8 Times Vince McMahon used Roman Reigns to get another WWE Superstar cheered

Vince McMahon tried to push Roman Reigns as the face of WWE for a long time, most of which was spent with The Big Dog facing rejection from the fans. WWE and Vince McMahon know exactly how polarizing Roman Reigns can be, which is why there have been certain occasions where they used him to get other Superstars over.

Here are eight such occasions.

#8. Batista - Royal Rumble 2014

In 2014, Batista returned to WWE for the first time in nearly four years. It was great to see him back at first, but WWE and Vince McMahon got it wrong with him from the get-go. Not realizing how hot Daniel Bryan was at the time, they put Batista in the prime spot to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania 34 when there was another Superstar who fans wanted to see in that spot.

When Daniel Bryan didn't appear at #30 in the Royal Rumble, the picture was immediately clear - it was going to be Batista's night. He lasted till the end and had to get through one man to win the Royal Rumble - The Shield member Roman Reigns.

This was months before he turned into a singles star and The Shield was one of the hottest acts in WWE. Despite Roman Reigns being a heel at the time, he was heavily cheered before inevitably being thrown out.

It was a significant performance since he broke the previously-held Royal Rumble elimination record of 11 and ended up eliminating 12 Superstars - a record that wouldn't be broken until 2018 at the Greatest Royal Rumble.

It's interesting to look back at it, since WWE used Roman Reigns to get Batista cheered, not realizing that he would suffer the same fate a year later in Philadelphia.

#7. Dean Ambrose - Battleground 2016

It's a bit staggering to think that the only Shield Triple Threat match we ever saw was on Battleground of all PPVs. In the eyes of many fans, that would be a WrestleMania main event. However, with the re-introduction of the brand split, it was clear that the trio would be separated in some form or the other.

The WWE Champion at the time Dean Ambrose was picked to join SmackDown, while Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins would be drafted to RAW. The consequences of the match were clear - the winner would take the WWE Championship to their respective brands.

It was around this time when Roman Reigns was suspended for 30 days after violating the WWE Wellness Policy. He was in the "doghouse" at the time, so to speak, which is why he ended up taking the pin from Dean Ambrose at Battleground 2016 in the main event.

It was quite the sight to see, as Shane McMahon, Daniel Bryan, and the SmackDown roster came out in celebration.

#6. Finn Balor - RAW after Battleground 2016

This happened to be exactly one night after Battleground 2016. Just for context, the WWE Draft had happened a few days before on SmackDown, and NXT's Finn Balor was chosen as a surprise first-round pick, getting drafted ahead of the likes of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Randy Orton, etc.

It was clear that he was in a prime position from the start and that was made clear on his first night on RAW. When Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley were in the ring addressing the roster about the Universal title, McMahon berated Reigns for losing the match for RAW at Battleground, giving Seth Rollins a direct slot at SummerSlam to compete for the Universal title.

Two Fatal-4-Way matches were set, with Reigns and the debuting Finn Balor winning their respective bouts. They would have a dream match in the main event of RAW, which turned out to be an underrated match in its own right.

For the third match in a RAW, Roman Reigns found himself taking a clean pin. It was clear that Vince McMahon used Reigns to get Balor over big time - and it worked.

#5. Bray Wyatt - Survivor Series 2016

The co-main event of Survivor Series 2016 saw two of the most star-studded teams in the PPVs history face off against each other. Just to put it into perspective, these were the teams:

RAW: Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman

SmackDown: AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Shane McMahon.

It turned out to be an all-time great, with the two teams battling it out for nearly a full hour. In the end, it boiled down to Wyatt and Orton (who were paired together in a storyline at the time) against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

While Rollins was eliminated via a fantastic RKO, Roman Reigns was the last one left, leading many to fear another moment where he "overcame the odds".

