5 More Ways WWE Made Fans Get Behind Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns,
Your'e starting to like Roman Reigns, aren't you?

What did WWE do to Roman Reigns?

While the powerhouse of The Shield was usually regarded as an overhyped Vince McMahon project that was being shoved down fans throats, it seems WWE has achieved the impossible and actually gotten fans behind him. In fact, it seems to have worked so well that The WWE Universe will react positively when Reigns defeats Lesnar for the title.

With that being said, how exactly is WWE doing this and what will they do with Reigns moving forward are important questions to ask and kind of fun to break down to see how its all happening. In fact, there are so many different variables at play with what WWE is doing with Reigns right now that its almost impossible to not be intrigued a little bit.

Of course, some are going to point to the fans that still boo him as proof that the plan is not working, but those people seem to be proving more and more that it is working. Think about it! The crowd is audibly more split than ever on whether to boo or cheer Reigns and his reactions are slowly starting to get more and more positive as time goes on.

But how is WWE achieving all this? To answer that question, here are five ways WWE tricked the crowd into rooting for Roman Reigns on this week's edition of Monday Night Raw. Everything from his match with Baron Corbin to him being removed from the tag team match with Rollins will be discussed, but the psychology behind the decisions is what is important here.


#5 Putting him up against Baron Corbin.

Baron Corbin, WWE,
Baron Corbin is the perfect heel to put up against Roman Reigns!

WWE likely picked Baron Corbin as Roman Reigns next opponent for two reasons. The first reason is that Corbin has already been doing a good job being The Authority figure that is holding Finn Balor down, which will translate in fans already hating him. The second reason is that it was the logical followup from Reigns punching Corbin out last week.

With that being said, another interesting part of the storytelling WWE used in this match was when Corbin attacked Reigns before the match even started. Not only did this instantly build sympathy for Roman Reigns among fans, it also worked to make him come across as an underdog for the rest of the match.

In the end, it was brilliant storytelling and a very nice touch to have him pick up the win in their match. Reigns looked like an underdog for most of the match, which was a great way to get fans behind him early on, but it was the assist that Reigns had that made the moment even that much more special.

#4 Having Finn Balor interfere

Finn Balor, Roman Reigns,
Believe it or not, Finn Balor played a key role in getting fans behind Roman Reigns on Raw!

Let's be honest here.

Finn Balor was nothing more than a prop on Monday Night Raw this past week and only appeared to help Roman Reigns defeat Baron Corbin. Of course, it worked and Reigns was able to dispose of Corbin after a back and forth contest, but fans went wild when Balor came out to make the save.

With that being said, the win, coupled with how he won it and Balor interference, mixed together to create a situation where fans would have to root for Reigns. In fact, even Balor was rubbing elbows with Reigns to help him gain credibility with fans, which really seemed to work and make Reigns come across as even more of a badass.

In the end, it might not be the best use of Finn Balor, but having him come to Reigns's aid is a huge deal and indicative of WWE using other stars to help Reigns get over with the crowd. Furthermore, it seems to be working out quite well, which is another sign that WWE will do this again in the very near future.

#3 Shield Nostalgia

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The Shield,
There's nothing quite as effective as Shield Nostalgia to get Roman Reigns over!

Its no secret that Shield nostalgia is a still a huge thing in The WWE and while their last run together didn't quite pan out the way fans would have hoped, the company always seems to pair them up together time to help Reigns with Fans. Of course, it works like a charm and it did so once again when Rollins and Reigns were supposed to team up on Raw this week.

Unfortunately for Shield fans that wanted to see Reigns and Rollins take on Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, Stephanie McMahon made a last minute decision to remove Reigns from the match. While that decision will be talked about later on a different level, the point here is that it prematurely ended a mini-Shield reunion in the worst way possible.

With that being said, fans were left wanting more from Roman Reigns, which is the same thing WWE has done with him for weeks now. If nothing else, those moments where fans are left wanting more from Roman Reigns are building up with great intensity and will eventually result in them being ravenous for a Reigns victory down the line.

#2 Authority figure holding him down

Baron Corbin, Stephanie McMahon,
Stephanie McMahon and Baron Corbin are really helping Roman Reigns by holding him back!

Much like Triple H and The Authority held down Daniel Bryan after he won The WWE Title in 2013, WWE is using Baron Corbin and Stephanie McMahon to help hold Reigns down as well. That became obvious during the August 6th episode of Monday Night Raw, where Corbin announced that Reigns was forbidden from teaming with Rollins that night.

The reason given was that doing so would risk the integrity of the match between Reigns and Lesnar at Summerslam, but in doing so, WWE seemingly risked the integrity of Rollin's IC title match at Summerslam. If nothing else, this shows that Stephanie McMahon and Corbin are working against Reigns, which puts the big down against a prominent Authority figure.

In the end, its going to take some time to see where this is going and what involvement Stephanie McMahon and Baron Corbin will play in all this, but its easy to see that WWE is giving Reigns an authority figure to work against. Whether it works or not remains to be seen, but Reigns seems to be getting cheered more than ever in this new role.

#1 Heyman's warning to Roman Reigns.

Paul Heyman, WWE, Brock Lesnar,
What did you think of Paul Heyman's warning to Roman Reigns?

Renee Young did a backstage interview with Paul Heyman this week on Raw to discuss what had happened between him and Brock Lesnar last week and while it wasn't the action-packed main event that fans were given last week, it did serve a purpose. Furthermore, it executed that purpose very well and built up Reigns feud with Lesnar in the best way possible.

Think about it! Heyman's warning to Lesnar that he couldn't beat Lesnar when he's like this are fighting words and will be interesting to see how they are followed up on. As for Heyman's future with Lesnar, even that was left up in the air, which only puts more and more support behind Roman Reigns.

In the end, WWE is deconstructing Lesnar piece by piece and its only making Reigns look better and better by comparison. The warning is also a battle cry for fans that have been rooting for Reigns to show their support as Reigns battles the beast at Summerslam. With that being said, its all going to be very interesting to watch how that battle turns out now!

Meet the man who called CM Punk the softest man alive HERE