The determination Vince McMahon has to get Roman Reigns over with the crowd is just amazing.
No matter how much the WWE fans reject Reigns, it just seems to give McMahon more motivation to try to prove that Reigns is indeed what the fans want.
If Monday’s Raw was any indication, Reigns isn’t anywhere close to being the company’s top babyface.
When Triple H, one of the most hated heels in WWE’s history, is getting rancorous cheers by beating Reigns to a pulp there is a serious problem. The fans would rather cheer a man who has supposedly buried countless other superstars than an up-and-comer with a bright future.
The problem is that Reigns is still getting what many fans consider an undeserved push to the top of the card. In the fans’ eyes, Reigns hasn’t done anything of note to deserve the spot that he is in.
It honestly does seem that McMahon’s infatuation with Reigns has done nothing but hurt the ex-Shield member.
Reigns has been exposed countless times on the mic when he has been given the opportunity to cut promos. Most of the time Reigns’ lines just seem scripted and out of place. The Reigns that WWE presents is devoid of any actual character, just a cardboard cutout.
Besides the mic troubles, Reigns doesn’t really have the penchant for putting on memorable matches when the time comes. He is adequate in the ring but his overall move set is lackluster, and sometimes it just seems like he only has three or four moves.
Reigns isn’t a bad worker at all but it’s hard to compete with guys like Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens or even John Cena, who have a wider array of moves to work with.
The thing with Reigns is that WWE hasn’t really given us anything to grab onto with him. There’s isn’t a concrete reason why the fans should actually cheer for Reigns besides the fact they are telling us to do so.
Maybe this toxic situation with Reigns will get better at some point. Hopefully, this turns into what happened to The Rock early in his career.
The Rock was an over-the-top babyface when he started wrestling in the 1990s. His reception went as well as Reigns did and people disliked him the instant he walked into the arena. Fans even went as far as to chant “Die, Rocky, die.” That’s how much the fans despised The Rock at one point.
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Fortunately, The Rock turned heel with the Nation of Domination and was able to find his character. It took him a while but eventually he became one of the best performers of all time.
Of course, the beginning of their single careers couldn’t be more different. Reigns is already a two-time WWE World heavyweight Champion, a Royal Rumble winner and will main event WrestleMania for the second year in a row.
When The Rock was being booed out of building, he barely started his career and didn’t have any of the accolades that Reigns has already accomplished.
Reigns has been given more opportunities than most wrestlers’ dream of. If McMahon truly wants Reigns to become the next big star then he’ll let Reigns fail. That might be the only way to remedy this situation.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
