Democratic Empire
- Francesco Viola III
- Jul 19, 2017
- 4 min read
Roman Reigns is one of the most controversial figures in modern WWE. His character is a babyface, but whenever his music hits during Monday Night Raw, the arena will erupt into a chorus of boos. His popularity at house shows isn’t particularly positive either, typically being a mixture of cheers and jeers. Online reactions also consist of many negative opinions and they often focus on one key aspect to Reigns: his push. Reigns has received a massive push in recent years; he has main evented 3 WrestleMania’s in a row, is a 3 time WWE Champion and is the man who retired The Undertaker. Given the fact his run as a singles competitor began in the summer of 2014, when The Shield broke up, this is an impressive resume. It would seem as though WWE wants Reigns to take John Cena’s place as the face of the company, and this appears to be the biggest thorn in the side of Reigns’ detractors.
However, instead of focusing on the reasons why Reigns may or may not be worthy of being the face of the company, there is a different question I want to analyze: how can fans make WWE go in a different direction? While unusual, the WWE has previously altered their plans to fit the desires of the WWE Universe. The ending of WrestleMania 30, as described in the Daniel Bryan autobiography Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania, is an example of WWE being willing to change their minds on a decision. Despite this, fan complaints have yet to deter WWE from pushing Reigns.
So, what would it take for WWE to make someone other than Roman Reigns the next top guy of the company?
It is a complicated issue, but looking over the history of the company, I believe there are three things that would need to happen in order for Reigns to be dethroned:
1. Fans would need to stop reacting to Reigns
2. His merchandise would need to stop selling as well as it does
3. Most importantly, fans would need to fully get behind a new star
Roman Reigns being booed has not deterred the WWE from pushing him and this is not unprecedented. John Cena has been a similarly controversial figure throughout his career, receiving some of the loudest jeers in the history of the company despite literally being the face of the WWE for the majority of his tenure. His controversial nature was often addressed on screen by commentators, who would claim that, regardless of whether or not people liked or disliked Cena, everyone had a strong reaction to him. Reigns is in a similar situation. He often receives the loudest reactions during a show, which gives off the impression that fans are invested in him. WWE appears to care about the fan’s overall investment in a face more so than how much a face is cheered. It is similar to the old adage that any publicity is good publicity. As such, booing Roman Reigns is counterproductive. One of the ways fans could lessen Reigns’ push would be for them to stay silent when he appears. If the sound of crickets was the only noise heard when Reigns arrived, it would demonstrate to the WWE that fans do not care about Reigns and that his larger presence in the product makes fans less interested in the product. This would then make WWE want to make someone the fans actually care about as the focal point of the company.
In a similar vein to the previous point, Reigns merchandise sales demonstrate to the WWE that a relatively large amount of fans care about him. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he sells the most amount of merchandise in the company out of any full time wrestler. If Reigns is the one bringing in profits, he is the one WWE will want to push. Pro-wrestling is a business and the WWE is always going to have business in mind when creating their storylines. WWE thinking of Reigns as a less valuable business asset would hinder Reigns’ push. One of the best ways to achieve this would be for someone else to be selling more merchandise than him.
This factors into the final and most important thing that would need to happen in order for Roman Reigns to no longer be pegged as the top guy of the company. At this juncture, WWE has no immediate replacement for Reigns. There are people who could be built up to his level, but no one who is guaranteed to receive as big of reactions and sell as much merchandise. With this in mind, if fans truly want WWE to push someone else as the face of the company, fans would need to demonstrate overwhelming support for someone else. The previous faces of the company all received support from the fans more than their peers; Stone Cold’s Austin 3:16 shirt sold more than any other shirt in the history of the company, The Rock was largely responsible for the biggest rating in Monday Night Raw history, and even Daniel Bryan received reactions larger than anyone else in WWE during his rise to the top in 2013 and 2014. Presently, there is no one who is receiving that kind of fan support. There is no one who could take Reigns place and make the company significantly more successful. In order for Roman Reigns to lose his push, a full time star would need to arise that could eclipse him. Why that star hasn’t emerged could be debated endlessly, but until one comes, Reigns is going to be on top.
I don’t believe it is very likely that any of these changes will happen anytime soon. It would require the majority of fans to all spontaneously get strongly behind one wrestler (which is very hard in modern pro-wrestling) and for a lot of fans to suddenly stop behaving in the way they currently do in regards to Reigns. It is also worth noting that I’m not necessarily in favor of or opposed to Roman Reigns being de-pushed. However, the relationship between WWE, Roman Reigns and the fans is a fascinating one, which I feel is worthy of analysis. Whether people like it or not, he is going to be "The Guy" for the foreseeable future.
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