Roman Reigns' time to shine on WWE's main event stage is now

Roman Reigns stares down Seth Rollins on Monday Night Raw

Roman Reigns is the new number one contender to Seth Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Depending on who you are are, you’re either very happy with that or you’re thoroughly disgusted.

The fact is the majority of fans fall on one side or the other and there is very little in-between. But Reigns is set to prove the doubters wrong once and for all, as his time to shine is now.

There has been perhaps no other WWE Superstar in recent memory, besides John Cena, as polarizing as Roman Reigns. The former Shield strongman has been at the forefront of the company’s latest push to the future, a push that has included Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Ryback and of course Seth Rollins among others.

With NXT coming into play now and Rollins riding high as the champ, Reigns has been the quiet but consistent leader.

Of course, “quiet and consistent” wasn’t always how Reigns was described. At one point, he was being shoved down the throats of fans. Constant inundation on WWE programming led many to turn on Roman, causing an overwhelming negative response virtually every time he was on TV.

No matter how much WWE tried to convince fans that the seemingly ill-prepared Roman deserved their support, the effort was not appreciated and not respected at all.

Roman Reigns faces Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31

The program with Brock Lesnar that led him to WrestleMania 31 was too much too soon and that was apparent from the very start. Fans were not buying it and they showed their disapproval as loudly as they could at Mania.

Rollins’ cash-in of his Money in the Bank received a huge response and that likely had less to do with him winning as it did with Roman losing. That was the level of hate the crowd had toward Reigns.

This is surely not what the company wanted. Roman was believed to be the heir apparent to John Cena and would one day supplant him as the top star in WWE. Even Roman’s critics agreed on that assumption; it just seemed as though that’s what the plan was.

But when Reigns lost the crowd, he lost any momentum the company had created for him and before long, no one cared about what happened to him.

But those days are over. Since WrestleMania, Roman has done nothing but improve. Any deficiencies he had have been addressed and while he’s still not perfect, he is much better than he was when he faced Brock seven months ago.

He’s matured in the ring, he’s embraced his character and he appears to be more confident than he ever has been. Roman knows who he is and he now understands how to be the star WWE needs him to be.

Roman is ready for the next step

Fans know it now as well. Crowd response for him has improved, he’s getting a good pop all the time and he is finally being accepted. At this point, it’s become evident that Roman was at the mercy of his Mania booking.

He was going along with the program and doing what he could to be successful but in the end it just wasn’t up to him. He was unable to light the crowds up and seize his opportunity because it wasn’t the right time and it showed.

But now, everything is different. He’s kept his head down and kept pushing in the months since working for the championship and that hard work is not only paying off, it’s being recognized.

Fans can love and hate whoever they want but in the end, dedication and desire win out over everything else. When fans now look at Roman, they see a guy who’s worked within the system to get better and has asked for nothing in return but a chance. That has earned him the respect he’s been searching for the whole time.

There is no better time to elevate Roman in WWE. He’s ready, the fans are ready and the company is ready. It’s been a slow burn to get him to this point but now he’s in the best place he possibly can be. This is what WWE wanted with Roman and now they’re finally getting it. Roman’s time is now.