The persona and reception of Roman Reigns refers to the ascendency of Samoan American professional wrestler Roman Reigns (Leati Joseph Anoa?i) within WWE, which has divided critical and public opinion.
Reigns debuted on the WWE main roster in November 2012 (having performed in its developmental system since 2010) as part of stable The Shield, and was well-received by fans and critics. Support began to dwindle upon Reigns's transition to a heroic main event singles act in 2014, due largely to his perceived forced push. This would manifest itself with Reigns main eventing consecutive WrestleManias (WWE's premier annual pay-per-view event) faceing Brock Lesnar (and Seth Rollins) at WrestleMania 31, Triple H at WrestleMania 32, The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 and Brock Lesnar for the second time at WrestleMania 34. While being booed in all four main events. He has also won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship three times, all despite mixed crowd reaction.
Wrestling journalists have offered both praise and criticism for Reigns, noting both his talent and WWE's apparent attempts to conceal fan hostility towards him. David Shoemaker of Grantland wrote in 2016 that Reigns was the company's "most despised wrestler" in over 25 years. Fans have taken issue with Reigns over various reasons: his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, wrestling moveset, speaking skills and character presentation. After Reigns was suspended for drug use, Yahoo! Sports pondered whether he is "the biggest failure in professional wrestling history". In 2016, Reigns was voted the Most Overrated by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers as well as the Most Hated Wrestler of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers, a first for a heroic character since the award was devised in 1972. Into 2018, WWE has continued trying to establish Reigns as a megastar despite audience rejection. Pro Wrestling Torch critics, including editor Wade Keller, have said that company chairman Vince McMahon is engaged in a "war on fans".
Anoa?i himself has suggested that there is "possible jealousy" from fans over his "major success", mocked those who question if he deserves his fictional role, discounted critiques from anyone who "weren't wrestlers" and declared that he will not change to appease his critics. To remedy the negative reception, Anoa'i has stated that he will "continue to show up", and that his and WWE's approach is for him to "go out there and work hard".
Video Persona and reception of Roman Reigns
Wrestling persona
Initial reception (2012-2014)
While in NXT (the new developmental system) during 2012, Reigns' character was described as a "businessman" who was "always dressed to impress" and viewed himself as "the most valuable commodity in WWE".
After transferring to WWE's main roster, his character was changed to the "powerhouse" and "heavy hitter" of The Shield, as well as an "exceptional athlete". Noted as the least talkative of The Shield members, Reigns' character was tweaked from "the quiet muscle" to being an "ultra-confident" source of leadership with "quiet strength" in mid-2013. CM Punk alleged in an interview that he was constantly reminded to make Reigns look "really, really strong" despite The Shield being booked to lose to Punk at the December 2013 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event. In 2013, Reigns was voted the Most Improved by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers.
During the 2014 Royal Rumble match on January 26, the live crowd cheered for Reigns over eventual winner Batista despite Reigns being a villain. Anoa?i later acknowledged the reaction as "a cool situation". In mid-2014, Stone Cold Steve Austin said he saw great potential in Reigns while David Shoemaker of Grantland wrote that Reigns had "mystery and intensity" as well as "superstar written all over him".
Controversial rise to main event status (2014-2016)
After The Shield disbanded, Reigns (unlike the other former Shield members) retained much of The Shield's aesthetic including ring attire, a remixed version of the group's theme music and ring entrance. Initially, Roman was one of the most popular stars on the roster with fans. From December 2014 to January 2015, Reigns' positive crowd reactions were diminishing. Reigns' win of WWE's 2014 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award garnered surprise to the point of accusations of vote-rigging, although both Dave Meltzer and Pro Wrestling Insider allege the fan vote was legitimate. Writers from the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter criticized Reigns in 2014 and 2015, for a "very limited" in-ring moveset, "forced promo delivery" and a "petulant and annoyed" attitude ill-befitting of a top fan favorite. Fellow professional wrestler Mikey Whipwreck said Reigns was "trying to be like John Cena", who was "very polarizing".
