The oddest thing about Reigns backlash

[BigJerichool222]

Is that he hasn't even been PUSHED that hard, yet. Everyone who complains about him being SUPERMAN CENA 2.0 is basing it off online reports about plans for the FUTURE, while Roman is just some upper midcarder at the moment. ZIGGLER is getting a bigger push than Roman Reigns right now. I get that the rumors of slaying the Beast have been around forever, but Roman, even if not injured, wasn't exactly getting the "rocket strapped to his ass" push that many people claim he's already gotten. Other than the rumble record, his only big highlight of 2014 was beating Orton at Summerslam. That's it.

It's just so intriguing to see someone get so much hate, for so much time, for a push he hasn't even officially received yet.

[fw91]

your not wrong..........

[StuntGranny®]

I hate him a lot and I look forward to wallowing in the hatred when he inevitably wins the Royal Rumble.

Having said that, I have to disagree. From a personal standpoint, it seems like they're trying to cram him down everyone's throats. It seems as if it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to walk out of WM 31 as champion.

[Deleted]

It's becuase of Cena, and because of all the guys who got over and got their push wrecked. The crowd is cynical, WWE made them that way.

[Instant Classic]

That's the IWC for ya.

[Deleted]

Also, he's never been pinned or submitted in a singles match. The Shield has been broken up since April, so that's pretty hardcore in terms of keeping him strong. Only reason he hasn't been booked stronger is because they haven't booked him in that many singles matches.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

- During the Shield's run, almost all of their six man tags ended with Reigns' spear to the point where I didn't even think Ambrose and Rollins had finishers
- They had him eliminate 4/5 of the face team at Survivor Series to show us how cool and badass he was
- They gave him Kane's elimination record to show us how cool and badass he is.
- during the feud with the Wyatts, Michael Cole kept referring to the group as "Roman Reigns and the Shield" and kept calling Reigns "the leader of the Shield".
- Yes, Reigns only highlight was beating Randy Orton. But here's the thing; one does not simply beat Randy Orton. He's Randy Orton, the guy that Vince and HHH wish was in Cena's spot, but isn't and never will be no matter how many people he RKO's out of nowhere. If they let Reigns beat him, they obviously have plans for the guy.
- and now he's feuding with Big Show. Big Show doesn't put over younger talent unless they're one of the chosen ones or being built up to work with one of the top guys.

And don't you notice the Roman Mothaf***in Samoan Sex Machine Awesome Badass!!! stuff that the commentators were doing the entire time?

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2014 21:22:39 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Also, he's never been pinned or submitted in a singles match. The Shield has been broken up since April, so that's pretty hardcore in terms of keeping him strong. Only reason he hasn't been booked stronger is because they haven't booked him in that many singles matches.

Dec 23, 2014 21:23:04 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

- During the Shield's fun, almost all of their six man tags ended with Reigns' spear to the point where I didn't even think Ambrose and Rollins had finishers
- They had him eliminate 4/5 of the race team at Survivor Series to show us how cool and badass he was
- They gave him Kane's elimination record to show us how cool and badass he is.
- during the feud with the Wyatts, Michael Cole kept referring to the group as "Roman Reigns and the Shield" and kept calling Reigns "the leader of the Shield".
- Yes, Reigns only highlight was beating Randy Orton. But here's the thing; one does not simply beat Randy Orton. He's Randy Orton, the guy that Vince and HHH wish was in Cena's spot, but isn't and never will be no matter how many people he RKO's out of nowhere. If they let Reigns beat him, they obviously have plans for the guy.
- and now he's feuding with Big Show. Big Show doesn't put over younger talent unless they're one of the chosen ones or being built up to work with one of the top guys.

And don't you notice the Roman Mothaf***in Samoan Sex Machine Awesome Badass!!! stuff that the commentators were doing the entire time?

Thank you, my god thank you.

He's also the only one in the Shield who went over Punk. The announcers made it seem as though Reigns was already that dude. Reigns also went over Rollins cleanly during his "undefeated super Authority heel" phase a few months ago on a random Raw match while Rollins was still in the Ambrose feud. He beat Rollins cleanly while Ambrose was still being thwarted every single time. Cleanly, on a Raw, for no reason while Rollins was undefeated.

Come on now.

This thread is outrageous man.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2014 21:22:39 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Also, he's never been pinned or submitted in a singles match. The Shield has been broken up since April, so that's pretty hardcore in terms of keeping him strong. Only reason he hasn't been booked stronger is because they haven't booked him in that many singles matches.

