3 reasons why the WWE Universe hasn't accepted Roman ReignsÂ
Roman Reigns is the current WWE Universal Champion, after defeating Brock Lesnar. He is the top babyface of RAW. He is the second wrestler, after Brock Lesnar, who has held both the WWE and Universal Championship.
Despite being the face of the company, WWE fans refuse to accept Reigns as the top guy. The reception Reigns gets is worse than John Cena during the latter's time at the top. Cena gets cheered by half of the people and gets booed by the other half.
The Big Dog gets booed on a regular basis and it's not hard to gather from crowd reactions that it's on a whole another level.
It's like seeing a war between WWE and the fans. WWE had tried so many ways to get people to root for Reigns, but the fans still refuse to accept him as a babyface and want The Big Dog to turn heel.
Despite the negative response, Reigns gets every time he appears, WWE still insists on pushing him as the top babyface.
Some people criticize Reigns for being a bad wrestler, some say he has bad mic skills, he is being forced down their throats, and while others feel he doesn't deserve to be the top guy.
People need to understand that Reigns is not that bad and he deserves the position he is in.
He is more than capable of having a great match when he is paired with a right opponent. His mic skills have improved since 2015.
He has the looks of a top star. And he is the top merchandise seller right now.
The problem with Reigns is how he is booked. It's not Roman Reign's fault for falling as a babyface. The Big Dog doesn't decide the outcome of his matches or the storylines he is involved in. WWE does.
Let's take a closer look at why the WWE Universe is yet to accept Reigns.
#1 He is failing as a babyface
Reigns couldn't play the role of a good guy. WWE wants us to believe Roman Reigns is an underdog in the feud he is involved in, even though he isn't. The underdogs are the one who faces him (We will talk more about it later).
People cannot sympathize with Roman Reigns, no matter how hard WWE tries to make him sympathetic. WWE should have realized it when they had him beat The Undertaker.
His promo on RAW after WrestleMania 33 felt heelish. He stood there while people continue to boo him, before saying five words "This is my yard now."
This was the perfect opportunity to solidify Roman Reigns as the top heel, but WWE continues to push him as the top babyface.
Another great opportunity WWE failed to capitalize on was when Roman Reigns attacked Braun Strowman after losing the ambulance match at Great Balls of Fire.
That is something a heel would do. And yet, WWE still want us to believe Roman Reigns is a good guy and an underdog.
WWE has no excuse for Reigns failing as a babyface. His rise to the top lacked crowd's acceptance. Even if he is in a feud with a heel, people would much rather root for the heel than root for Roman Reigns.
Look at Kenny Omega's ascension to the top. A few years ago, nobody thought Kenny Omega would become one of the top performers of New Japan Pro Wrestling and the international face of the company in the future.
He was a comedy act. He was in the shadows of his best friend, Kota Ibushi (someone he has never beaten). In order to catch up, Omega ended up joining the Bullet Club - a villainous stable.
He took over Bullet Club after attacking AJ Styles. Even though he took AJ Styles position as the Bullet Club's leader and pinned Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito in 2016, he never won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
It took three matches for Omega to beat Kazuchika Okada, who was the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at that time. And even then, the third match where he defeated Okada was not for the world title.
He then reunited with Kota Ibushi, turning into a babyface. Once they reunited, Omega was forced to face his best friends and fellow Elite members, The Young Bucks. Omega was challenged by Kazuchika Okada once again at Dominion 2018, where he finally ended Okada's two-year IWGP Heavyweight title reign to become the top guy of NJPW.
Omega's ascension to the top was possibly one of the greatest stories in the history of wrestling.
Omega got to the top after years of hard work and sacrifices. His rise to the top can be seen as a heartwarming underdog story. People accepted Kenny Omega.
Compare this with Roman Reign's ascension - who didn't make any sacrifices, won the world title even before he was positioned as the poster boy, and was given title shots after title shots (Like getting a shot for the Universal Championship at The Greatest Royal Rumble even though he lost fair and square to Brock Lesnar) - and then you may understand how Roman Reigns should have been pushed and how he was actually pushed.
Tetsuya Naito, who was rejected by the fans when NJPW tried pushing him as the next Hiroshi Tanahashi, had to turn heel and change his character when he returned in 2015. A heel turn and a different character made Tetsuya Naito the most popular wrestler of NJPW and the people's champion.
Even John Cena had to turn heel and change his character before WWE saw something in Cena and made him their poster boy.
If only WWE turned Reigns heel at some point before crowning him as the face of the company, had him change his character, and booked him better, Roman Reign's rising to the top could have been one of the greatest WWE stories of all time. People would accept him as the face of the company.