The Roman Reigns Debut That Was A Total Flop

If a fan were only familiar with former Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns' career over the last few years, they would think it's been nothing but greatness for the "Tribal Chief." Not only did Reigns have the longest World Championship reign WWE has seen in the last several decades, not only did he headline four straight WrestleMania's against the likes of Adam Copeland, Bryan Danielson, Brock Lesnar, and Cody Rhodes, but he was the central figure in the Bloodline storyline, one many feel is among the greatest wrestling stories ever told. With a resume like that, it's almost impossible to think that Reigns' wrestling career has been anything other than universally praised.

And yet, Reigns' career from 2012 to early 2020 tells a completely different story. There were certainly strong points during that time as well, most notably his run with The Shield alongside Seth Rollins and Jon Moxley, a few World Championship reigns, and a few more WrestleMania main events. But there were also just as many lows, ranging from Reigns' real-life battle with leukemia to the fact that he received fan reactions so hostile that it made John Cena's uphill battle for fan support in the mid-2000s look tame. It was not until the Bloodline saga that Reigns finally received acceptance from the wrestling fanbase, spending years before that dealing with boos, criticism, and even accusations that he wasn't worthy of his push. And it was noise that all began in 2014, when The Shield broke up and Reigns debuted as a singles wrestler.

The differences between Reigns' post-Shield path and Rollins and Moxley's were striking. The latter two were given new entrance music and appearances as they embarked on a well-received feud with each other over the next several months. Reigns, however, kept his Shield gear and Shield music as he was quickly pushed up the card, fighting for the WWE Championship and feuding with the likes of Randy Orton, while largely ignoring the Shield drama until August. Though the fans largely stayed behind him, chatter had already begun that Reigns was being pushed a tad too soon, though it died down once Reigns was put on the shelf with a lacerated hernia in September.

No sooner did Reigns return in December, however, did the chatter start up again, particularly once Danielson returned from injury to declare for the Royal Rumble. Danielson's popularity alone would've made Reigns' rise tough, but he was dealt further wounds from WWE's own booking in January, where he was scripted to cut back-to-back promos on "SmackDown" and "Raw" that had Reigns quoting "Looney Tunes" sketches and nursery rhymes. Reigns' already teetering status was pushed over the edge by the time both promos made airwaves, and when Reigns made his Royal Rumble entrance weeks later, just minutes after Danielson had been eliminated, the boos he received came as no surprise, though the fact that he later got Rock booed upon winning the Rumble was. In retrospect, those moments, and what came before it, make it unavoidable to see that the initial babyface debut of Reigns flopped hard, and that it would take an effort like the one that occurred years later to get him over as a beloved top star.