WWE News: Roman Reigns Tunes Out Negative Reactions From WWE Universe
At Royal Rumble in the beginning of the year, Roman Reigns was booed out of the building in Philadelphia as he celebrated with his cousin, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. WWE officials knew of the scrutiny they’d receive if Reigns won the Rumble match. With that in mind, they had the Rock accompany Reigns in the ring so the fans would divert their hatred of Reigns. That didn’t work. Philly fans, who are known for their verbose attitude, booed them both.
Nearly one year later, Roman Reigns won his second WWE World Heavyweight championship in front of the same-Philly crowd on WWE Raw. This time, it wasn’t a sea of disgruntled fans raining down on his parade, but rather an entire arena full of cheers and jubilation. He was celebrating with the “Roman Empire” in front of that wild crowd. They weren’t focused on the burial of Dean Ambrose in the main event picture. It was all about Roman Reigns.
Daily Photo! #DeanAmbrose pic.twitter.com/EcU6WL2DpT
— Dean-Ambrose.Net (@DeanAmbroseNet) December 30, 2015
On WWE Raw this upcoming Monday, Reigns will have held the WWE championship for two weeks. His popularity is still great, even though the his booking last week was ill-advised. WWE fans cheered for the man who would go through anyone. If this style of writing for Reigns continues, don’t expect a Philly-esque crowd to cheer Reigns. Fortunately, for the WWE, their champion doesn’t listen to the negativity.
In a recent interview with WWE.com, Roman Reigns talked about how he tunes out the negative reactions from the WWE Universe.
“It’s something I’ve had to teach myself over the past few years, because I am a person that cares. I do. I wouldn’t be in this business and do what we have to do and go through all the stuff we have to put up with if I didn’t care. Sometimes I have to pull myself back [and remind myself] the world is a big place. Don’t focus on the negativity. Focus on the positivity and the people that want you to do well, then, do it for them and for yourself. Sometimes I do things for myself; sometimes I do things for my family; sometimes I do things for my friends. There‘s a great system where I’m not doing this just for one dream, I’m doing this for a bunch of people’s dreams. I have a great crew and a great family that loves me.”
It’s ironic that Reigns is already tuning out the “hate” from WWE fans, when it was the week prior that he said the negative reactions from Philadelphia at the Royal Rumble helped him. Should a WWE World Heavyweight champion, or any WWE superstar for that matter, tune out any reaction from the crowd? The responses from the people watching the product are what drive the business.
"Oh no! Not again!" – Vince McMahon #Raw pic.twitter.com/wV18TBu3VZ
— Lee Morgan (@TheQueenHEEL) December 29, 2015
Clearly, Vince McMahon wasn’t truly listening to the fans when he sat down on Steve Austin’s “Stone Cold Podcast.” He said that Cesaro, who is one of the most-popular WWE stars, wasn’t connecting with the fans. Cesaro responded to that claim and said he “white knuckled the steering wheel” while driving. Cesaro connected with the WWE Universe even stronger.
Roman Reigns should arguably worry about what the crowd thinks of him. Tuning out won’t amend any mistakes or opinions. Every WWE fan will believe what they want at the end of the day. It’s up to the WWE star to change the fans’ opinions in their favor.
[Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images]