He was out from September 20th until last week, and the Shield broke up in June. So... "April to today" is June to September, and 2 weeks in December.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Pretty much what has been said.

But it is also the CENA effect...fans as a whole see the signs and have learned quickly that when WWE is picking the guy we know where its going as we as a fanbase have endured and still endure it to this day , so with the obvious signs of Roman being Cena 2.0 ...the fanbase wants none of it and also because there are just clear cut better guys who deserve that spot far more than Reigns.

[Deleted]

The reasons people are revolting is that 1), there's long been word of them having major plans for him and everything about the way they present him gels with how they've done so with people who've been put in similar positions in the past, 2), his solo stuff hasn't actually been any good at any point so it's kind of hard to be optimistic about it, and 3), they keep talking him up to such an insane degree that you can't help but disagree with them just out of spite and they keep trying to make him sound like a bigger deal than he actually is. When was the last time another midcard guy whose biggest success was a decent-length tag title run - let's say Matt Hardy back in 2007, he's a good comparison for what I mean. When he was out over his appendix, it wasn't like they were giving him promos every few weeks just to say, "I'm coming back soon, you guys, and I'm going to be awesome!" or anything, and if they were doing the Slammies he sure as hell wouldn't have won Superstar of the Year, and he was more over and more successful then than Reigns is now.

[molson5]

Is there a backlash outside of internet forums? I haven't heard it at the actual events. It's not really fair to say the "fanbase wants none of" his push when he's clearly over.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2014 21:33:47 GMT -5 @notoriousnd22 said:

Dec 23, 2014 21:22:39 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Also, he's never been pinned or submitted in a singles match. The Shield has been broken up since April, so that's pretty hardcore in terms of keeping him strong. Only reason he hasn't been booked stronger is because they haven't booked him in that many singles matches.

He was out from September 20th until last week, and the Shield broke up in June. So... "April to today" is June to September, and 2 weeks in December.

Yeah, he was out a lot longer than I realized.

Right before going out though, he beat Seth Rollins in 10 minutes. He beat Kane, and he's guaranteed to beat Big Show like 12 times in the next 2 months. So in his limited singles action, he's beaten every top heel in WWE except Lesnar.

The thread raises a point, and that point I think is it's just THAT obvious that Reigns is getting that huge push from the way he's presented by the commentary and in matches. It's not just because what Meltzer said, it's watching the show and knowing how WWE works.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2014 21:38:00 GMT -5 molson5 said:

Is there a backlash outside of internet forums? I haven't heard it at the actual events. It's not really fair to say the "fanbase wants none of" his push when he's clearly over.

Yeah I remember reports came out a while back that dude was getting boos on a SD. There's been some comments.

Also someone made a comment about Reigns that I read today. Something about him not receiving the response WWE is hoping he'd receive and that they're having a backup plan in case things don't go as planned. Meltzer apparently said Ambrose is likely to win the Rumble over Ziggler if they don't go with Reigns as well.

[One-Armed Drummer of Defrebel]

Dec 23, 2014 21:23:04 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

- During the Shield's fun, almost all of their six man tags ended with Reigns' spear to the point where I didn't even think Ambrose and Rollins had finishers
- They had him eliminate 4/5 of the race team at Survivor Series to show us how cool and badass he was
- They gave him Kane's elimination record to show us how cool and badass he is.
- during the feud with the Wyatts, Michael Cole kept referring to the group as "Roman Reigns and the Shield" and kept calling Reigns "the leader of the Shield".
- Yes, Reigns only highlight was beating Randy Orton. But here's the thing; one does not simply beat Randy Orton. He's Randy Orton, the guy that Vince and HHH wish was in Cena's spot, but isn't and never will be no matter how many people he RKO's out of nowhere. If they let Reigns beat him, they obviously have plans for the guy.
- and now he's feuding with Big Show. Big Show doesn't put over younger talent unless they're one of the chosen ones or being built up to work with one of the top guys.

And don't you notice the Roman Mothaf***in Samoan Sex Machine Awesome Badass!!! stuff that the commentators were doing the entire time?

I remember all of these things, but I also remember only 2/6 of them actually getting a mostly negative reaction.