Realizing this, fans in Toronto instantly chanted "Let's go SmackDown!". In a fantastic finishing sequence, Orton would eat a spear from Reigns, allowing Wyatt to hit Sister Abigail on his old rival and win the match for Team SmackDown. It was an incredibly well-done way to help get Bray Wyatt over and he has Roman Reigns to thank for that night.

#4. Randy Orton - Royal Rumble 2017

Fans were furious over Roman Reigns' appearance

This is a moment that could still make fans angry when thinking about it. It was Royal Rumble 2017 in the Alamodome and there were approximately 50,000 fans in attendance. Roman Reigns was in a marquee match that night, facing Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship.

He would lose thanks to interference from Braun Strowman, but nobody expected what was to come that night. In the Royal Rumble match, there was just one contestant left to enter. Most fans assumed that it would be Samoa Joe - who had finished his time in NXT a month before.

Instead, Roman Reigns appeared at #30, leading to a chorus of boos filled with anger. Reigns' appearance was short but he managed to eliminate Bray Wyatt. Unfortunately for him, a spear attempt turned into an RKO and an elimination - something that would be similar to his next three Rumble matches.

This was WWE's way of using Reigns as a "heel" in the match to help get Randy Orton cheered when he won the Royal Rumble. It certainly worked at that moment.

#3. Shinsuke Nakamura - Royal Rumble 2018

While 2017 was supposed to have one of the most star-studded Royal Rumble matches ever, 2018 turned out to be a much better edition. It was also the first one to have the Women's Royal Rumble, which meant that the men wouldn't be main eventing.

Regardless, it had one of the best "Final Four" contestants ever, with the end featuring a battle between John Cena, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor (the Iron Man of the match), and Shinsuke Nakamura`.

The final confrontation was between Reigns and Nakamura, with the crowd naturally cheering for the Japanese Superstar. They had a brief but solid battle before Nakamura hit him with a Kinshasa mid-spear. He threw him out and won the Royal Rumble, becoming the first Japanese Superstar to do so (Yokozuna doesn't count since he was actually Samoan).

While Nakamura would have been cheered regardless of who he eliminated, it can't be denied that the impact of his win was much bigger since he eliminated a polarizing star in Roman Reigns.

#2. Keith Lee - Survivor Series 2019

This is the only entry on the list where Roman Reigns didn't lose. It's also interesting because, in late 2019, Reigns was in a very different stage of his career. After his return from leukemia, he seemingly lost his polarizing status, with the fans treating him with the respect he deserved.

He carried the baton for team SmackDown after King Corbin was close to sabotaging it for his team. To ensure that they would win, he had to allow Tommaso Ciampa to eliminate Corbin via his assistance.

The final two Superstars in the match were Roman Reigns and NXT star Keith Lee. It was a dream confrontation and Reigns did the best he could to help put over Lee even by beating him. And to his credit, he did a great job in his role, which was to make Keith Lee look like a future star while winning it for his team.

After the match, Reigns greeted Lee with a fist bump, endorsing him in a big sign of respect.

#1. Drew McIntyre - Royal Rumble 2020

Now that we're in the last slide, let's take a moment to appreciate just how good Roman Reigns is. While we're aware that the negativity surrounding him has died down for over a year now, it's clear that he's one of those Superstars who will be appreciated a lot more once he hangs up his boots.

The last and latest entry to this list is from Royal Rumble 2020. It was a Royal Rumble of two stories - the first half dominated by Brock Lesnar and the second half featuring some incredible moments, such as the return of Edge and Drew McIntyre's Royal Rumble win.

As with his previous appearances, Roman Reigns lasted until the final two, eliminating the returning Edge. Vince McMahon knew that this would get him booed, which is why he had Reigns portrayed as the "heel" for that moment.

It led to a clash with Drew McIntyre, where the Scotsman caught him mid-spear with a Claymore Kick (see a trend here?) before eliminating him and winning the Royal Rumble. McIntyre received the pop of a lifetime and he certainly has Roman Reigns to thank for that moment.