At the 2015 Royal Rumble on January 25, Reigns was booed heavily after his victory despite portraying a heroic character. In February on WWE Raw, Paul Heyman praised Reigns as better than "any other guy in history", which garnered negative reactions as Heyman stated esteemed wrestling figures, including Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and John Cena, were inferior to Reigns. By March, Anoa?i altered his character's physical appearance by wearing contact lenses in order to have blue eyes. From late 2014 to early 2015, various critics raised concerns that Reigns, despite being "not fully ready", was "being pushed too hard, too soon" while WWE tried to make him their next "flagship star", "no matter how fans reacted". Anoa?i reacted by saying that he only entertained criticism of his wrestling by people that were involved with wrestling, discounting negative opinion by critics that "weren't wrestlers" and who wouldn't understand how to "lock up". Going into WrestleMania in 2015, Anoa?i declared WWE as "my ship now, I'm the captain here", while Dave Meltzer said that Reigns was the least over WrestleMania main eventer ever. At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, Pro Wrestling Torch described Reigns as needing security for his entrance while receiving "universal boos" and middle fingers. Reigns was unable to defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns to win the world title. Rollins received positive reactions for his victory despite being a villain. Despite the fan backlash in early 2015, critics praised Reigns' performances at Fastlane, WrestleMania 31 and Extreme Rules as exceeding expectations while the negative reactions continued at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam.
In late 2015, critics described WWE presenting Reigns' character as a "hard-luck underdog" chasing the world title, with WWE having "spent an overwhelming amount of time" on Reigns, "bending over backwards to create new obstacles for him to overcome [...] at the expense of almost everyone else on the roster". In November 2015, Reigns received a mixed reaction upon winning and losing his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the 2015 Survivor Series event after Sheamus, another villainous character, cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Reigns, a move made to try and get Reigns over with the crowd, and a positive reaction on winning his second world title at the Raw after TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, although a Wrestleview writer reflected that "it's been downhill ever since" for Reigns from then until March 2016. In 2015 and 2016, WWE has reportedly taken several measures to hide fans' disapproval of Reigns, this included: confiscating anti-Reigns fan signs, editing out anti-Reigns fan signs for photos on their website, muting hostile crowds (including at WrestleMania 32) and piping in canned cheers during Reigns' appearances.
In 2016, Reigns main evented the first seven WWE pay-per-view events (before the brand split started) and was booed in all of them: Royal Rumble, Fastlane, WrestleMania 32 (which ended with a chorus of boos when Reigns won his third world title), Payback, Extreme Rules, Money in the Bank and Battleground. CNET described a "fan rebellion" against WWE "moving heaven and earth" to make Reigns "the face of the company... for the next decade"; while "many fans are aware" that former Shield member Dean Ambrose "is the true dark horse, both on camera and behind the scenes". ESPN described that "WWE started building Roman Reigns as the next great hero of the company about 18 months ago", but Reigns instead became "the most despised wrestler WWE has had since it turned Sgt. Slaughter into an Iraq-sympathizing traitor in 1990". Leading up to WrestleMania 32, WWE Hall of Famers Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rikishi and Hulk Hogan have encouraged WWE to turn him into a villain. Meanwhile, during interviews promoting WrestleMania 32, Anoa'i acknowledged the fan backlash, but declared that WWE is a "kids show" and that he was not wrestling to impress "grown men" who boo him. He defiantly told his critics that he would not believe any of their negative opinions of him. As for his detractors, Anoa'i told them to "continue to be ready to boo. You're going to be mad a long time. I'm not going away".
Character alterations, suspension and public persona (2016-2017)
On the Raw after WrestleMania 32, Reigns declared that he was now not a "bad guy" nor a "good guy", but "The Guy", which supposedly indicated a morally ambiguous character turn, but this went nowhere. In April, Pro Wrestling Dot Net reported that WWE "went out of their way to use [the charity] Make A Wish in hopes of getting [Reigns] over as a good guy". As soon as broadcasting for Payback on May 1 stopped, Reigns reportedly turned on the crowd, yelling angrily at them. Also in May, Dave Meltzer said WWE wanted Reigns as "the guy who does the charity work, so he has to be positioned as a babyface" (the heroic character), adding that WWE's "new gimmick" was positioning that people actually "really like" Reigns and only boo because "it's fun to boo him", which Meltzer said was "absolutely not true" in reality. Critics wondered if WWE was "leaving money on the table" by not slotting former Shield teammate Seth Rollins as a fan favorite and Reigns as a villain, as fans were cheering Rollins and booing Reigns. In June, Reigns wrestled against Rollins at both Money in the Bank and the next night on Raw, where Reigns played a villain in the first match and a fan favorite in the second, while on the next night on Raw during his promo he told the fans who were booing him to "shut their mouths". Reigns' wellness policy suspension on June 21 resulted in Yahoo! TV urging WWE to "quit pretending he's some kind of lovable underdog" with a villain turn for Reigns, after wasting a "dozen" chances "since the boos first reigned" at the 2015 Royal Rumble.
