Report: WWE Officials “surprised” by Roman Reigns’ reaction on RAW last week

[Big Red Machine]

Source: WrestleChat

By C.J. Quinn
– Posted on March 28, 2016Posted in: Photos & Videos, WWE

We’re less than one week away from Roman Reigns challenging Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It’s expected he’ll be crowned the new flag bearer of WWE. It’s also expected the crowd, not unlike last year’s big event, will boo him in favor of his opponent.
He was asked about the reaction he gets in a recent interview with the Kingston Whig-Standard and had this to say about it:

“It’s a tough one because there is no one answer. There is no one reason why someone would want to boo me. Maybe they don’t like what I wear, how I sound, maybe I did something to offend them, but for me, it’s hard because I’m under the microscope and I’m dealing with a lot of different things and there’s a lot of things flying my way. For me, I can only continue to stay within myself and worry about the things I can control and the things I can control are, Am I healthy?; Am I showing up to where I need to be on time?; Am I here to perform and do my job? If I do that, then our fans, they can cheer me, they can boo me, as long as we all show up to the arena, everything will be fine. We’ll be able to create that awesome experience, create that energy. As for the reasons why these things happen, I don’t know. I do know I have a lot of supporters. These people have my back. There’s nothing that anybody can say negatively to me that will make me believe you are correct. It’s just your opinions. I’m an ex-football player, so I’ve been in a home environment, I’ve played in an away environment. As long as I know the supporters are still by me, even if they’re not in the arena, I hear them on social media and I know they’re out there. If you’re riding with me, it’s going to be a good ride. If you’re going against me, we’re sorry for what’s going to happen next.”

At last week’s Raw in Philadelphia, WWE officials were taken by surprise by the fan reaction towards Reigns, or lack thereof. They were expecting him to be loudly booed, but the audience was mostly apathetic.

[Big Red Machine]

Source: WrestleChat


At last week’s Raw in Philadelphia, WWE officials were taken by surprise by the fan reaction towards Reigns, or lack thereof. They were expecting him to be loudly booed, but the audience was mostly apathetic.

Which is even worse than being booed as a babyface.

[XIV]

He lacks real character. That's the problem. The most animated and real I've seen him is when he knocked Triple H around the arena. I saw a character at last.

[cero2k]

He lacks real character. That's the problem. The most animated and real I've seen him is when he knocked Triple H around the arena. I saw a character at last.

and you have to consider that most of that reaction was for Triple H getting his ass kicked, I can't imagine it being that good if it had been someone like Sheamus

[KILLdozer]

*Yawn.*

[Serujuunin]

Make him a huge monster badass heel. Let him beat the crap out of people.

I'm a Roman Reigns fan and I still like him better when he's gone off the deep end and is beating people senseless.

[XIV]

He lacks real character. That's the problem. The most animated and real I've seen him is when he knocked Triple H around the arena. I saw a character at last.

and you have to consider that most of that reaction was for Triple H getting his ass kicked, I can't imagine it being that good if it had been someone like Sheamus

I wasn't necessarily talking about the reaction from the crowd, I was talking about how I've viewed him, it was the most real I'd seen him since the days of The Shield. It warmed me to him for a few minutes, sadly the show after he was back to himself... but when he's told to look badass and just go beating someone around the arena, he's a good character.

[Bob-O]

This is being made out to be so personal! I think the distaste for Roman has more to do with the product, being TOLD who to like (force fed). It's not much different than Batista a few years ago.

[Big Red Machine]

This is being made out to be so personal! I think the distaste for Roman has more to do with the product, being TOLD who to like (force fed). It's not much different than Batista a few years ago.

Yes... but it also has to do with the way the character has been portrayed. He's just not very likeable.