Before I get to the premise of this blog, I feel obligated to address something. I understand that there most certainly is ridiculous hatred towards the character of Roman Reigns in WWE. There are fans that are irrationally hating for no other reason than to join the bandwagon. Much like politics, there is an extreme to the other side as well. There are fans of Roman Reigns that are so hardcore about it that they insult the so-called "haters," if God forbid someone doesn't like their favorite wrestler. In fact, I have a friend who tweeted something funny and completely harmless about her dislike for Roman Reigns but was ridiculed for the next 24 hours after, which I'll get into later on. I do want to discuss why I think there is this hatred for Reigns, when it started, and ultimately, the near impossible task of fixing it.
Let's take a trip and go back, way before this all began to pick up steam. Before I get to the 2014 Royal Rumble, which had nothing to do with Reigns but would be related to him the year after somehow, let's actually go to the 2013 Survivor Series. For a full year, The Shield had been running roughshod on WWE. They dominated everyone that came into their path and won Championships. In my opinion, especially by the time The Shield disbanded, there were moments where Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns all displayed leadership of the group and a break-out quality. At the 2013 Survivor Series, Reigns became the "Sole Survivor" of his team. Again, I like to reiterate that "sole" means one. There is no such thing as multiple "sole" survivors in the same match. Reigns being the "Sole Survivor" was a cool moment but under the surface, some fans decided it was for a grand purpose.
The Batista Effect
Here we are at the 2014 Royal Rumble! Roman Reigns surpassed Kane's Rumble elimination record from 2001 with a new total of 12. That may be another thing that led to the eventual hate of Reigns. However, believe it or not, I truly believe the hate for Reigns stemmed from the hate from another wrestler, Batista. To be fair, I don't think the fans actually even hated Batista but when fans read the dirt sheets about The Animal returning to win the Royal Rumble to main event WrestleMania, they were not having it. Sadly, I need to admit I was one of those fans, at least for a brief time. The timing was also off because many fans were behind Daniel Bryan and his underdog journey back to the top.
Before the Rumble match, Daniel Bryan battled Bray Wyatt and lost. Fans still thought that this was just a setback, and he would return later in the night to participate in and possibly win the Royal Rumble match. By the time the Rumble was 2/3 of the way through, fans were starting to doubt Bryan would be in the match and started to become restless. That became more apparent as the match continued. The buzzer for number 30 rang and I've never seen so many people boo Rey Misterio the way they did that night. Poor Rey didn't deserve all that hate. However, it was only because he was not Daniel Bryan. It was more about booing the situation, which incidentally, has a lot to do with the hate for Roman Reigns. If they really wanted heat for entrant number 30, it would have been great to have it be Bad News Barrett. Picture this, they start playing Bryan's music but he doesn't show up. Out walks Barrett to a chorus of boos, as he proclaims, with mic in hand; "Were you expecting someone else? Well! I'm afraid I've got some bad news!"
The last three men left were Batista, Sheamus, and Roman Reigns. The fans had grown tired of Sheamus as well, and were happy to see him be eliminated. Here's the irony that wouldn't be realized until the next year! Roman Reigns, a heel, was getting cheered over Batista. Once the fans realized Daniel Bryan truly wasn't there, they needed someone to support. Since the hatred of Batista had begun long before the Rumble match, the fans chose the lesser of two evils in their opinions, Roman Reigns. In the end, Batista did in fact win the Royal Rumble. Thankfully, Bryan was so over that he ended up not only in the main event of WrestleMania, he even won the WWE Title. And so begins the journey of Roman Reigns.