As soon as Reigns returned from suspension in July and leading into SummerSlam, writers from the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter wrote that Raw was "still the Roman Reigns Show", "with him necessarily closing out the show with the last laugh" (post-SummerSlam, "Raw is Roman" continued). Also in August, Anoa'i no longer wore the contact lenses, again changing the Reigns' character look. Although Reigns dropped from world title contention to being United States Champion in September, he remained unable to connect with fans. Nonetheless, calculated efforts to garner crowd support persisted. Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch said that WWE was damaging its product by associating Reigns with "really good" and "popular" performers in a "hapless attempt" to get him over. Pro Wrestling Dot Net columnist Jason Powell said that McMahon's "obsession" with generating support for Reigns had handicapped Seth Rollins, whom fans wanted to see as a fan favorite in May, but was kept as a villain to oppose the heroic (and thoroughly booed) Reigns until a "horrible" turn into a fan favorite in September. In November, Fin Martin of Power Slam remarked: "Vince [McMahon] has successfully trained or retrained most of his audience to consume what he is serving. Roman Reigns being the exception, of course. It says something that fans will cheer Shane McMahon's toe-curlingly naff attempts at pro wrestling in the ring and his entrance dance... yet they won't cheer for Reigns, no matter how heroically he is portrayed". As a result of his achievements in 2016, despite topping Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) annual PWI 500 which is mainly about kayfabe results, Reigns was voted by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers as Most Hated Wrestler of the Year, a first for a heroic character since the award was devised in 1972. Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers instead awarded Reigns the 2016 Most Overrated award. Reigns had finished in second place for Most Overrated in both 2014 and 2015. In January 2017, Pro Wrestling Torch began their weekly "Monday Night Reigns-o-meter", which monitored his "ability to beat the odds and come out on top".
Going into 2017, WWE continued to edit reactions for Reigns, one example being after he lost the United States Championship to Chris Jericho, when an audience member was shown live jumping for joy at the result, but when WWE showed replays of Reigns' loss they showed a clip of the same fan looking unhappy. Veteran wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin and Pro Wrestling Torch editor Wade Keller criticised Reigns' attitude in mainstream interviews, specifically Reigns stating that he "just" worked 9-to-5 before becoming a professional wrestler as well as flaunting his financial prospects within WWE, with Austin saying Reigns has "got to watch" what he says and needs to be "smarter" while Keller saw him as "trying to impress the people interviewing him" and "not thinking about the fans who are paying the money for the seats". Keller also scolded Reigns and WWE for publicly claiming they are happy with any crowd reaction for Reigns, whether positive or negative, describing such statements as "insincere" and "spin" since they "turn the volume down; they seek out fans who are cheering him; they doctor footage to make it seem like fans are cheering him when they're not... they manipulate in every way that they can to make it seem like he's not getting a negative reaction".
In the 2017 Royal Rumble match on January 29, Reigns entered as the surprise last entrant despite losing a WWE Universal Championship match against Kevin Owens earlier that night. Fans had anticipated other surprise entrants including Finn Bálor, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kenny Omega--international media outlets noted that this drew "This is bullshit!" chants from the live crowd and even more boos when he eliminated The Undertaker. Reigns was still booed after eliminating villain wrestlers Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt. Stone Cold Steve Austin believed that Reigns was the "set-up guy" and "did a favor" to help Randy Orton by letting Orton eliminate him to win the Royal Rumble. The following night on Raw, the villainous Braun Strowman received a "Thank you Strowman!" chant for costing Reigns his WWE Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble. This chant was repeated after Strowman cost Reigns a match on the February 6 episode Raw, with Tom Colohue of Pro Wrestling Torch writing that Strowman's vendetta against Reigns may have "accidentally turned" the villain into a fan favorite. In February 2017, Meltzer said it was "obvious" that WWE's push of Reigns "will never end". Later that month, wrestling podcaster Peter Rosenberg lamented that--unlike the similarly powerful Hulk Hogan--Reigns "doesn't show vulnerability, ever".
