5 reasons why some fans dislike Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has always been the much-debated topic among WWE fans. While a major part of WWE universe boo him, Roman has been pushed mindless of those boos by the WWE management. As a result, Roman Reigns has been the sour spot of WWE for some time.

There are numerous factors that have caused WWE Universe’s hate towards Roman Reigns, and most of it is not Roman Reigns’ fault. The bad booking and the premature push he received prior to 2015 WrestleMania has tarnished his status in the eyes of WWE universe.

It can also be noted that the WWE Universe doesn’t reject Roman as a wrestler (they are obviously thrilled with the idea of having him as a heel). They reject the push that he is being given time and time again; they reject the fact that WWE is trying to push something down their throats despite their disapproval.

Here are the major five reasons why some people in the WWE universe dislike Roman Reigns.

Before we get any further, let me discuss this first.

Roman Reigns thrived in NXT as a heel

Roman Reigns was thriving in the heel role at NXT. His casual arrogance and cocky attitude helped garner a lot of fans in NXT, but his tenure there was short. Despite that, the crowd identified him as a wrestler with legitimate heel persona.

Moreover, WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin has also repeatedly stressed in his podcasts that Roman should turn heel and thrive in the role he was excelling at in NXT. Roman was a natural heel in NXT much like Kevin Owens (not to Kevin’s extent though) is in WWE.

If in case Roman turns heel, I personally think that he would connect more with the audience than as a babyface. Give him one year to get over with the fans then turn him back to face. A year’s deviation is not going to cost WWE much, if they are planning on keeping Roman as the ‘Face of the Company’ for the future.

---

#5 The lingering John Cena effect

The man who main evented WrestleMania for over a decade

John Cena has been the face of WWE for over a decade and has rightfully earned it too. But, most of WWE’s hardcore fans resent him for it. There haven’t been too many talented wrestlers since John Cena’s rise to stardom. Even during the Attitude Era, there was more than one Superstar who shared the limelight, unlike John Cena’s domination of the past ten years.

But, lately, there have been several Superstars who are different from John Cena in both style and looks. With Roman getting the major push out of all these Superstars, there is an unspoken fear among the WWE Universe that his push would bury other talents that are emerging in the WWE. As a result, they reject Roman’s push outright without even giving much thought into it.

Coincidentally, Roman’s push has made the other WWE talents, who are both interesting character-wise and in-ring ability wise, to take a back seat.

A solution here would be to promote other talents simultaneously as they try to put over Roman. A proof of this was seen during the build-up to the triple threat match at Fastlane. WWE pushed Dean Ambrose more than Roman during that period, and as a result, Roman was booed less compared to other times.

#4 The limited move-set and lack of mic skills

If there is one fault that Reigns’ critics bring forward is that his move-set is limited. It is so limited that it stands out glaringly among his competitors. Though he is a powerhouse, to be the face of the WWE he has to have a huge variety of move-sets in his arsenal. I am not talking about Cesaro-like variety, but he must have more than just the Samoan drop, Superman Punch and Spear.

Roman Reigns’ mic skills are well below par. To be the face of WWE you have cut huge promos, draw people in with your mic work and most of all be interesting. His best mic work to date has been when he was feuding with the Wyatts and his character came to the fore after these promos.

WWE seems to be going in the right direction lately but WWE has to maintain a little consistency in how they book him. They have to give him some time till he hones his mic skills before putting him on the spot.

#3 The bland character

Well, this one is WWE creative’s fault entirely. When The Shield broke up, it was obvious to everyone that the three superstars would get a major push. WWE Creative did a good job of establishing Rollins’ cunning trait and that Ambrose was a crazy guy. But, what did they establish with Roman?

Without establishing anything regarding Roman they pushed him to the main event at Mania. And of course, fans booed him. Compared to the other two members of his stable, Reigns came off as bland. There is no interesting feature in his character.

Moreover, WWE pits him against characters who are far more interesting than him like Wyatt, Lesnar, Ambrose, Rollins, Triple H and Daniel Bryan. By doing so, WWE shines the spotlight on his flaws unintentionally and most of these guys are fan-favourites rather than heels. The only exception was his feud against The League of Nations, and naturally, Reigns’ star shined brighter at that time.

WWE Creative has to do something about it sooner than later. Right now, they are putting him off as an arrogant douchebag, which seems to be working. There has been speculation about how Roman will turn out when this angle plays out. After a long time, fans are talking about Roman without ridiculing him. There is this new freshness in his character and with clever booking, this could turn out well for him.

#2 The bad booking

Well, WWE’s booking of Roman Reigns is far better than how it has booked many of its talent. But to make a babyface out of an unloved wrestler, you have to book him against some really heat-generating heels.

His run in with Wyatts, Big Show and League of Nations were great. But WWE lacked consistency in between these feuds, and booked him against Ambrose, Lesnar and Rollins who were fan-favourites and this made it difficult for Reigns to overcome the hatred.

WWE also deviated from Reigns’ bland character for a few weeks and reverted back again to the bland character. This inconsistency has also not allowed the fans to connect with Roman. WWE has to book him in a way that he grabs the audience’s attention.

Moreover, WWE has not made Roman work for a long time in the mid-card like other wrestlers. This has also hurt Roman Reigns in terms of building fans.

#1 The premature and redundant push

The gravest of sins WWE has committed when it comes to Reigns is the premature push he received back during WrestleMania 31; this is one of the major reasons people still boo him out of the building. The ghosts of this push still hamper Roman’s rise to the top tier and get over with fans.

Roman has been pushed time and time again to the top. His pushes cut off other well deserving Superstars’ rise to the top, which doesn’t go down well with the fans. The WWE Universe may accept Roman’s push, but they are sure as hell not going to accept his push if it comes at the cost of one of their darlings.

These pushes also make Roman a corporate product. The fans reject a corporate-moulded wrestler for obvious reasons. A corporate product doesn’t have the entertainment factor that fans crave for, and is also going to redundant and repetitive. The interesting elements that a WWE fan sees is mostly absent in Roman Reigns.

If WWE were to correct these mistakes and book Roman Reigns as per fans demand, then Roman will be loved to the moon and back by the WWE Universe. But will WWE do that?