5 ways WWE tried to get Roman Reigns over and failed

Roman Reigns has been positioned as WWE's top guy ever since the split of The Shield back in 2014. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins went onto feud with one another in one of the best feuds of the year and Roman Reigns began his immediate ascent to the main event as a single's Superstar.

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Four years since their initial break-up, all three members of The Shield have become Grand Slam Champions. Rollins and Ambrose have had fun runs as a face and a heel. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns has been subjected to vitriol from the WWE Universe as he has gone onto main-event four consecutive WrestleManias and has been positioned as the Top Guy in WWE.

The WWE Universe hasn't embraced Reigns the way the WWE has hoped. As Reigns is on the cusp of facing off against Jinder Mahal at Money in the Bank, let's take a look at the 5 ways the WWE has tried to get Roman Reigns over but failed.

#5 Daniel Bryan shaking Reigns' hand at WWE Fastlane 2015

Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble in 2015 in Philadelphia and booked himself a ticket to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. That match should arguably have been Reigns' coronation as WWE's top star and his journey to beat The Beast should have properly kicked off at the Royal Rumble.

However, this was not meant to be. The audience in attendance wanted Daniel Bryan to win the Royal Rumble and as soon as he was eliminated by Wyatt, they began showering the stadium in a chorus of boos that only intensified once it became obvious that Reigns was going to win.

The WWE began damage control almost immediately by positioning Bryan as an obstacle to Reigns' Road to WrestleMania. The two faced off at Fastlane in a match that had been Reigns' best effort in a single's match up until that point.

The entire point of the match was to get Reigns over and make him appear as someone deserving of the main event spot at WrestleMania. Choosing Bryan to be the one to stand in his way was a stroke of genius, as it gave the WWE Universe a sliver of hope but the outcome was never truly in doubt and Bryan was good enough to make Reigns look like a Superstar.

But did this match really get Reigns over? I think we all know the answer to that question.

#4 John Cena raising Reigns' hand at No Mercy 2017

John Cena has played the role of the aging veteran on his last legs to great effect over the last couple of years. This take on his character has shown him at his most compelling and has led to some of his best matches in the WWE.

Everyone in the WWE Universe knew that Reigns was Cena's successor, but WWE never truly made it official. That changed, as the two were put on a collision path in 2017 as they faced off in a match at No Mercy.

The entire build for the feud was designed to get Reigns over, by letting their promos have a 'shoot' feel. However, Cena more often than not obliterated Reigns on the mic and said that he could do this job better part-time than Reigns could full-time.

As expected, Reigns won the match between the two. While the match felt rushed and perhaps a little underwhelming, Cena raised Reigns' arm after the match as a show of respect and showered Reigns with praise on Raw Talk after the pay-per-view stating that the future of the company was in good hands. Whether it really improved Reigns' standing in the eyes of the WWE Universe or not was debatable.

#3 Reuniting The Shield

In all fairness, it is impossible to know whether or not reuniting The Shield would have served to get Reigns over in the long run. The reunion was cut short due to Ambrose suffering a triceps injury, putting The Shield reunion on hiatus. The reunion itself was fraught with instability as Kurt Angle and Triple H served as members of the faction while Reigns was out due to an illness.

The Shield was one of the most dominant factions of all time in the WWE. They ran roughshod over the company and the WWE Universe loved to hate them when they were heels and then just loved them when they turned face. Their wars with the Wyatt Family and Evolution cemented their position in history and Reigns was never more over than the time he was with his brothers.

Perhaps there's a possibility of the trio picking up where they left off when Ambrose returns from injury.

#2 Calling out Brock Lesnar for his 'special privileges'

WWE's most recent tactic to get Reigns over was to have him take verbal jabs at The Beast by pointing out the special privileges he receives from Vince McMahon, going as far as calling him 'Vince's Boy' and heading backstage to argue and confront Mr. McMahon himself.

WWE attempted to portray a challenger who is disgusted by Lesnar's show of disrespect to the locker room and the WWE Universe which served to portray Lesnar as a bigger heel, making Reigns more of a face by proxy. That's never the most effective way to get someone over and the storyline was met with considerably lower excitement than WWE Officials probably expected.

From here, let's head back to where it all started...

#1 Having The Rock come out to save Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble 2015

As mentioned earlier, the audiences in attendance turned on the match as soon as Daniel Bryan was eliminated and it became obvious that Reigns was going to win. The final three superstars in the ring were Reigns, Big Show and Kane. Reigns somehow eliminated both of them, before eliminating Rusev who got back into the ring after slipping out earlier in the match.

Reigns' victory celebration was cut short when he was attacked by Big Show and Kane before The Rock came out to make the save. The Rock raised Reigns' arm to end the show, but that did not lessen the booing as even the Great One could not get crowds to cheer Reigns as the hashtag #CancelWWENetwork began trending online.

Do you think it's too late for Reigns to get over with the WWE Universe? Share your views in the comments below!

Edited by Kishan Prasad