Roman Reigns is one of those examples of listening to the internet gone wrong. Since social media became the best way to voice our praise, criticism, disdain, and offense of entertainment, WWE hasn’t really listened to the fans. It has to be some grave criticism from a user with a following but praise is always welcome.
Before that, it was message boards and later on Facebook—both of which are like screaming your opinions into the void if you wanted WWE or TNA to listen to you. Could you imagine Kevin Dunn or Triple H signing up to join a wrestling board to chat with everyone? How about Triple H getting banned from a forum for defending some of his pushes?
The Rise of Roman Reigns Is All On The Internet
In the case of Roman Reigns, WWE listened to the internet and the internet gave them just what they wanted to hear. During his time in the Shield, Roman was pointed out as a future star. All members were future stars but The Big Dog got a lot of chatter for looking like the kind of superstar WWE would want to push.
I used “chatter” instead of praise. Even though most of it was praise, there was some shade cast on Reigns. The Shield was over as a unit, Roman played his role as the powerhouse and muscle of the group perfectly, hanging back while Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose did the work rate-heavy stuff. As the trio matured in the WWE Universe, Roman became more involved in matches and was involved in some good bouts.
The Rise of the Roman Empire
He looked like a star hoss—then the Shield broke up. Everyone went into singles careers with Seth and Dean being built up at a normal pace. Roman had a jetpack strapped to him. We know the rest of the story from there. He was basically WWE’s supernova as the company was confident in him.
The thing is that Roman had to pick up on how to succeed on his own on the main roster as he went along. Sure, he had the company behind him to catch him he failed but he managed to float in most instances when the WWE Universe turned against its creation.
It’s no secret that he really needed more time on the grill. Instead, Roman Reigns was the steak that you’re told will finish cooking at the table. He’s a WWE veteran now but he can’t really shake the loathing he gets when he’s put in position near a major championship.
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