So when will the Roman Reigns backlash fully kick in?

[MR K]

No... try again. 2/12 = 1/6. He's been gone for a sixth of the year. People just overestimating because they want an excuse to dislike him. He is being over analysed and criticised like no one else on the roster. Someone here even complained about the time he took between sentences. It's ridiculous to be honest.

I have complete faith he will do fine even if he thrust against Lesnar.

I don't think people are looking for reasons not to like him. I would love for him to succeed. I just don't think WWE are going about it the right way. They have pushed people to the top and its not worked out because the fans don't have a reason to care.

Look at Jack Swagger, pushed to the heavyweight title when he wasn't ready, his mic skills were limited and he had little or no connection with the fans. His title reign was rubbish and now he's being built back up after a few years of absolutley nothing.

Now take Steve Austin. ( and no im not saying Reigns is/will be anything like Austin) He gave his King of the ring speech, was really over after that. He went almost a year berfore they pulled the trigger and put the title on him, during that year he was given feuds the fans bought into, proved himself in the ring and was given a chance to develop his charachter further and really connect with people.

Roman Reigns is much closer to Swagger than he is to Austin in terms of his build to the title, he is being hotshotted to it. He needs time. Im not saying he shouldn't be the face of the company, I just think we need time to connect with him more and vice versa. To me he looks very uncomfortable on the mic, his in ring work isn't very strong and since going solo and he hasnt had a decent feud. His first real feud shouldn't be against a guy that ended the streak and threw Cena about like a rag doll. Especially if hes going over. It's too unbelievable for anyone to buy into.

 

[sMark]

The stuff they "hate" John Cena for today ("He's Superman!" "He never puts anyone over!" "He can't wrestle!") are the exact things people adored about Hulk Hogan back in the day wrestling fans were easier to please.

This is the result of breaking kayfabe and internet all over the world.
Back then people thought "oh, damn, this Hulk Hogan dude beat the sh*t out of everyone, he must be THAT good and powerfull", today it's like "nah, John Cena wins again, Vince just gave him another victory over more talented guy for no reason".
Back in the day all people wanted was "good guy crushing the bad ones", now they want "more talented guy win over less talented guys in great matches", counting casuals in "more talented good guy win over less talented bad guys in great matches".
To be succesfull, WWE need to evolve with the times.

 

[Wrestlingfan100]

he's been in the biz 4 years, he should be cutting his teeth on the indies.

 

[DCLXVI]

This is a great thread. We already saw the crowd starting to wane on him when he was Superman punching everyone and their mothers with a full steam ahead push after The Shield disbanded. He had to have surgery, Ambrose came in and got way more over in a short period of time.

I think they will have Reigns go over Lesnar for the sake of investing in him and I don't see Lesnar sticking around. He doesn't even care for the pro wrestling business. My only problem with it is Reigns is going to have to do more than say the following - "I'm gonna kick your ass!" or "I'm gonna make it Reign up in this bitch!". Lesnar legitimately looks maniacal when he is talking about his opponents and he has the best mouthpiece in the business in Paul Heyman. The promos are going to be bad and Heyman has so many angles to pick him apart with.

I think he's going to be super protected, and continue the Superman/few moves of doom thing. The original plan was probably to build him red hot up into Mania season but he got sidelined. The Slammy's were probably also an indication of this - having him win "Superstar of the Year" against way more over guys (I know they claim it isn't rigged).

When will they give him backlash? It probably won't be long if he's pushed as a Superman. Fans will see it as a second coming of Cena... only Cena can back it up on the mic for days and pull off just about any storyline.

 

[L@RISANO]

If they want the crowd to want him, they need to make his opponent hated. So here's what you do…have Lesnar show up on Raw monday, say that it bores him, and then don't show up again until WM. People will be so annoyed with Lesnar's absentee title reign, they'll be happy to see anyone beat him. I'm only half joking.

Whether you're joking or not...that actually is the key.

Brock Lesnar's booking leading upto Mania Has to be such that he goes into the event as the World's Most Hated.
So far, they have obviously been doing a good job by keeping him off the screen with the belt and rubbing people the wrong way.

then again, making the opponent hated Is the major key for any Face to get over big time...look at Ambrose and Rollins...






Still, I wonder if giving John Cena the win at the Rumble, could be a better option to get Roman Reigns over big time with the fans as most people are genuinely tired of Cena at the Top, whilst giving Brock another programme altogether...(just throwing it out there )

 

[stonecoldstunner]

Totally agree. WWE is horrible in that respect...shoving a guy down our throat. Seth Rollins is not the future...Reigns is not the next guy....I mean let the fans get what they want. Ambrose is the guy without a doubt. And D. Bryan when he comes back..

