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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.
#2 Roman Reigns always looks strong
Aside from his matches with Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns gets the majority of the offence in his matches. Sometimes it works - like his matches with AJ Styles, who works better fighting from underneath - and sometimes it doesn't - like his matches with Bobby Lashley, who is supposed to be a legitimate badass.
Reigns always beats someone convincingly and he rarely loses cleanly. Roman Reigns sure looks strong for someone who is being portrayed as an underdog in a feud. Let's look at his feud with AJ Styles.
Although AJ Styles looked like a main eventer after the feud, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson ended up looking weak.
It should also be noted Reigns defeated Styles twice despite Gallows and Anderson's interference. Even we look at the 2-on-1 handicap matches Reigns had with the Good Brothers, he looks dominant.
Even Hulk Hogan and John Cena had shown more vulnerability than Roman Reigns does in his matches. His opponents, whether heels or babyfaces are the real underdogs. Anyone who beats Roman Reigns cleanly earns the love of the crowd.
Anyone who assaults and beats up Roman Reigns will be the hero in the eyes of fans.
Reigns being booked like a Superman with no weakness is one of the reasons people hate him. And that is a problem because that makes his opponents look weak and feel inferior when compared to Reigns.
#3 Roman Reigns has main evented 4 consecutive WrestleManias
3One of the big complaints about Roman Reigns is that he has main-evented four consecutive WrestleManias.
That is a problem. In order to understand why it is a problem, we need to take a look at all of Reigns' main event matches
Reigns' first main event was against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. Although the match was awesome and it was the last time the fans were happy when they left WrestleMania, it still felt like it could have been done better.
For starters, fans were upset that Daniel Bryan wasn't the one who faced Brock Lesnar. People who support Reigns being in the main event of WrestleMania 31 argue that Bryan already got his main event and he would get destroyed by Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar would not have dominated Bryan. In fact, these two could put on an outstanding match if they are pitted against each other.
Also, it's not like Seth Rollins would not be able to cash-in his Money In The Bank contract. Rollins was a heel when he cashed in on Reigns. If Rollins ended up robbing Bryan of his chance to win back the WWE title, imagine the heel heat he would get. A heel is not supposed to be liked, he/she is supposed to be hated.
Now let's take a look at WrestleMania 32's main event - Roman Reigns vs Triple H
It is safe to say that the match between Roman Reigns and Triple H was doomed from the start.
For starters, the 'Reigns vs Authority' angle felt like a crappier version of 'Daniel Bryan vs The Authority' storyline.
When the Authority tried to bring Bryan down, it felt genuine. WWE never saw Daniel Bryan as a main-eventer and actually saw him as a B+ player.
They didn't want Bryan to be in the main event of WrestleMania 30 and it was originally gonna be Randy Orton vs Batista. The popularity of Bryan and the connection he has with the audience is what got him to main event WrestleMania 30.
In Reigns' case, people never bought the notion that The Authority hates Roman Reigns. People already know how much WWE wants him to be the face of the company. They wanted Roman Reigns to turn heel and join the Authority.
The true dark horse at that time was Dean Ambrose. Ambrose was popular in 2014, 2015, and early 2016.
It felt like WWE were trying to screw over Dean Ambrose. He should have main-evented WrestleMania and dethrone Triple H. Instead, he faced Brock Lesnar in a disappointing match where he lost.
People didn't want Roman Reigns in the main event, and thus they took it upon themselves to ruin the match between Triple H and Roman Reigns.
Even if we take the crowd out of the picture, Triple H was a bad choice for facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.
Their styles didn't mesh well together and the predictable outcome ruined it even more. Had Dean Ambrose faced Triple H while Roman and Lesnar face each other in a No DQ match, WrestleMania 32 could have been great
Now, let's talk about the main event of WrestleMania 33 - Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker
Why did this match end up closing the show? Roman Reigns beating the Undertaker was not the problem. It wouldn't make sense if Reigns lost to the Undertaker, someone who got old and had a bad hip.
Both men tried to have a great match, but they couldn't due to the physical limitations of the Undertaker.
Roman Reigns tried his best to get a great match out of the Undertaker, but he couldn't. The Undertaker tried his best to keep up with Roman Reigns, but he couldn't. It was painful to watch their match.
Even the ending, the best thing about this match, was rendered meaningless. Roman Reigns, who should have turned heel after seemingly retiring The Undertaker, remained as the top babyface of RAW.
Meanwhile, The Undertaker, who should have retired, is still wrestling. And that's not an event taking into consideration that prior to this match, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg had a fun match for the Universal Championship.
Goldberg and Lesnar, or even Randy Orton (who won the Royal Rumble) and Bray Wyatt should have had the last match at WrestleMania. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker can be used as a point to argue that the Deadman should retire as soon as possible.
Last, but not the least, WrestleMania 34 main event - Lesnar vs Reigns
I might be the only guy who looked forward to watching Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar battle each other because their first match was awesome.
However, their second match was too long and boring. Before facing Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar's F-5 was treated as a match-ending move.
With one F-5, he put away the likes of Goldberg, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, and Kane. People expected Reigns to kick out of at least one F-5. And that was fine. It became a problem when Reigns ended up kicking out of five F-5s.
After an entire year of making F-5 a devastating move that can end matches, the fact that it took six F-5s to take down Reigns was ridiculous and all it did was make the F-5 look weak. Even if we ignore Roman Reigns kicking out of five F-5s, the match was still boring. It felt like a long and boring version of their first encounter.
The fans never gave this match a chance, chanting "CM Punk", "This is awful", and "Boring". The fact that Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship was an outrageous decision.
If only AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura ended up having the last match, or Charlotte and Asuka had the last match (Imagine the first women's WrestleMania main event), WrestleMania 34 could have been saved. It could also elevate either AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura or Charlotte and Asuka as the top stars of the company.
The only great singles match of Roman Reigns that was WreslteMania main event worthy was his first Wrestlemania main event.
Since then, he had three consecutive boring WrestleMania matches. Roman Reigns was either paired with the wrong people to deliver an excellent match or the fans never gave his match a chance.
If Roman Reigns main event another WrestleMania with a part-timer (Like The Rock) instead of someone equally as good or better than Roman Reigns (Like Seth Rollins), he will have another lackluster match at WrestleMania.
