5 WWE Superstars who suffered because of high expectations

#1. Roman Reigns - Eventually excelled in WWE despite suffering at first

Roman Reigns is now undeniably WWE's best superstar

We mentioned at first that Bray Wyatt may have been set up to fail in WWE from day one. The opposite was the case for Roman Reigns. When The Shield broke up in 2014, Vince McMahon knew that he wanted Reigns to become the face of WWE and take John Cena's throne.

With Cena's transition to part-time status a year away in 2014, McMahon seemed to have a plan in mind. Have Brock Lesnar end The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak and become the most hated man in the company. Make him go on a monster run with the WWE World Heavyweight title while building Roman Reigns as a top babyface on the side.

While Lesnar's credibility and star power increased in 2014-15, Reigns would win the Royal Rumble and was expected to get his dream coronation at WrestleMania 31 - officially becoming the next John Cena.

That was the plan in WWE's mind. In execution, it went completely haywire. Fans in 2015 were different from fans of the past. They were more aware and in the loop of WWE's backstage plans, and they soon caught wind of the fact that Roman Reigns was WWE's golden boy.

At the time, he was a solid in-ring worker but not exceptional. His promo skills and character work left a lot to be desired, and fans began to rebel right from the 2015 Royal Rumble when they booed Roman Reigns (and The Rock) out of the building.

For the next three-and-a-half years, Reigns would have to endure fans resenting him week after week despite him trying his best efforts. Even back then in the peak of the anti-Roman Reigns movement, some recognized that it wasn't his fault at all.

He had the talent, but WWE's refusal to turn him heel meant that fans would only continue to boo him. From 2015 to 2017, we often heard fans and analysts saying that Roman Reigns was being "shoved down our throats" and it was true.

The simple solution would have been to turn him heel, but Vince McMahon insisted on getting him over as a babyface. Four straight WrestleMania main events later, the experiment continued to fail. But WWE invested too much time and effort to give up.

Roman Reigns suffered from WWE's expectations of him getting over as a babyface. It was never going to happen and everybody could see why. Thankfully, WWE finally pulled the trigger on Reigns' heel turn in 2020 and he has been on the best run of his career since.

Fans finally understand and appreciate the greatness of Roman Reigns, who is finally excelling after years of setbacks.