5 incidents that made some fans start disliking Roman Reigns

#2 Royal Rumble 2016

“Am I a good guy or bad guy?”

One of the things that have irked fans the most about Reigns is his never ending push. Despite fan reaction and drops in the ratings, Roman continues to be featured in main event matches, and some viewers feel he is being forced down their throats. One such case of this came in 2016, in what was basically the ‘Roman Reigns Royal Rumble’.

Reigns not only went into the pay-per-view as the reigning WWE Champion, which he would defend in the Royal Rumble match itself, but he was also the number one entrant and lasted until the final three. In WWE’s eyes, this was a way to showcase Roman as a brave, valiant hero who fought long and hard, against the odds as best as he could until ultimately falling short at the last hurdle. Not a bad idea on WWE’s behalf, but that’s not the way that the fans saw it.

This was mainly because Reigns was attacked, but not eliminated, by the League of Nations fairly early on in the match which led to him going backstage for medical treatment. The problem with this was that Roman exited the match by his own accord and spent around half an hour backstage while the match progressed, not exactly the brave hero that WWE was trying to present through this angle.

After Reigns had spent almost half the match in the back, he made what was designed to be a miraculous recovery and courageous return to the match. But instead, this was viewed by the crowd as cowardly and unfair to the talent who had continued to battle during Reigns’ absence.

The defending WWE Champion was ultimately eliminated by supposed heel, Triple H, in the final stages of the match, much to the enjoyment of the fans in attendance.

The celebration of Reigns’ elimination was not only because the audience were largely against him by this point but also because fans were relieved that it meant Roman would not be at that year’s WrestleMania main event.

What’s that? Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!…