In his latest piece, PWP Nation’s John “JCD” Dimiceli looks into the hatred for Roman Reigns and why it continues to rage on like never before.
So once his music hits, odds are you get up and say, “BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
Roman Reigns for the last 3 1/2 years has been showered with that reaction no matter what. And yes, some of it falls on him, and yes A LOT of it falls on WWE creative, but there is a portion of this that falls on YOU, the fans.
However, most of YOU forget it wasn’t always this way. Let’s take a trip down memory lane shall we?
I can remember being at the Barclays Center in 2014 right before Wrestlemania 30, The Shield with Reigns, got one of the biggest pops of the night, even being portrayed as heels at the time. I can even remember Roman’s yell as they were setting up for the triple powerbomb, which received a massive reaction from the crowd as well.
The fans at Wrestlemania 30 had an amazing reaction for The Shield. Hell, even the next night on Raw was built around the official Shield face turn. It was the Shield led by Roman out shinning new WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in the main event segment. No one was booing Roman or chanting he “sucks” on those nights. I was personally at Extreme Rules when the Shield faced Evolution and I don’t recall hearing a single boo or jeer toward Roman. The same can be said about the rematch at Payback. All three members of the group were incredibly over!
Even once Seth Rollins turned heel and Roman jumped into the World Title picture, the fans were behind Roman and in most cases were ready to see him take the title.
But after the summer of 2014 something changed.
In the early fall of 2014, Roman suffered an appendix burst which required immediate surgery and canceled his match with Seth Rollins at WWE Night of Champions. Storyline wise, it was said Rollins caused the injury. Then what many feel, myself included, the first crack in the armor happened.
It was a “backstage” interview on Raw where Roman, instead of being angry and promising to seek revenge on Rollins, appeared to be happy-go-lucky and filled with joy. Smiling, talking about how he’ll be OK and he’ll be back soon. Not one mention of Rollins. Not one sign of wanting vengeance or revenge. When Roman returned, he feuded with the Big Show, which included lines like “beanstalk” and “sufferin suckatash” and sadly, the feud turned into something we would all choose to forget.
Now, this takes us to the clusterfuck that was the 2015 Royal Rumble. It was no secret from as far back as Wrestlemania 30, the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match was always planned to main event that show. So it should have come as a surprise to anyone that Roman would be the heavy favorite to win the match. HOWEVER, someone in WWE creative thought it would be a super idea to announce Daniel Bryan for the Rumble match in Philly of all places.
As we know putting Bryan in the match early and eliminating him quickly with no drama set the stage for one of the biggest fan sabotages of all time. Even with an assist from the ego monster himself, The Rock, Philly boo’d Roman out of the building and going into Wrestlemania 31, it did not get any better. The Bryan-Reigns match at WWE Fastlane with Roman going over just added more fuel to the anti-Roman fire and in the end, did nothing for anyone.
Roman’s 2015 was spent all over the place with feuds with Bray Wyatt, Kane and Big Show, and in every instance, Roman was treated like an old school, 1980’s heel by the crowd. Even his tournament win, after Seth Rollins was injured, was met with boos until Sheamus of all people cashed in on Reigns and won the title. You would think that Roman chasing the title from Sheamus, who was getting help from Vince McMahon and the Authority would finally turn the tide, but sadly it did not. Even his eventual title win over Sheamus couldn’t get more than the “TV Title change” pop.
Shortly after losing the title in the Royal Rumble Match (which his elimination got a massive pop), Roman with as much help as one could get from Triple H, wins the title back at Wrestlemania 32 to the disappointment of the Dallas crowd. You would think the night after on Raw, maybe this is when Roman would turn heel. The night after Roman was cocky, smug and arrogant. It was here where Roman declares himself “The Guy.”
But instead of going heel, Roman engaged in a new feud with AJ Styles. The series of AJ/Roman matches delivered and not just to the credit of Styles, but also to the work of Reigns. Roman showed there was more to him than just his own “5 moves of Doom.” He hung in ring with one of the best wrestlers in the world from bell-to-bell multiple times. You would think maybe this would help turn the tide, but a returning Seth Rollins at WWE Extreme Rules got the pop from the crowd when he pedigreed Reigns after retaining his title. Despite putting on two top 10 matches of 2016, Reigns was still the target of the IWC and live crowds.
We know the story of the suspension. WWE did him NO favors by bringing him right back in the main event scene. He took the pin at Payback and to his credit put over Finn Balor on the first Monday Night Raw after the brand split.
Such a selfish untalented bastard, right?
He was boo’d against Rusev, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman and was the victim of the IWC every time. WWE Creative continuously put Roman in a position to fail… boo WWE Creative instead. We know the disaster that was the match with Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. We know the disaster that was supposed to be the fallout of that match. His booking pretty much ever since has done him no favors.
But let me ask you this: from an in-ring standpoint, can you name a Roman Reigns match was bad because of Reigns himself? I’ll wait…
Despite a short term Shield reunion, nothing worked for Roman. People were grinding their teeth at the idea of another Brock/Roman main event match at WrestleMania. WWE even tried the “we are all fed up with Brock’s contract” angle and it still fell flat.
He was boo’d out of the arena at WrestleMania, even his “I fought hard but lost, but I earned your respect right?” walk up the ramp at ‘Mania failed. He was boo’d in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the Greatest Royal Rumble and the “tainted” finish still isn’t getting him support or sympathy from the fans. People even walked out during his main event at Backlash with Samoa Joe.
With the rumors of another showdown with Lesnar at WWE Summerslam looming, I can tell you as someone who lives in the area, Brooklyn is going to eat him alive.
But I’ll end with this, you loved him once, why not now? Is it because it’s the “cool” thing to do? Is it because John Cena isn’t around as much anymore? Is it because you want Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman or Finn Balor in his spot? Or do you just not know why? Maybe it’s time to ask yourself that question.
Follow me on Twitter @JCD1219NY.
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