 

[L@RISANO]

Booking-wise, Roman Reigns has been portrayed as strong as anyone not named Brock Lesnar. Whilst Cena has had humdinger matches with Orton, and has yet to beat Rollins, Roman Reigns has been booked to go over both guys cleanly with minimum fuss.


That said; whilst I see why they have awarded him the SotY Slammy for storyline purposes, I do wonder why they would do it, when they know that Reigns needed to avoid any fan backlash at all, especially at a time when he is yet to return from injury.


Most of the backlash/boos that happened on RAW was from many people being slighted that he won the award over more deserving guys who were nominated and had better years than Reigns did, as opposed to being booed because people hate him or are tired of him.


I think come post-TLC, we will definitely see how things are shaping up, and can then make a more accurate assessment going forward.

Honestly, IF Roman Reigns starts to get more backlash going close to Mania(in the rumoured program with Brock), then I say, have him go over Lesnar cleanly, and next night on RAW, be aligned with Heyman as his new client to replace the outgoing Brock Lesnar, who himself gives blessings to Reigns as well.

 

[stonecoldstunner]

I think the boos came because nobody would have voted for this guy as wrestler of the year. I was in a room of 7 people and we all gave our pick and not 1 person picked Reigns. Totally off the radar. He was the only one nobody had winning...
This was a weak attempt to give him a WM push and spotlight, and fans saw right through it and were bitter.

 

[DCLXVI]

Whether you're joking or not...that actually is the key.

Brock Lesnar's booking leading upto Mania Has to be such that he goes into the event as the World's Most Hated.
So far, they have obviously been doing a good job by keeping him off the screen with the belt and rubbing people the wrong way.

then again, making the opponent hated Is the major key for any Face to get over big time...look at Ambrose and Rollins...






Still, I wonder if giving John Cena the win at the Rumble, could be a better option to get Roman Reigns over big time with the fans as most people are genuinely tired of Cena at the Top, whilst giving Brock another programme altogether...(just throwing it out there )

I don't think people hate Lesnar in a heel sense. He comes off as a legitimate badass a la Mike Tyson when he was dangerous... they need more of these guys although they only come along once in a lifetime. People are fired up when he comes out. They be disappointed he's not around much or beat Taker, but there aren't people booing him because they think he's a bad guy. I may be wrong.

 

[L@RISANO]

I think the boos came because nobody would have voted for this guy as wrestler of the year. I was in a room of 7 people and we all gave our pick and not 1 person picked Reigns. Totally off the radar. He was the only one nobody had winning...
This was a weak attempt to give him a WM push and spotlight, and fans saw right through it and were bitter.

Precisely what I said.

I am one of his biggest fans on here, and even I was surprised. Obviously, the vote was rigged in order to start Roman's push, thus, the backlash experienced was due to the booking, and not due to Hate for "returning" WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, as some seem to be alluding to.

 

[L@RISANO]

I don't think people hate Lesnar in a heel sense. He comes off as a legitimate badass a la Mike Tyson when he was dangerous... they need more of these guys although they only come along once in a lifetime. People are fired up when he comes out. They be disappointed he's not around much or beat Taker, but there aren't people booing him because they think he's a bad guy. I may be wrong.

Exactly. The booking of Lesnar is Creative's court, but I do wonder how they will manage to make him really hated in today's Badass-loving arenas, plus there is also Paul Heyman who manages to churn out pure gold on the mic on an almost show-by-show basis.



Hence, my idea stands. John Cena wins at the Rumble and faces Roman Reigns at Mania 31. I wonder if, maybe the WWE decide to take that direction...

 

[kadroan]

He won't get booed out of the building at the Rumble but it wouldn't be a huge pop like when Bryan won the title at WrestleMania this year, he'll just get a lukewarm face reaction.

I can't fault him for taking on the opportunity to be the next star.

 

[WimpyKid4Life]

What backlash? The WWE Universe voted Roman Reigns for Superstar of the Year! Us fans are excited for his impending return because we want to see Roman 'make it Reign in that bench!' with deadly spears and total power Superman punches! Both of those moves are bad-ass finishers/signatures and Roman Reigns himself is a bad-ass with the way he carries himself. Most of the 'boos' people hear are actually fans doing the iconic Roman Reigns scream that he does before he is about to go for the Superman punch/spear. Not only that, but Mr. Reigns knows how to take a beating, a key factor required to be a top star. Remember when the Viper was unleashed and brutally attacked him to start their Summerslam feud or when The Authority assaulted him inside a steel cage with chokeslams out of nowhere, non-stop chair-shots , viper attacks, a falling Seth Rollins, and a curb stomp onto a chair. But Roman himself summons fear into his opponents. He placed tricky liquid into the authority's coffee to get himself into the battle royal, threw cinderblocks at Seth Rollins to avenge his fallen brother, and killed off the demon Kane back into his corporate role after a grueling Last Man Standing match (a 10-star quality Raw match it was). Roman Reigns is going to bring back justice to the WWE, BEELIEEEVEEEE THAAAAATTTT!!!!

