Roman Reigns debuted in the WWE with the Shield. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were right by his side as they ran roughshod through the WWE. After winning the WWE Tag-Team championship with his partner, Rollins, it was safe to say Reigns’ career started off on the right foot.
Then, the Shield broke up and all the members were on their own.
Ambrose wasn’t just ready to be the man he is today. He’s currently the WWE World Heavyweight champion. Seth Rollins had all intentions of being the heel of the group. That left Reigns, who has the look, to take over John Cena’s place as the babyface who runs the place.
It certainly seemed that way when he became the WWE World Heavyweight champion after defeated Triple H at WrestleMania 32.
The ballad of Reigns is an interesting one that goes along with the WWE Universe.
What exactly do the fans want?
Let’s go back and revisit Reigns with the Shield. He was an unstoppable force with the vicious spear. The 3-time WWE champion was the cornerstone of the triple powerbomb, the Shield’s signature move that took out so many WWE superstars and legends.
However, once Reigns received that singles push from WWE officials, that’s where the WWE Universe soured to “the guy.” He was “the guy” with the Shield. Now, he’s just, as Stephanie McMahon put it, a loser.
WWE fans’ opinion changed when Reigns grabbed the microphone, received a strict script, began to pin everyone in sight and was having Vince McMahon speak through him.
It all changed when Reigns won the Royal Rumble. He defeated 29 other WWE superstars to win the famous event. What’s ironic is how previously, Reigns was the underdog in the Rumble match and the fans were dying for him to win.
The fact that one year can change an overwhelming opinion is outrageous. Reigns isn’t the first one to have this happen to him either.
His predecessor, John Cena, also had that happen to him.
Coming up as the Doctor of Thugonomics, the WWE fans were in love with Cena. The 15-time WWE World Heavyweight champion had the fans in the palm of his hands. Until, he began to win. A lot. There was once a statistic that had Cena not lose on an episode of WWE Raw in a long time.
The date escapes this writer, but needless to say, it was a very long time.
CM Punk certainly helped in this case, but the WWE Universe did not support Cena. That’s where the chant “John Cena Sucks” originated. Fast-forward a couple of years, Cena is nearly beloved by most of the fan base.
The WWE Universe is the most-enigmatic and unpredictable group of fans in all of sports and entertainment. It’s happening right in front of everyone’s eyes. Roman Reigns is the victim of poor booking, writing and planning. His wellness policy suspension didn’t help, but there are ways to bounce back.
Randy Orton has failed two of them. Jeff Hardy failed some as well.
However, the fans love them.
Trying to figure out the WWE Universe is as hard as figuring out Vince. It will never happen. WWE analysts, like this guy, will observe the fans from a far to at least depict who they want to win and at what times.
In Pittsburgh at WWE Raw, Reigns’ victory in the fatal-4 way got a decent pop from a heel-favored crowd. Does anyone remember the Royal Rumble incident? Pittsburgh doesn’t enjoy forced babyfaces. Reigns did get a fair reaction when he advanced to the main event against Finn Balor.
Speaking of Balor, he will be a crowd favorite soon, but who’s to say he fans won’t get sour on him just as quickly?
With the recent booking WWE officials have done the past few months lead to speculation that mark-friendly wrestlers are getting pushed. That being said, this is what WWE fans want, so the moment their minds change, it will be the same old song and dance.
But I guess the real question to emerge through all of this is, do WWE fans truly know what they want?
