Contrary to popular belief, Roman Reigns hasn’t always been the most hated man in professional wrestling. In fact, at one point, many people were tipping him to be the breakout star from The Shield – and for the most part, they were right. Unfortunately, as we all know, things haven’t gone that smoothly, so we’re choosing to focus on the positives today as opposed to the many negatives.
Receiving great fan reactions is a big moment for any wrestler around the globe because it’s validation that you must be doing something right. Whether it’s attacking a hated heel or just cutting a solid promo, there are a lot of ways to gain this kind of response without forcing your character down the audience’s throats.
Not everyone can find long-term success in this department, and The Big Dog has certainly dropped off in terms of approval among the WWE Universe, but there’s always time to fix that, and Reigns likely has a long time left in this business. That is if he doesn’t decide to quit due to the endless stream of abuse he receives.
So with all that in mind, here are five times Roman Reigns got great fan pops.
#1 Spearing Steph
The main event of WrestleMania 32 wasn’t supposed to be Triple H vs. Roman Reigns – at least, that’s what we hope. Unfortunately, due to a string of injuries that was the headline bout that we were left with, and as expected, it was a tad disappointing with both men attempting to work the big match style and failing.
There was one moment; however, that saw fans get on board in a big way as Reigns speared Stephanie McMahon all the way to hell. Well, not really, but it was pretty impactful. The capacity crowd inside AT&T Stadium blew the roof off of the place following that move, but that turned out to be Roman’s only real high point of the contest.
What a night.
#2 Winning the title
2015 was a hard year for Roman in terms of his booking, with the fans slowly starting to turn on him beginning at the Royal Rumble. By the end of the year, things were still looking rocky, so Vince McMahon of all people decided to insert himself into Reigns’ feud with Sheamus for the WWE Championship to try and help the rise of The Big Dog.
In short, it worked. Big time. The night after TLC Reigns defeated Sheamus for the championship in the same place that he was booed out of the building 11 months prior. This time, however, he was cheered like a full-blown babyface as he lifted the title up high and soaked in the adulation of the thousands in attendance.
A lot of things can happen in a year.
#3 2014 Royal Rumble
Back in 2014, the Royal Rumble was beginning its seemingly annual tradition of frustrating the fans, with Daniel Bryan not appearing in the 30-man extravaganza to the disappointment of many. Instead, Batista was the favourite to win the battle royal, and the crowd knew that: and towards the end of the bout, things got ugly.
The boos began to get louder and louder after people realised Bryan wouldn’t be participating in the match until eventually, we got down to the final two with Batista and Reigns. The latter had just broken the record for most eliminations in a single Rumble, and the fans were loudly cheering every single thing he did in the hope that he’d come out victorious.
The hounds of justice strike.
Also read: 5 incidents that made the fans hate Roman Reigns
#4 Shield face turn
In early 2014, it became quite obvious that The Shield were on the verge of a face turn, and it was just a matter of pulling the trigger to confirm it. Within a few weeks of the speculation building, it finally happened, with Corporate Kane instructing the three youngsters to attack commentator and retired full-time wrestler Jerry Lawler.
It seemed as if they were happy to oblige until the Hounds of Justice turned towards Kane – at which point the fans erupted after realising what this meant. Alongside Rollins and Ambrose, Reigns attacked Kane and ensured that the legendary trio would write another chapter in their phenomenal story.
So 2014 was a good year.
#5 TLC 2014
This one may seem quite random, but it perfectly exemplifies just how far Reigns had fallen in the space of a few months. At TLC 2014, Seth Rollins was facing John Cena in a tables match when The Big Show, obviously, came down to interfere on behalf of The Architect. The numbers game wasn’t favouring Big Match John until The Big Dog himself decided to intervene.
Reigns received a hero’s welcome during his return, quickly dispatching Show before helping Cena to dispose of his former Shield brother Rollins. It was a vindication of Vince’s attempts to get Roman over as the company’s next top babyface; that was until they decided to interrupt the status quo of the Yes Movement.
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