Why WWE Fans Used To Hate Roman Reigns (& Why They Love Him Now)

For a long time, Roman Reigns was the most divisive WWE superstar since John Cena, garnering both the most boos and the most cheers on the roster, always creating noise and reaction. The negativity reigned supreme at times, and there are several reasons for that happening.

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He has since turned heel, with fans now considering him perhaps the biggest full-time star in professional wrestling today. He has gained the respect of fans, who now boo him purely because he is a heel, rather than because they hate him. There are also factors which play into this; a lot of which are connected to the some of the reasons fans hated him as a babyface.

10 Why They Hated Him: Corny Promos

When Roman Reigns debuted, he was never a “promo guy”, being the muscle of The Shield. When he became a singles star, WWE made the mistake of making him cut promos in the WWE style, instead of being a more silent performer. With WWE trying to push him as the next John Cena, his words were often cringeworthy.

He would crack jokes, unconvincingly smile and laugh, with most of his promos feeling forced and overly scripted. Lines such as “I can, and I will,” when referencing a match against Brock Lesnar felt too over-the-top, with it never connecting with the audience.

9 Why They Love Him Now: Incredible Promos

Reigns has developed a whole new attitude since his heel turn, and it has led to him cutting the best promos on the entire roster. Whether it be the influence of Paul Heyman or him getting some creative liberty, his promos stand out against everything else in WWE.

He speaks with conviction, with fans hanging onto every word, and they feel very natural as compared to his forced jovial nature as a babyface. He has power behind his voice and manages to showcase a lot of emotion, making him a character with a lot of depth.

8 Why They Hated Him: Fighting From Below

With WWE pushing him as a babyface, Reigns was often painted as the underdog, fighting from underneath to win matches, and overcoming all the odds. With Reigns’ size and style, this just didn’t feel entirely realistic.

Reigns went head-to-head with Authority figures and factions, usually pulling out the win out of nowhere. This happened quite often in his feud with Braun Strowman, where Strowman was running through everybody, but would ultimately lose to Reigns.

7 Why They Love Him Now: Feels Like A Badass

Reigns no longer wrestles as the underdog – he is the dominant figure in matches, running through opponents and methodically decimating them. Now that he has shed the bullet proof vest, he is able to further showcase his impressive size and stature.

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He feels like the ultimate final boss in WWE, holding the Universal Title for a record length, and beating everyone who has stepped in front of him. He feels like a badass, with his presentation being one of the strongest in WWE.

6 Why They Hated Him: Overshadowing The Shield

When The Shield debuted, Reigns was the muscle, with Dean Ambrose being the focus of the group. Over time, it felt as though Reigns became somewhat of the de facto leader, especially upon reunions.

Reigns would often get the decisive pinfall, even though for long time, fans preferred both Ambrose and Seth Rollins. With WWE actively pushing the least popular member of the group as the top guy, it caused some frustration and unrest amongst the crowd.

5 Why They Love Him Now: The Bloodline

There is no denying that The Usos are presented as inferior to Reigns, with him acting as the leader of The Bloodline, but this plays into his character as an autocratic heel, controlling the family as “The Tribal Chief”. With The Usos holding the Smackdown Tag Team Titles, and with Reigns holding World Title gold, the group are draped in prizes, making them look dominant.

The faction makes sense, it has a lot of depth following Reigns’ feud with Jey Uso, and it feels like it has a long way to go still in terms of development and an eventual fall of the group.

4 Why They Hated Him: Predictable Victories

Although WWE presented Reigns as an underdog, fans still knew that he was winning matches most of the time (with his feud against Brock Lesnar being an outlier). Many of his PPV matches against the likes of Randy Orton, John Cena, Braun Strowman, Big Show, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, and many others, all had predictable outcomes.

This was especially true when it came to the 2015 Royal Rumble, some of his WrestleMania main events, as his matches against Triple H and The Undertaker were so obvious that fans thought a swerve was coming. The problem with many of these predictable wins, was that the matches were never anything special, making them even more unpalatable.

3 Why They Love Him Now: Great Matches

Reigns’ run with the Universal Championship has once again been packed with some predictable outcomes, but the difference this time around, is that the matches have been great. His emotional battle with Jey Uso managed to create some small doubt that Reigns would emerge victorious, and his classics against Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Edge, and Cesaro all had enough to get fans on their feet (whether that be in the arena or at home).

His in-ring psychology and storytelling as a heel has been top draw, with his list of top tier matches demonstrating that.

2 Why They Hated Him: Too Many Main Events

During the time that Reigns was a babyface, there were several other names that fans wanted WWE to push, including the likes of Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, and more, but WWE persisted with Reigns in the main event spot.

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Fans rejected his billing at several points, including at WrestleManias 32, 33, and 34, and at other shows such as Backlash 2018, where the main event fell into disarray due to the uncaring audience.

1 Why They Love Him Now: Feels Like A Main Eventer

Reigns is still main eventing, but now it feels as though he truly deserves that spot. There aren’t many on the roster that hold the star power and presence that he possesses, with him feeling like one of the few true main event worthy talents.

People are now drawn to Reigns, and can’t wait to watch his matches, with his main events having a distinct big-fight feel – which has been missing from a lot of WWE programming over the last few years.