beaten body)
I wonder if this weird manic anxiety is because of the oft referenced elders, fear over becoming unloved by the fans or something else.
I’m sorry for this massive CHUNK of an ask but I’d love to hear your take on this.
Roman is such a deeply layered character and I love the fact that the writers didn't simply wipe his slate clean when he returned as a heel - the Shield connection is very much still present in the Tribal Chief persona and you could argue that Seth's betrayal is still the key moment that has lead to Roman being what he is now.
I think Sami pulling the trigger at the Rumble and hitting him with that chair, mirroring Seth in 2014, was the last drop that sent Roman off the deep end in terms of paranoia and his line to Solo as the show closed was a big indicator of that: "We're at war now, Solo // We take no prisoners now." In his head, Roman put his guard down and allowed someone outside his family (the people he keeps firmly under his thumb because he has power over) to get close to him and Sami "betrayed him" in the worst possible way not only by using a chair like Seth had but by "taking" Jey away from the family - I don't think that brief moment of Roman sitting to the side looking heartbroken and regaining his composure after the chair shot at RR was an accident - he sold it like he REALLY was shocked and hurt, which says a lot about the layers of delusion, insecurity and lack of self-awareness that make up the character of the Tribal Chief.
To your point - the titles have a somewhat irregular time in the spotlight - they were an afterthought in Roman's feud with Sami because Sami never really wanted the titles and only came for them as a way to get revenge on Roman and destroy his influence over the rest of the Bloodline. The titles were the means to an end, not the end itself. With Cody, the titles were the main point but the narrative became a bit muddled, given that Cody's goal is to win the WWE Championship specifically, so the unified title Roman currently carries isn't a perfect fit for the story - I could rant for 3 years about how much WWE should've separated the belts by now (or alternatively merged them into a single belt, the WWE championship, and create a new top belt for RAW) but no one wants to hear that!
Roman's influence is inseparable from the titles - he's carried those belts for so long now that it's become impossible to imagine his current character without them. I have no idea of who will beat Roman - it might still be Cody (if he beats Brock at Backlash, we're almost sure to get a title rematch at Summerslam) but I'm not expecting Roman to go ballistic on the person who takes the titles from him - I'm expecting him to take his anger out on his own family. I do want to see Roman react badly to the loss and go through a complete identity crisis. If the Bloodline is somehow still intact at that point in the story, Roman losing the belts HAS to jump-start a complete implosion in the group.
This Roman isn't a character who is confident in himself - he doesn't believe his own value. Constantly asking fans and peers to acknowledge him? Insecurity. Having the Bloodline constantly interfere in his matches? Insecurity. Going off on his own family over any perceived disrespect? Insecurity. Isolating Solo from his brothers the second Solo shows signs of independent thinking? Insecurity. Seeing betrayal in Sami's eyes at WarGames when there was nothing there? INSECURITY.
Something I do want to point out was how meaningful it was for Roman to give Jey the chair at Elimination Chamber, followed by very deliberately turning his back on him - Roman wasn't being naive and leaving himself open accidentally - was very much goading Jey into taking the shot because he knew it was a win-win situation regardless of what happened - either Jey would take the shot and prove Roman's paranoia and distrust right or he'd hit Sami and prove himself loyal to the family once again. The fact that Jey did neither just adds to how tragic his situation is for someone who had such a perfect opportunity to set himself free but couldn't bring himself to do it in time. I still believe Jey is the best narrative choice to take the belts from Roman but with each passing week that seems less and less likely and it makes me cry.
So yeah, Roman losing the titles has to be big and it has to lead to a radical shift in his character - I only fear that he'll be off TV for a long time immediately after losing and the story will once again lose steam. We're seeing this effect right now where the hype leading into mania has evaporated within weeks because all the developments we now want to see NEED Roman to be there yet he's nowhere to be seen and will probably only come back shortly before Night of Champions to set up a nothing title match for the Saudi show.
Roman losing the titles has the potential to send his character into a self-destructive spiral that he has to overcome, eventually leading to a nice story of redemption where he FINALLY ends up as the top babyface WWE always wanted him to be. Do I trust WWE to do any of this right thought? No.
