What’s the Story?
WWE fans were fuming with rage following the 2017 edition of the Royal Rumble match. The biggest takeaway for the fans who watched the Royal Rumble match were the lack of interest in Randy Orton winning the match and the hatred when Reigns entered the Royal Rumble match at the #30 spot.
A viral video from the Wrestling News Facebook page has surfaced showing fans in attendance and watching on the WWE Network reacting to Reigns coming out as the final entrant into the Royal Rumble match and the results were hilarious. The video has 22K likes, 25K comments, and close to 2 million views. Check it out below:
In Case You Didn’t Know
Many fans were hoping for more surprise entrants in the 2017 Royal Rumble match and were extremely disappointed when Roman Reigns was the final entrant. Many fans were hoping for Kurt Angle to return to the WWE, for Finn Bálor to make his Royal Rumble debut and return from injury, and for Samoa Joe to debut on the main roster. Sadly, none of those possibilities occurred that night.
Joe, however, would debut the following night on Raw as the hired gun of Triple H.
Reigns has a negative history when it comes to the Royal Rumble and has not had much luck garnering a babyface reaction in the least three years. He was cheered when he went up against Batista at the 2014 Royal Rumble match but has been in the dog house since the 2015 Royal Rumble, where he won the match.
When he defended the WWE Championship in the 2016 Royal Rumble Match, fans cheered his elimination and were happy to not see him win the Rumble match two years in a row.
The heart of the matter
If Vince McMahon is still trying to get Reigns over as a babyface, then that video is evidence that he is failing to handle Roman’s character and do the things necessary for him to get over.
Many wrestlers and officials claim that internet fans spend too much time complaining but that video featured wrestling fans of all types exhibiting the exact same reactions; anger and disappointment.
What’s next?
Several fans and professional wrestling minds have theorised that this may have been done intentionally to facilitate a heel turn for Reigns. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross suggested on his blog, JRsBarBQ.com, that Reigns now has the potential to be one of the WWE’s biggest heels.
“Seems to me that WWE is perhaps positioning Reigns to become a villain and if that is true Roman Reigns can be one of the biggest stars in WWE which is always the goal no matter if one is 'fish or fowl.' A great, 'heel run' will obviously do more for Reigns to be eventually become a major fan favourite than anything that WWE can seemingly do at this time.
"If Reigns were to defeat Undertaker at WM in Orlando, it would propel Reigns to the next level of villainy and a star would be born one has to assume.”
However, the more likely assumption is that the WWE did this to troll their audience and if that’s true, then they succeeded…at the expense of Reigns.
Sportskeeda’s take
For the past two years at the Royal Rumble, people have seen Reigns portray a babyface that they can’t buy into. Whether it was cheesy promos, matches they don’t like, or the fact that he still uses The Shield’s music and attire, fans want changes to occur with Reigns that the WWE just don’t seem willing to go through with.
That video can be interpreted in a lot of ways but the one thing that is clear is that fans hate the booking of Roman Reigns. So, unless the WWE turns him heel or changes their booking of him, The Big Dog may never be accepted by a majority of the audience.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
Do you love to play crosswords, Wordle or other exciting games? We'd like to connect with you. Fill the form here!
