"I wouldn't care what people think" – WWE legend calls out fans' hypocritical treatment of Roman Reigns after recent reports
Roman Reigns has been in the headlines recently following his cryptic promos, Nick Khan's suggestion to move to Hollywood, and rumors that he'll be taking time away from June onwards. While his rumored transition into a part-time status has caused some uproar, a WWE legend called out fans for their hypocritical treatment of The Tribal Chief.
This summer will mark two years since Reigns returned with his new character. He immediately kickstarted his Universal title run, surpassing 600 days, making it the longest world title reign in WWE in decades. Recent reports have suggested that Reigns will be taking time off as the Universal Champion to transition into a Brock Lesnar-like potential part-time role. It didn't sit well with a portion of WWE fans.
On his latest episode of the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T defended Reigns and called out fans for their hypocritical behavior regarding part-timers and full-timers. He said WWE shouldn't care what fans have to say regarding Reigns' status:
"I don't think you should think about what people want, especially as far as this goes. One moment, people are talking about how wrestlers work too damn much, and now when he [Roman Reigns] said he's going to take time off, he's a part-timer, which one is it? You can't have both. For me as a promoter, if I can take Roman Reigns and preserve him because he's a marquee guy for the company, why wouldn't I do that? I wouldn't care what people think." (from 1:28:24 to 1:29:10)
When asked if he thinks fans will turn on The Tribal Chief, Booker said he expects that to happen at some point:
"They probably would [turn on Roman Reigns]. The fans, a lot of times they want what they want." (from 1:29:19 to 1:29:27)
You can watch the full episode of the Hall of Fame podcast below:
Does Roman Reigns deserve to transition into a part-time status?
This December will mark Roman Reigns' tenth year on the WWE main roster. While more than a year of that was spent away due to injuries, medical issues, and personal reasons, he's been the most pushed superstar of this generation.
As former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega said, Roman is WWE's top star for a reason, and there aren't many stars on the current roster who could hold the pressure of his spot.
It took some time for Roman Reigns to come into his own, but he's been praised as the current best character in WWE. Given his impact, it's not wrong to say that Reigns deserves to transition into part-time status.
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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Hall of Fame podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for transcription.