Roman Reigns is still popular, you know.

[BigJerichool222]

ONE crowd reaction isn't going to completely turn all the fans who HAVE been cheering him for months. Sure, he may land in Cena levels of split crowds, but his push isn't completely compromised.

Why are people acting like Philly is going to change EVERYONE's minds and turn Roman into a hated forced heel?

[MGH]

Because Batista was still very popular too, and the second Pittsburgh happened the rest of the live crowds turned.

Doesn't mean it'll go down that way, but that's the hope/thought process.

[Hit Girl]

Even if he has half the crowd with him, there's a real possibility WWE have alienated the other half, and those boos may stay with him, and it was all unnecessary. The fans were generally on board until relatively recently. It's backward step that didn't need to happen.

[Starshine]

It's basically a given that Mania is going to follow suit with Philly. That's the only crowd that really matters in this push.

[Deleted]

He is popular, yes, but even before the rumble you could hear the boos start creeping in more and more during his segments over the last month. There were a few times where he'd come out to a great reaction and lose the crowd during his matches/promos. That's a problem if this is the guy you're about to hand the keys to.

[nate5054]

Yeah boyeee

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2015 18:32:28 GMT -5 Starshine said:

It's basically a given that Mania is going to follow suit with Philly. That's the only crowd that really matters in this push.

And after Mania, the crowd the next night won't be any kinder. And his presumed first title defense will be at Extreme Rules.... in Chicago.

[Hawk Hart]

Jan 28, 2015 18:38:19 GMT -5 nate5054 said:

Yeah boyeee

That "What the f*** am I doing right now?" look at the end kills me.

[DrBackflipsHoffman]

OK but is he as popular as, say, George Michael?

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

Mainly because Philly is a city like New York and Chicago where they try and be edgy and root against the popular superstar and instead chant for anything and anyone with or without a pulse. Roman will get cheers and boos but so will any star.

[Deleted]

I gotta let the choppa fly for a bit...

The truth is that the "Philly crowd" comments aren't as empowering as they were in the past. Fans these days have become far more smarky than ever and beyond that the line between mark and smark has put in a coma by Punk, Bryan and the Shield these past 3 1/2 years. It's not like the old days and the Philly crowd is major wrestling crowd, of course, but that type of crowd represents a far larger amount of fans than ever these days. That's the type of crowd you'd see in a great amount of arenas throughout the world. I mean it is what it is now. That crowd is the Wrestlemania crowd. That's it.

Now to the meat and potatoes of this whole thing, like people have said, Batista was popular too until last year's Rumble hit. Even when they tried to protect Big Dave it didn't work and hell even Big Dave knew it would happen. With Reigns however a lot of people aren't getting that the guy wasn't "mega-over" like some people are claiming across the board. Reigns was liked by people but Ambrose was more over, Ziggler was more over, a lot of people are more over than him. He wasn't one of their most popular stars. Reigns has been getting some boos in his appearances these past few months too. People booed that Big Show match for example, people weren't that hyped for that Seth match on Raw and hell, Reigns was booed during a Harper match a few weeks ago on Raw in the South. Fans cheered Harper and this is the South where, of course, they're both liked but Harper hasn't been getting cheered at at all since he left Wyatt. They all of a sudden cheer him and boo Reigns? In the South? Where the Big Hosses rule over everything?

Do people not think that's a problem? Something is up if they don't. That's unusual.

Now after this it creates more boos for Reigns so really look at it this way, there's no way in hell in my eyes you can convince me that Reigns is going to be more over than he was before the Rumble after the Rumble. The Rumble gives a negative perception of him and his character, that's it. It's negative. Sure he might not be booed everywhere but he damn sure isn't going to get suddenly more over because of that. People know this. Then you factor in all these Reigns interviews, comments about him, all of this stuff is hitting at once. It's crazy. It's not looking good for him overall and it's a delicate situation. I'm not saying he'll be booed out of the building, I'm saying that if anyone's expecting him to get more popular a great amount all over the country after all of that, within these next few weeks, I'm saying you guys are having pipedreams. Really. It wouldn't make any sense. Sheamus, a guy who was really really over, far more than Reigns, had his career f***ed up after the Bryan situation years ago. Even though some cheered him, it wasn't the same.

And here's something else...

Anyone actually thinking he's going to be cheered over Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania is fooling themselves. I don't care who you are but no it's not happening. Heyman's tried his damnest to turn Lesnar into a mega-booed heel since Lesnar's returned and that's all failed, it's failed all over. Fans are begging to cheer for Lesnar if they aren't already and hell the company's painting him as a babyface in ways. If anyone thinks Reigns will be cheered over this man, no matter what type of voodoo Papa Shango shit they can pull out of thin air, well, I can sell you a dream of Biblical proportions. It's not happening.

And finally, the WWE isn't stupid. There's no way they're letting Reigns be booed out of WM as champion being a babyface. Something has to be done. It just has to be done.

That's it.

[nate5054]

FWIW, my 13 year old step son who is a casual fan (in the sense that he watches a bit of it, especially around Rumble to Mania time) digs Regins a lot and wondered why he was being booed. I'm not mentioning he's 13 to denigrate people who like them as being kids, more to show that with at least him there is an appeal to Regins as being a bad ass.