Establishment as face of the company (2017-present)
On March 5 at Fastlane, Reigns defeated Strowman and became the first man to successfully pin him in WWE. Although the match itself was praised, this booking choice was poorly received by critics, who agreed that, despite adding nothing to Reigns' reputation, the match's ending would severely hurt Strowman's "unstoppable beast" image, "undid" all the momentum Strowman had acquired during the previous months and might even damage his career and future in WWE. Many believed that a better, more logical booking move would have been for The Undertaker, who was heavily rumored to face Reigns at WrestleMania 33 after Reigns eliminated him during the Royal Rumble match, to interfere in the match, causing Reigns to either win by disqualification, thus letting Strowman unpinned, or lose because of The Undertaker, thus still looking strong. The rumor did end up being true and Reigns and The Undertaker had a face-off on the March 6 episode of Raw, hinting a confrontation at WrestleMania 33. The crowd chanted "Roman sucks!" loudly during both Reigns' entrance and the face-off between the two, but when releasing the video on their YouTube channel WWE edited the audio to make those chants inaudible, which led to many media outlets reporting and criticizing the edit. Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch noted that "the crowd popped" for WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels when he came out for a promo with Reigns on the March 13 episode of Raw, but then booed Michaels after he endorsed Reigns, who would again be beaten down by Strowman to the delight of the crowd. Keller's colleague Tom Colohue noted that "everybody wants [Reigns] to fail", but applauded his "simple, effective promo" that was "probably the best work Roman's ever done on the mic".
In March 2017, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE's long term plans ("which obviously could change") for 2018's WrestleMania 34 was to "once again build for a year and have the big coronation" for Reigns, who would still be a heroic character "between now and then" and beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship "to fully replace John Cena as the lead babyface of the company", while the "idea" for Lesnar's role "for years now" was "to become a monster, be unbeatable, run through everybody, and then lose to Roman Reigns". At WrestleMania 33 on April 2, Reigns was booed before, during and after the main event (his third WrestleMania main event in a row), which saw Reigns beating The Undertaker, who seemingly retired. Before the match, Pro Wrestling Insider's Dave Scherer predicted that if Reigns beat and retired The Undertaker, then "the fans that hate him will hate him forever". Critics reported that after the match, WWE "did clearly turn down the sound" from the audience "and then they hit the pyro", but boos were still heard during a break in Reigns' music being played. On the Raw after WrestleMania, Reigns was loudly booed and the crowd microphone volumes were turned down when he appeared, but multiple chants of "Delete", "Fuck you, Roman", "You suck", "Asshole", "Roman sucks", "Shut the fuck up" and "Go away" were still heard before Reigns chose to speak. After that segment, WWE commentators labelled the post-WrestleMania 33 crowd as "non-traditional WWE fans" who may cheer for those they normally boo and boo those they normally cheer "all in the name of fun", which echoed similar comments a year prior for the post-WrestleMania 32 crowd. Pro Wrestling Torch editor Wade Keller wrote that these comments would anger fans as "genuine dissatisfaction with the product is reframed by Vince McMahon's propaganda machine" - Undertaker received the usual reaction from fans, as did Reigns, just more intensely. Following Reigns' victory over The Undertaker and given that Reigns was reportedly selling more merchandise than any other full-time WWE wrestler (John Cena, who sold more, was considered a part-timer), Forbes writer Blake Oestriecher declared Reigns as "indeed the new face of WWE, one who could remain in that spot for the next decade".
