Roman Reigns: From Hated Hero To Beloved Villain

Rocket Stone Cold Steve Austin to be their top man during the Attitude Era, while Feud is often considered the best in wrestling history, the rehash wasn't as successful as even though he was being booked as the underdog he The fight against the corrupt Authority Reigns got plenty of heat during the Mania matchup with a big shot from Roman Suggs as fans cheered Triple H's supposed healing fast forward to WrestleMania 33 where he defeated The Undertaker the inciting incident for the start of this video a year later that he could have entered WrestleMania 34 against Brock Lesnar and even though Lesnar defeated Reigns, he took six F5s and the crowd was unhappy with the herds of fans leaving the stadium early because none of the guys in the main event were who they wanted. .

One important thing to know is that even though the crowds tended to push Reigns out of the building. He was still a huge global star who had huge merchandise sales and was particularly attractive to children. This was the reason why he continued to be reserved in prominent roles and why, like his closest contemporary, John Cena, Vince McMahon and WWE. creative refused to make him a priest. Cena is a Let's go Cena, but despite being looked down on by a large segment of fans, he was still booked as the face of the company because his merchandise sales and giveaways were big enough and thus along with the made. that Vince McMahon may be persistent to the entire WWE did not turn Roman heel during this period.

However, the fact that he sold jerseys didn't stop him from being continually pushed by live crowds and tuned out by fans at home because of this. WWE booked several Shield meetings so we could rub up with his former stablemates. With only his Shield brothers in tow, Reigns got something that looked like the reaction WWE wanted even though the backlash continued. Reigns continued to rack up the accomplishments winning four world championships, however. On October 22, 2018, Reigns stepped out into the crowd and while he started out with the usual alcohol and heat that most Reigns promotions received, he quickly became real.

Reigns would speak out of character saying that his real name was Joe and that he had previously been living with leukemia when he was younger and unfortunately it had come back and a pin could be heard being dropped as fans were in disbelief, looking at him in shock and some Even the ruthless WWE fans cried and showed their love and admiration for Reigns wishing he was the best during his recovery, luckily, Reigns returned on the February 25, 2019 episode of Raw to a standing ovation from the crowd and announced that his leukemia had returned to remission. Reigns returned to competition and had a match at WrestleMania 35 where he defeated Drew McIntyre.

It was during this run that, for the first time in his singles career, he received the Babyface reaction from fans that WWE had hoped for, but as 2019 turned into 2020 and Reigns challenged Goldberg to a match at WrestleMania 36, ​​the Fans started to remember why he didn't like him in the first place because once again he was being booked as an all-conquering

hero

even though fans didn't feel lucky to win that role, the boos weren't as loud but they were They felt because even though the audience could acknowledge the fact that Joe Anoa'i the person was a

hero

for overcoming leukemia they still didn't feel that Roman Reigns The character had earned the evil all that the covid pandemic was getting. 19 made Reigns opt out of his match at WrestleMania as he was immunocompromised.

Rain was out for several months until he returned to the summer of 2020 summation attacking the new Universal Champion the fiend braywire on the following episode of SmackDown Reigns a line with heel manager Paul Heyman turning as such for the first time in his solo career and promptly winning the universal title at Payback this may seem like another example of Reigns getting shoved down our throats but the real change happened after he started a feud with his real-life cousin, Jey Uso Reigns, and Jey had a number of great matches, including an exceptional bow at Hell in a.

Cell in an eye He left the match and it was here that the rain began to fully develop the new character of him. He made Jey recognize him as the tribal chief, a symbol that he is the best of his family. During this run, it was hard to judge him in terms of crowd reaction because it happened while WWE was not allowing fans to attend, but he was doing what fans and critics agreed was the best work of his career, he had improved his Both in the ring having extraordinary matches against Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan, as well as being great on the mic when the fans finally returned to WrestleMania 37, Reigns was greeted with a proper heel, but there was also some cheers because the fans loved him. loved what they had seen during the pandemic and although he defeated two fan favorites in Daniel Bryan and Edge, no one was upset with the result because Reigns was now playing a real character and not just some broad corporate idea of ​​a hero, the tribal chief.

In many ways, Reigns is accepting the Fate that WWE had imposed on him for so many years. as the best man is now a character who not only believes he is the best man in the company, but doesn't shut up about it, he also formed the bloodline, a dominant stable consisting of his cousins ​​the Usos, as well as newer members just sikoa another member of the anoa'i family along with honorary member Sami Zayn as he tells fans and his competitors to acknowledge him, the lineage thus far has been one of the most interesting and best stories the company has ever had in years since Reigns has become the most advanced guy in the company and is doing the best job of his career, he may be taking criticism from the crowd, but this is the good kind of criticism, as this is what the people ask for. story and even then it's also getting plaudits just for how damn entertaining it's been and that's where the backlash came from that the WWE Universe wants to be entertained and they weren't being entertained while the inevitable kept happening the fans lobbied against for Reigns to be Babyface's best man for over six years when he finally converted and showed how much he had improved he became the main one in the audience's mind no he's not the next Hulk Hogan or John Cena but he is the first tribal chief and that brings us back to April 3, 2017.

Reigns can't cut their win promo because the booing and chanting is too much, the crowd wouldn't recognize that he was trying to speak, this was just the WWE Universe asking for a change in a way that is only possible in wrestling, the audience of anything is the most important factor when they are trying to entertain the run of Reign Journey shows how big a role fans can play WWE stopped telling us that we should like and gave us a character we came to love and while it took a bit longer than they expected with a current 800 day Championship reign, the longest since Hulk Hogan in the '80s, Reigns is hands down the best guide which WWE thought it would be and the audience definitely recognizes that.