At Payback 2014, The Shield were now fan favorites and defeated Evolution once and for all. The next night, the unthinkable happened! Seth Rollins turned his back on Ambrose and Reigns and joined The Authority. Ambrose took it personal and feuded with Rollins, while Reigns battled other Authority members, such as Randy Orton. Reigns was really getting over here as a fan favorite and fans were even starting to prefer him to John Cena. Reigns soon went down with an injury that kept him out until December. The first mistake with Roman started happening around this time. The dirt sheets reared their ugly heads again regarding Reigns being backed by WWE as the next "guy!" The fans, of course, started to groan. I don't really get why fans all of a sudden started to dislike the guy just because he was rumored to be prepped as the next top guy. However, knowing that, WWE made a big mistake by naming Reigns as the winner of the "Superstar of the Year" Slammy Award. You can't tell me those things aren't rigged and that the results were actually fan based. Not only was Reigns being groomed, he was set to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania, much like Batista the year before. During his time away, I think an out of sight/out of mind mentality was taking place, and it should have remained. Reigns did make his return at the TLC Pay-Per-View in December and set his sights on the Royal Rumble. Perhaps it would have been better to wait until the Royal Rumble itself and have him be a surprise entrant after all the other favorites were eliminated.
Daniel Bryan ended up being added to the main event of WrestleMania XXX, which included WWE Champion Randy Orton and Royal Rumble winner Batista, after having defeated Triple H earlier in the night. He left WrestleMania as the WWE Champion. Unfortunately, Bryan sustained an injury and was forced to relinquish his Title less than two months into his reign. Because of that, fans felt he never got the run he deserved. The fans were once again rampant for Daniel Bryan and it was to the detriment of Roman Reigns. Mistake number two in my opinion is even having Daniel Bryan in the 2015 Royal Rumble at all! In fact, I'd go so far as to keep him away until WrestleMania. If Bryan wasn't a thought, Reigns getting booed would be less likely. But alas, Bryan was in the Rumble, while Reigns eventually won it later on. At this time, I was one of the people that didn't want Reigns to win. However, it's not for the reason you may think. I didn't want him to win because I felt it would be unfair to him the way he was to inevitably be treated. But, if you put Daniel Bryan in the match, what were we supposed to expect? Reigns didn't deserve the hate he received but it was going to happen regardless.
Not only that, it was a poorly booked Rumble match! As I mentioned, Bryan was eliminated early when Bray Wyatt simply bumped him off the apron and onto the floor. Due to Bryan's elimination, the fans decided to try and take to someone else before jumping to the conclusion of Reigns winning. Fans began supporting other underdog competitors like Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler, who were also unceremoniously eliminated like rags dolls by the Big Show and Kane, who started to dominate the Rumble match. Bray Wyatt, meanwhile, was looking pretty good here and racked up some eliminations and fans even started to flock to him. As you would imagine, Wyatt was eliminated like he was nothing as well. The end of the Rumble featured Roman Reigns, Big Show, and Kane. The fans now had absolutely no one to root for. After Reigns eliminated the giants, they returned to the ring and attacked him. The Rock came out to save his cousin Roman Reigns from the beat down. Meanwhile, Rusev was outside the ring, as he had rolled out earlier and was never eliminated. Fans actually started rooting for Rusev, as he tried to sneak attack Reigns when he re-entered the ring. Reigns countered and nailed Rusev with a spear, followed by eliminating him to officially win the Rumble. At this point, the fans were booing like crazy and even booed when The Rock raised Roman's hand in victory. The Rock looked both baffled and angry at the same time. Then the hatred really started for Reigns! Were the fans being ridiculous? Yes, they were! But again, I ask, what else did WWE think was going to happen?
In order to get the fans behind Roman Reigns, WWE had Daniel Bryan himself, after losing a match to Reigns, give him his blessing. The fans were still not having it! Roman went on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title at WrestleMania. It was actually a pretty good match and hard hitting. Roman took some punishment but kept coming back for more. In the middle of the match, Seth Rollins cashed in his "Money In the Bank" contract and pinned Reigns to become the new Champion. That was a damn cool moment that many believe saved the WrestleMania main event. However, I can't help but feel maybe Reigns got screwed here when WWE called an audible due to the reactions he was getting, mixed with the news that Lesnar was re-signing with the company. Had he won it here to begin with, perhaps they could have avoided future times of Reigns getting booed. At the very least, then we might not have had to suffer through more Reigns/Lesnar matches in the years to come.