 

[DCLXVI]

Then my question is how to make Lesnar hated... the only way to do it in my opinion is rubbing it in people's faces that he's better than wrestling, and cares about money more than the fans. He doesn't have the TV time to take out top babyfaces and I think people enjoy when he beats the hell out of Cena, barring children. Heyman is a heel character but people generally love and respect him.

This is also interesting because the WWE is largely based around kids and he is an intimidating character to adults, let alone children. When I was a kid I thought Vader was scary as fuck

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

The backlash vs Roman Reigns will happen if he wins the Royal Rumble. The big pop and chants he got last year were because he was the underdog, and if the fans couldn't have Bryan, they wanted ANYONE but Batista.

If Reigns hadn't been hurt and off TV since SummerSlam, he definitely could have built himself to be a fighting underdog and over enough to not get any backlash if he wins the Rumble. But also keep in mind, Batista was still in Evolution when he won it. The tease of Batista going against his "boss" Triple H was enough for fans to want to cheer him. Roman doesn't have this. They teased it at this time last year with The Shield, but it never happened. And there's also no big, bad Authority for him to go up against. So really, what reason do we have for wanting to cheer for Roman Reigns?

If he wins the Rumble, the backlash will start that night.

 

[snazzy]

Then my question is how to make Lesnar hated...

Letting him run off with the belt seems to have genuinely helped.

 

[LuckyLouie]

I just want to clear up my dislike to Roman and I hope other people can agree with me on this.
It isnt that he isnt from the indies like DB, Dean and Seath and Cesaro and etc.
It is that he is just not as good as the other guys on the roster.
Ziggler is coming up huge.
Cesaro one of the most talented on the roster
Seth and Dean and amazing talents
Titus is good on the mic and looks good in the ring
Mizdow makes me want to watch him during a shitty show
Barrett is better in ring and on the mic then Roman
Big E is just like him on the mic and can keep a decent match going just like ROman
I think Ryback is better in ring then ROman and kinda sells himself on the mic
My point being is that its not because of the other guys coming from somewhere else. There are just too many other guys who are better then him, who should be in the spotlight. And the only reason he is getting a big push is because all their # 1 #2 and #3 plans failed. He isnt horrible by any means. But he should not be where he is now.
But if they keep letting him talk they will hate him before he is back.

 

[DontshowfearBunny]

Like a lot of people, I dont hate Roman. I do however, hate WWE for being so freaking desperate to make sure no one outshines him. Have any of you seen the Shield special on the network. Specifically the part where they made Cena say something along the line of "I think Rollins and Ambrose will be successful and Reigns will be EXTREMELY successful". It's one thing to get people to like Roman, its another to try to make sure other wrestlers aren't liked as much as him. All I'm saying is you better be careful when you try too hard to create a Hulk Hogan or you might just end up with a Lex Luger.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I think the WWE's problem is they do sometimes push too many wrestlers too quickly down fans throats to the extent where fans seem to turn against that wrestler, It happened with the Rock and Cena when they first started getting masive pushes and all I ever heard where boos instead of letting things pan out more naturally, Would rather see them start off carefully feuding with Rollins or Cesaro for example for the next year rather than heading straight to the main event of Wrestlemania.

 

[OYDK]

Then my question is how to make Lesnar hated...

Y'know if WWE was going to rig the voting for Superstar of the Year anyway, they might as well have just given it to Lesnar and have him not show up to accept it. Fans would have been heated.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

So will Reigns be getting booed out of the building at Rumble, or will it kick in a little later?

Neither. Unlike Batista this will not backfire to WWE. Few booes now will be nothing if you hype him good. If WWE was smart they would give that Superstar of the year award to Brock, then Reigns would jump in, take reward, said something along the line with "This belongs to me, and I am going back for Rumble winning it and coming for you". Crowd would go nuts for that. But no, they just gave it to Reigns and risked that to backlash because if we didnt know till now, now we do know who WWE favors. And there is nothing that people like to hate more then "teachers pet".

Though I say, for them its OK. People like Roman and think he is at least decent performer so wont backlash to them if they make him loook good. Heck, even Batista wouldnt backlash if it wasnt for Bryan.

 

[Vintage]

If Reigns didn't get shelved for so long, he would already be done. They really should have let him 'rehab' in NXT for like 6 months

 

[thestud77]

Reigns is garbage and I can't wait to chant CM PUNK when he comes out.