Roman Reigns Responds To Getting Booed: ‘I Must Be Doing Something Right’
WWE fans haven’t exactly taken to the idea of Roman Reigns being the top good guy in the company. It’s been over two years since his main event push began, and he’s been getting heavily booed for the majority of that time. But, WWE still hasn’t given up on him as their top hero, even though the boos probably won’t stop anytime soon.
This week, Roman Reigns has been making the rounds over at ESPN while promoting this Sunday’s Royal Rumble event, where he’ll challenge Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship. During his press tour, he made a brief appearance on the Cheap Heat podcast, where he was asked about how being booed has changed him as a performer. You can check out his response below.
“I think [being booed] just pushed me. Anytime as a performer and you’re in a live situation, and you’re dealing with that sort of backlash, it’s gonna trigger emotions. But I think that anybody who is dedicated and wants to get better at their craft and wants to be the very best in the business, they’re gonna use that as motivation, and that’s what I did. I took that moment, which some people would look at as a negative, but not me. I mean, at the end of the day, x-amount of thousands of people are screaming, booing at the top of their lungs, and I’m the center of attention. So I must be doing something right.”
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported that Vince McMahon is unwilling to turn Roman Reigns heel, despite the fact that the majority of the audience has refused to accept him in his current role. Why? Because Vince believes that Reigns is a big draw in his current role. Essentially, he sees Reigns as the second coming of John Cena, who has been WWE’s top draw for the last decade, even though he’s such a polarizing figure with the fans.
This Sunday’s Royal Rumble will take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and it looks like it’ll be the biggest Rumble event of all time. Historically, Reigns is always booed at WWE’s big January pay-per-view, and this Sunday will probably be no exception, especially if ends up defeating Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship.
Current rumors suggest that Reigns will win the Universal Championship on Sunday, and that he will go on to face either Braun Strowman or The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. WWE has certainly been teasing the idea of a Reigns vs. Strowman match, but they haven’t done anything to make us think that they’ll end up doing an Undertaker vs. Reigns match at their biggest show of the year.
Reigns also said during the Cheap Heat podcast that he prefers to be a polarizing figure instead of being just a standard good guy or a bad guy, which follows his current catchphrase: “I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a good guy, I’m the guy.”
He also covered his time with The Shield [Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins], calling them a top five faction of all time. When asked about the popular trio’s breakup, he responded by saying “we broke up too soon,” adding that they probably had a longer babyface run in them.
WWE has certainly been teasing a Shield reunion, so they might end up getting the babyface run that Reigns was talking about. Furthermore, a Shield reunion might also be the thing that finally gets the WWE fans to cheer for Roman Reigns.
For now, though, Reigns is looking forward to winning the WWE Universal Championship at this Sunday’s Royal Rumble.
[Featured Image by WWE]