The third mistake is something that is actually still happening to this day. WWE tried to book Roman like an underdog. You can't do that with someone that looks like Roman Reign. It just doesn't work! Look at Roman! Being an underdog is certainly not one of his qualities. Rey Misterio perfected the role years ago, and Daniel Bryan was the latest. Right now, someone like Johnny Gargano would be considered an underdog. I know some will say that guys like Hulk Hogan went into matches with monsters but the difference is, Hogan rarely was the underdog. Only against Andre the Giant did it seem like Hogan had little chance to win. Plus, nine times out of ten, Hogan prevailed. True underdogs tend not to win as much, if at all sometimes.
As we continue the tale of Roman Reigns, there were several times where they tried to portray him as the underdog, with a brief moment in time where they got it right. Reigns got screwed out of winning "Money In the Bank" when Bray Wyatt appeared and pushed him off a ladder. After finally becoming WWE Champion at the 2015 Survivor Series, Sheamus cashed in his "Money In the Bank" contract and won the Title. Reigns was set for a rematch with the Celtic Warrior at TLC. With the help of his League of Nations cohorts, Sheamus won the match and retained the WWE Title. Suddenly, it dawned on WWE that they need to do something different with Reigns. Reigns was pissed and he attacked Sheamus, Rusev, and Alberto Del Rio. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon tried to calm him down but he then attacked Triple H pretty aggressively. And something crazy happened! The fans started to cheer for Roman Reigns! The next night on Raw, Reigns demanded a rematch and even punched out the chairman, Mr. McMahon, to a raucous ovation. When he defeated Sheamus to regain the WWE Championship, the fans were all for it! In fact, I was loving every minute of it! The dominant and silent bad ass was clearly the way to go! Of course, the momentum was ruined just a week or so later and WWE was back to square one with the fans booing Reigns.
Mistake number four is something that some might not agree with as a mistake but hear me out. After The Shield broke up, Seth Rollins went corporate and changed, no longer sporting the tactical gear. Ambrose also changed up his look, now coming to the ring in jeans. Both changed their entrances and music. Reigns, on the other hand, did not change at all! He kept the same look, the same entrance, and the same music. I believe it's important for wrestlers to evolve. I also disliked it because it reminded me of happier times when The Shield was a unit. I think it diminished the possible ovation to a future Shield reunion by reminding people of the trio every time Reigns appeared. It was also slightly unfair as Roman basically got to keep what made him relevant. However, I can kind of see this as WWE's intention, thinking that since the fans enjoyed The Shield, they would enjoy Reigns displaying every factor that made people love The Shield.
The 2016 Royal Rumble stacked the odds against Reigns once again, when he was forced to defend his Title in the 30-man Royal Rumble match itself. It was historic, as the WWE Championship hadn't been defended in the Rumble in 24 years, when Ric Flair won it in 1992. Reigns entered the ring at number one. Fans automatically assumed that he was going to go the distance and win the Rumble once again, a la Shawn Michaels in 1995. The opposite happened and although Reigns did not win, I felt this Rumble was booked incorrectly as well. In the middle of the match, the League of Nations appeared and with the aide of Mr. McMahon, attacked Reigns. After Rusev splashed Reigns through a table, medics came to put Reigns on a stretcher. Everyone then assumed that Reigns was going to be stretchered out, only to come back later on and win. Reigns missed 30 minutes of this match due to this. I wouldn't have been as upset if he had actually been stretchered out, but he left on his own two feet. If he was well enough to do that, there's no reason he couldn't have continued the match. Showing courage would have helped but he came off looking like a coward, a heelish tactic. Him missing that much of the match without being hurt enough to do so, made fans boo when he reappeared. After he returned, he was eliminated and Triple H of all people, won the Royal Rumble and the WWE Championship. I should mention that the last man eliminated was Dean Ambrose, who fans were thirsty for to win. Triple H winning in general didn't bother me but I disliked Reigns leaving on his own accord and returning later. There was one reason I disliked Triple H winning and that was because it would lead to Reigns defeating Triple H at WrestleMania for his third WWE Championship reign in a period of five months. I didn't even like these hot potato title reigns when The Rock and Mankind did it, and I certainly didn't like it here!
