Roman Reigns is not well-loved by a huge portion of the WWE audience (or the pro wrestling audience in general). That’s no secret. Although WWE has spent much of the past few years dedicated to making sure Reigns is presented and positioned as a very big deal, they’ve also made no bones about the fact that a whole bunch of people really hate his guts.
Heading into Sunday night’s No Mercy pay-per-view, WWE really played up the fact that Reigns isn’t well-loved, and that even though his No Mercy opponent, John Cena, is also loathed by a wide swath of fans, at least he has a decade-plus of proven success to back up that loathing.
Of course, there are a whole bunch of people who DO love Roman Reigns, including many of us here at With Spandex. He would never have had such an extended run on the top of the card if he didn’t have the goods to back it up as a pro wrestler. Regardless, it’s not “cool” to like Roman Reigns, according to the majority of WWE fans.
Luckily, Reigns has his supporters and true believers where it matters. He also has the support of another former WWE Superstar who knows a thing or two about being loathed by the fans: Ryback. On a recent episode of Conversation with the Big Guy, the titular Big Guy made it known that he loves the Big Dog.
“I love Roman Reigns. I think most of the guys there [in WWE do as well]. I think it’s a whole different dynamic than Cena. I think more guys [like Reigns]. He works really hard, but he’s always very humble. He is very [respectful] and he never walks around backstage with an ‘I’m better than you’ attitude. So, to me, not to say that John does that or anything. It’s just that Roman comes off different. I don’t know if it’s from being raised in the business and whatnot. But I’ve worked with him very closely over the years, especially early on, so and the guy can go and he’s super talented, so I’m happy for all of his success.”
Not for nothing, but Ryback and Reigns probably would have been a pretty awesome tag team. We can still hold out hope, I guess. Never say never when it comes to WWE!