It made him look strong though, so it must be a crime against humanity or something.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2014 21:38:00 GMT -5 molson5 said:

Is there a backlash outside of internet forums? I haven't heard it at the actual events. It's not really fair to say the "fanbase wants none of" h Survivor Series comes to mind, is push when he's clearly over.

There have been crowds where there've been some boos for him, plus he's not really all that over most of the time. Cheered, but not blowing the roof off the place or anything. Most of the time I probably wouldn't count him as one of the top five most over people on the roster.

And really, it's more just that we can see the warning signs on the sort of reaction he's likely to get, because we've been through this same song and dance with Cena, Sheamus, Batista, Edge, Jericho, Rock... There tends to be a pattern to how these things come to happen. And all it really takes is one thing to set a crowd off - notice how Batista went from getting pretty good cheers on his return to being the most hated man in America six days later.

[MrBRulzOK]

I think being out for as long as he was kind of did a number on him. Before then he was booked as unstoppable, but since coming back it just doesn't seem like he's getting the same reactions as he was before. While he's been gone others have stepped up in his absence, like Ambrose and Ziggler.

It's not necessarily his fault, but if they're hoping to get him over enough by Wrestlemania at this point in order to be ready for Lesnar, I fear they may be in for a rough road ahead. Not to mention there's always the possibility that Philly will rip him to shreds come the Rumble.

It doesn't help that his promos leave alot to be desired, especially judging from that return promo he did at Armageddon. And it seems like nowadays you have to be at least decent on the microphone with scripted promo to thrive as a main eventer.

One thing's for sure: they've definitely got to be careful with the guy if they really want him to be the man.

[fw91]

Dec 23, 2014 21:23:04 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

- During the Shield's fun, almost all of their six man tags ended with Reigns' spear to the point where I didn't even think Ambrose and Rollins had finishers
- They had him eliminate 4/5 of the race team at Survivor Series to show us how cool and badass he was
- They gave him Kane's elimination record to show us how cool and badass he is.
- during the feud with the Wyatts, Michael Cole kept referring to the group as "Roman Reigns and the Shield" and kept calling Reigns "the leader of the Shield".
- Yes, Reigns only highlight was beating Randy Orton. But here's the thing; one does not simply beat Randy Orton. He's Randy Orton, the guy that Vince and HHH wish was in Cena's spot, but isn't and never will be no matter how many people he RKO's out of nowhere. If they let Reigns beat him, they obviously have plans for the guy.
- and now he's feuding with Big Show. Big Show doesn't put over younger talent unless they're one of the chosen ones or being built up to work with one of the top guys.

And don't you notice the Roman Mothaf***in Samoan Sex Machine Awesome Badass!!! stuff that the commentators were doing the entire time?

than how do you build a star? people can knock on his lack of skills, but I don't think the build is the problem

[Non Banjoble Tokens]

He had sex with my mama!! WHYYYY?!!!

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Dec 23, 2014 21:48:20 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Dec 23, 2014 21:23:04 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

- During the Shield's fun, almost all of their six man tags ended with Reigns' spear to the point where I didn't even think Ambrose and Rollins had finishers
- They had him eliminate 4/5 of the race team at Survivor Series to show us how cool and badass he was
- They gave him Kane's elimination record to show us how cool and badass he is.
- during the feud with the Wyatts, Michael Cole kept referring to the group as "Roman Reigns and the Shield" and kept calling Reigns "the leader of the Shield".
- Yes, Reigns only highlight was beating Randy Orton. But here's the thing; one does not simply beat Randy Orton. He's Randy Orton, the guy that Vince and HHH wish was in Cena's spot, but isn't and never will be no matter how many people he RKO's out of nowhere. If they let Reigns beat him, they obviously have plans for the guy.
- and now he's feuding with Big Show. Big Show doesn't put over younger talent unless they're one of the chosen ones or being built up to work with one of the top guys.

And don't you notice the Roman Mothaf***in Samoan Sex Machine Awesome Badass!!! stuff that the commentators were doing the entire time?

than how do you build a star? people can knock on his lack of skills, but I don't think the build is the problem

How do you build a star? You make them look strong, but try to be more subtle about it.

His lack of skills is the problem. He doesn't have the skills to actually justify this push. They should be putting this much effort into guys who actually have everything together. There are a whole lot of guys who deserve to be built up (although not necessarily getting a main event spot) before Reigns.

I feel like most of Reigns goodwill comes from him not being John Cena, but there are many other and better "not Cena" options to choose from.