I'm going to revisit the reason I made this blog in the first place. Pictured here is the tweet a friend of mine created. I thought it was kind of funny and definitely harmless. Along with this picture, she tweeted: "I think my food is onto something." It did not resemble irrational hatred of Reigns at all in my opinion. Here's where the hypocrisy lies! The amount of backlash my friend received from this tweet was completely uncalled for. I hate to make assumptions, but these extreme Reigns lovers must have been kids, or at least I hope they were. It's fine to be a fan of someone but vehemently defending them when someone says something negative is ridiculous. Her tweet was not premeditated, as it happened in the moment because she thought it would be funny. I was certainly amused! Are Reigns haters dumb and irrational? Yes, sometimes they can be! However, the shoe is certainly on the other foot and these Reigns defenders are just as bad. So to all these people that went on a hate rant on my friend for no reason, they can go to hell!
All of the mistakes with Reigns and this recent activity combine to form the misconception of Roman Reigns haters. I think many fans are not necessarily hating the person Roman Reigns or even the character Roman Reigns. They are booing his booking and that I believe is a majority of why the hate started and remains to this day. You can't book someone like Roman Reigns as an underdog. When he portrayed the silent bad ass, fans started to approve again. I'll admit, the hate for Reigns does get out of hand and sometimes ruins matches fans might have been looking forward to. In fact, it gets downright stupid! None of this is Roman's fault. Although, another reason fans resist Reigns is the clear scripted promos they make him do, as he comes off robotic and monotone. I actually enjoy Roman Reigns but certainly disagree with the way his character is portrayed. In fact, when The Shield reformed, it was the first time Reigns was unanimously cheered in a long time.
Finally, and this is debatable, WWE is intent on trying to portray him as a babyface and refuse to turn him heel. Do I think a heel turn will fix everything? Maybe not, but it couldn't hurt to at least try it! The closest they came was after he defeated the Undertaker at WrestleMania. The next night, he received a tremendous chorus of boos, before finally uttering; "this is my yard now," followed by a mic drop. Many will respond that all turning Reigns will do is cause the people that boo him to cheer and the people that cheer him to boo. What's so wrong with that? I think these people are underestimating how fans will react. For all they know, a majority will still boo Reigns, only for the right reasons this time. If you give people reasons to boo someone, they'll boo. If you give people reasons to cheer someone, they'll cheer. That's why fans aren't always reacting the way WWE would prefer them to. I've always cheered for who I liked and booed who I didn't like, whether they were heels or babyfaces. I grew up loving Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and often cheered for the Million Dollar Man and Mr. Perfect. I understood and enjoyed the sarcasm of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers waving tiny American flags. I refuse to conform to these unwritten rules and if that makes me wrong, then so be it.
At the end of the day, while many Reigns haters are doing so irrationally, I've shown that people on the opposite side are just as bad. I also fully believe that many so-called Reigns haters are more so hating the way he's been booked and the only way to convince WWE of this in their minds is to boo him. To be fair, Reigns hasn't been near a World Title in over two years so I don't think people can fairly say he's been pushed down their throats. On the other hand, how WWE hasn't capitalized on Braun Strowman to dethrone Brock Lesnar and be the next Champion is beyond me. Despite what people may think about Roman Reigns, it's hard to deny that Braun is the guy the fans are behind these days. By the way, let's give credit where credit is due. A large part of why Braun is so over now is due to his feud and matches with one Roman Reigns. I don't think the Roman Reigns project is necessarily finished, but it does need a fine-tuned adjustment.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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