Great Balls of Fire saw a post-match attack by Reigns after he lost an ambulance match to Strowman, which was widely described as the protagonist Reigns attempting to murder the villainous Strowman. As a result, there has been some speculation on whether or not this angle was a double turn (where Reigns and Strowman swap roles as the hero and the villain), with Reigns being described as a "sore loser" attacking Strowman, who won fairly to the stipulation, to the point of attempted murder. However, nothing of this sort ultimately came to fruition and Reigns was even awarded a WWE Universal Championship shot at SummerSlam with speculation that the plans for Reigns to face Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 had been changed. At the event on August 20, Lesnar retained the title by pinning Reigns in a match also involving Strowman and Samoa Joe. Dave Meltzer claimed that the plans for the Lesnar-Reigns match at WrestleMania 34 were scrapped, but after seeing Reigns get pinned by Lesnar, he stated that the plans might still be in place. In September on Raw, both (storyline) general manager Kurt Angle and commentator Corey Graves described Reigns as a wrestling "icon". At No Mercy, Reigns defeated John Cena, seemingly ending Cena's full-time wrestling career as this was seen as a "passing of the torch" moment in which Reigns had indeed replaced Cena as the face of the company. During the match, Reigns was booked to kick out of four Attitude Adjustments (one of which was off the top rope) and then defeated Cena with two spears. In October 2017, Reigns was revealed as the highest rated wrestler in the WWE 2K18 game. GamesRadar+ wrote that "this is likely a call made by WWE [...] rather than [game] developer 2K" and that by ranking Reigns higher than historic wrestlers "in their prime" like the 1997 version of the Stone Cold Steve Austin character, Reigns is being treated as the "greatest wrestler of all-time".
In a December 2017 interview, Anoa?i called himself "the best performer, in-ring, in the world right now". In response, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports wrote that Anoa?i "isn't even the best performer in his own company" and "wouldn't even finish in the top five" in the world. Meanwhile, fellow wrestler Kenny Omega commented that "it sounds so ridiculous" and that there was "no possible way" Anoa?i believed what he said. Also that month, WWE vice president Triple H said regarding Reigns: "I think he is one of the best that the WWE have right now [...] the truth is, and some people will listen to this and want to argue against it, but honestly most of the people who argue against it aren't qualified to make that argument. I am".
In March 2018, Reigns said regarding his reception that "everyone wants to see you do good, but not too good"; and that there is "possible jealousy" from fans regarding his "major success". Before WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, Reigns said that he would not try to change for anyone that did not like him.
Reigns' main event match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 was resoundly rejected by the crowd as Reigns was booed while the crowd played with beach balls and instead chanted "CM Punk", "Boring" and "This is awful!" Troy L. Smith of Cleveland.com concluded that this match was the worst ever WrestleMania main event due to the "utter disdain" it produced, with there never being a more "disinterested" crowd for a WrestleMania main event. Dave Meltzer wrote that Reigns' loss was "done for sympathy for Reigns when it was over to make him a babyface as they concentrated on showing him all beaten up".
During the go-home edition of Raw before Backlash on April 30, Reigns was met with great hostility from the crowd in Montreal. Reigns was heavily booed by the crowd despite being portrayed as a "face" while his rival Samoa Joe received overwhelming cheers despite being portrayed as a "heel".
At Backlash a large number of the crowd reportedly walked out of the arena during Reign's match with Samoa Joe, a match Reigns was booked to win. Brian Campbell and Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports wrote that it was "just impossible to ignore how poorly WWE continues to treat its own fanbase" and "this has escalated to the point where the psychology and storyline simply makes no sense in ways that can't be good for business". Dave Meltzer described that "lots of people were leaving" during Reigns' match and that the crowd was chanting that the match was boring. Videos from fans in attendance of the show also show a mass exodus of the crowd and chants of "Boring". Pro Wrestling Dot Net editor Jason Powell described WWE Chairman Vince McMahon as "completely insane when it comes to his obsession with Reigns being his company's top babyface" when the "definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". Powell went on to mock WWE's "frequently repeated line about how WWE listens to its fans" and another WWE claim that "any reaction is a good reaction".
In a May 2018 interview with SunSport, Reigns declared that negative crowd reception towards him means: "I've done what I'm supposed to do and that's draw people into the building." On remedying the negative reception, Reigns said, "I think the way I can fight is to just continue to do what I do - to continue to show up. What I and everybody in WWE thinks is to go out there and work hard and continue to show why I am the guy. It's not easy doing this every single day, going to every single town, and getting a reaction." Also that month, Dave Meltzer said that the character of Roman Reigns was being modeled after Daniel Bryan's, with the similar storyline that WWE "management is screwing him over and that's why he's not the champion". Despite fans not buying this storyline, no one in WWE had a better idea for Reigns.
Maps Persona and reception of Roman Reigns
References
External links
- Roman Reigns on WWE.com
Source of article : Wikipedia
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