Now I'm not as huge a fan of him, though I don't hate him either. I just don't think he's ready yet. My anger towards the Rumble match was how it was booked, in the sense that Bray Wyatt/Bryan/Ambrose/Ziggler were just sort of unceremoniously booted out.

[SinisterMinister]

I predict on the next RAW we are going to see some of the most vicious chants and negativity against Reigns that we have ever seen on RAW. Do not underestimate the anger the fans have right now. Fans have long memories.

[Urethra Franklin]

There are three types of wrestling characters - there are faces, there are 'tweeners and there are heels.

The 'tweener is in transition, though. You can never be a 'tweener for an extended period. You'll either be booed and viewed as a heel or accepted and cheered as a face. That's just how it works.

The WWE is trying to condition its audience to believe that there is a fourth archetype, the "controversial face." John Cena is such a wrestler. He's ostensibly a babyface, but he's met with negativity by a large portion of the audience. The WWE is trying to play this off as if there is something controversial about John Cena (when, in fact, there's nothing at all controversial about somebody as white meat as they come), rather than the fact that a vocal contingent of the fans is just tired of Cena on top and is responding not only to "John Cena" the character, but John Cena's position on the card and his booking.

When John Cena first turned face, it was organic. He was clicking with crowds and he was being cheered, but it never evolved after that. He's been the same character for almost a decade now. It's preposterous to present a guy who's been on top of the card, wins regularly and is one title reign shy of sharing THE ALL-TIME RECORD as an underdog.

Roman Reigns is about to fall into that category. When the Shield first turned face, they were over like gangbusters and they clicked. Seth Rollins has since evolved into one of the best slimy heels in recent memory and Dean Ambrose is clicking with crowds as a deranged babyface. What's changed about Reigns? Well, he kept the same music. He kept the same entrance. Sure, he talks now, but nothing has changed. He has the same look and he hasn't evolved in the slightest. There's nothing organic right now about Roman Reigns.

So Roman Reigns will get the same cheers that John Cena does, but he's also going to get the same boos. Babyfaces don't get booed. When they do, you turn them heel. Rather than admit that they got this one wrong and focus the main event push on a guy like a Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler, guys who actually click, the WWE will simply shoehorn Reigns into this nonexistent role and pretend that the problem is with the audience and not with the company itself.

[Deleted]

Instead of scraping the bottom and pushing the face that gets mixed reactions, why not push faces that get uniformly cheered such as Ziggler, Bryan, or Ambrose?

Then you don't have to hope they happen to be doing a live show from Rural South Dakota or Mississippi, or wherever else it is that pesky "vocal minority" of smarks haven't infiltrated.

[Urethra Franklin]

Jan 28, 2015 19:23:10 GMT -5 @bootytime said:

Instead of scraping the bottom and pushing the face that gets mixed reactions, why not push faces that get uniformly cheered such as Ziggler, Bryan, or Ambrose?

Then you don't have to hope they happen to be doing a live show from Rural South Dakota or Mississippi, or wherever else it is that pesky "vocal minority" of smarks haven't infiltrated.

This is what I never understand.

"Oh, Philly is a 'heel town,' so ignore the reactions there."

Replace Philly with NYC or Chicago or Toronto or wherever and the statement is still false.

Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler are all faces. They are being uniformly cheered by everybody. Why not strap the rocket to these guys, rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole?

[Deleted]

I just noticed Cena is holding Rock's hand up. That's pretty weird.

[Jiren]

Jan 28, 2015 19:28:31 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

Jan 28, 2015 19:23:10 GMT -5 @bootytime said:

Instead of scraping the bottom and pushing the face that gets mixed reactions, why not push faces that get uniformly cheered such as Ziggler, Bryan, or Ambrose?

Then you don't have to hope they happen to be doing a live show from Rural South Dakota or Mississippi, or wherever else it is that pesky "vocal minority" of smarks haven't infiltrated.

This is what I never understand.

"Why not strap the rocket to these guys, rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole?

Because it's WWE, That's why

[Mochi Lone Wolf]

Jan 28, 2015 19:30:25 GMT -5 "Cane Dewey" Johnson said:

Jan 28, 2015 18:56:25 GMT -5 @kn said:

And finally, the WWE isn't stupid. There's no way they're letting Reigns be booed out of WM as champion being a babyface. Something has to be done. It just has to be done.

Not even two years ago, WWE had the Rock, who was blown up to the point of being a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, put over John Cena, the last person in the world who needed a bit more of a rub, in front of a northeastern crowd who completely crapped on the showing, especially after the amazing CM Punk/Undertaker match that preceded the Rock/Cena debacle.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I can't help but think that, yes, the company is that stupid. It wouldn't be the first time a babyface has won a title at Wrestlemania to a chorus of boos, and the most recent example of that happened less than 104 weeks ago.

People keep saying "Cena didn't need the rub" after that match and yet, people flipped their lids when Rock won the year before. So yeah, maybe he did.

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2015 18:54:53 GMT -5 Brood Lone Wolf Funker said:

Mainly because Philly is a city like New York and Chicago where they try and be edgy and root against the popular superstar and instead chant for anything and anyone with or without a pulse.

C'mon man.

Like people in all these cities have a pre-show powwow about who they're going to cheer/boo.