Roman Reigns. The name is in the mouths of every wrestling fan today and is definitely the one the fans pay most attention to. Now most of that attention may be to find more reasons to boo him (because yeah booing Roman is THE THING in wrestling now), but he gathers the voice of the crowd and is definitely “over” in his own way. “The GUY” is Vince McMahon’s protégé and something McMahon can be proud of saying to have come up through his company’s ranks and it’s no secret that Roman’s physique and ability to comply has made him “the face” of the WWE for the coming years.

Now the thing is that Roman is stuck in a very difficult predicament now. The monstrous booking he has received since he went his own way after The Shield in which he hasn’t lost a single match “clean” nor has he actually made to be looked weak in the eyes of the fans. The fans have obviously seen this happen to another booing magnet in John Cena (who to his credit used the “hate” to propel into more stardom) and don’t want to witness Déjà vu when the WWE is now packed with so many world class superstars deserving to be at the top. It’s the age of the Internet and watching the hate flow on the Internet has propelled every “smark” to voice their displeasure on Roman as his “iconic” moments were all booed to death by the fans.

But the thing is that it’s really not Reigns’ fault. He is just doing his job and a very good job at that, putting in great matches week in, week out and remaining faithful to his bosses. He might need to put more emphasis on his mic skills which are still pretty underwhelming and needs to work on some other things before transcending into a legendary status, but has shown signs of being “THE Guy” for the company. Here we take a look at eight reasons on why Roman is THE GUY and seven reasons on why he isn’t.

Reasons Why He’s THE Guy

15 8. He Has a Great Physique

via weheartit.com
via weheartit.com

If anything Roman Reigns can credit himself to have is a great body which is perfect for a main event star and something which can be attractive to the fans as well. It’s no secret that the fans love the physical features of a superstar and aim to have a similar body to their idol and Reigns definitely has all the features which can be attractive to the eye of the more casual fans. He has a very good physique and is extremely agile as well which makes him a very good superstar as well. Not to forget he is pretty strong as well right from his Shield days where he used to power-bomb wrestlers of any size and his strength definitely comes to his advantage to provide hard hitting matches.

14 7. He’s Loved by Women and Children

via cagesideseats.com
via cagesideseats.com

Reigns is quite popular amongst the kids and women who follow the WWE and is reported to get mad pops in most of the WWE House shows. The children and women (mostly their moms or fangirls) are what make up a definite proportion of the income for the WWE and their love towards Roman is probably one of the reasons on why’s he’s this unstoppable good guy rather than a definitive heel. His superman ability to overcome opponents has the kids won over while his physical appearance has the girls wooing over him, and they pay a lot of money to watch him oust all his opponents. This love generated from them is definitely a strong reason on why he’ll remain “THE GUY” for the years to come.

13 6. He is a Great Advertiser of the Company

via:youtube.com
via youtube.com

If anything, Roman has shown to be extremely faithful to the WWE ever since joining the company and is a very good promoter of the product. Be it promoting fatherhood in WWE’ s ad campaign with PSA in “Take a Time To Be a Dad Today” or being an avid contributor to the Make a Wish campaign, Reigns makes sure the WWE is held in high regard and increases the reputation of the company in the eyes of the public. WWE loves someone who would be willing to promote the company and advertise them in public causes, and if someone like Reigns does it then success is guaranteed.

12 5. He Garners a Lot of Noise from the Audience

via:bleacherreport.com
via bleacherreport.com

Roman Reigns has become that kind of a wrestler you just cannot ignore in the WWE. Love him or hate him, you just cannot ignore the guy as his build up to this moment has turned him into this magnet who reaps attention from the crowd. Reigns reaps a lot of noise from the crowd week in week out, be it an array of boos or negative comments or even cheers from his fan base and the voice of the fans against him ensures that he won’t ever become irrelevant. Also his ability to work through segments and matches in spite of the frantic noise is admirable and one of the things keeping him at the top.

11 4. He’s Still Pretty Young

via:hardykat.tumblr.com
via hardykat.tumblr.com

To his credit, Roman is still pretty young at 31 considering that he’s a top-level superstar and has a lot of years in him. Most of the wrestlers peak during their mid-30’s and Reigns is yet to peak and give us his best years. Also considering that he has at least 10 more years in him barring any threatening injuries, Reigns has a lot to learn and has time to develop himself as a more vibrant wrestler with a diverse personality and move set. His agile and ability to work well blends in very well with his age, as his ability to dish out amazing matches will continue in the coming years.

10 3. He is a Great Worker

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

One thing you cannot take away from Roman Reigns is his ability to dish out great matches every time he steps in the ring. His perseverance and amazing work ethic is something which holds him higher than other wrestlers as he never takes a break, never says no to an opportunity to entertain the crowd and always abides the way Vince McMahon handles his character. Roman dishes out great matches with opponents of all sizes and is willing to go the extra mile in order to thrill the crowd, as all these positives make him the perfect guy for Vince McMahon to revolve his wrestling around and the hard work of “The Big Dog” cannot be undermined.

9 2. He is Trusted by WWE Higher-Ups

via dailyddt.com
via dailyddt.com

One thing which is for sure is that Roman is highly trusted by the WWE management, which is one of the reasons he’s still on top of the company. Reigns’ hard work over the years along with his ability to comply on difficult situations (like getting screwed on “his moments” or taking pins in some crucial matches) makes him an asset for the management and his devotion to the product has gained him the trust of the WWE higher officials. It’s no surprise that Vince loves him, but Triple H is reported to also be a big fan of the guy which will be crucial for him to maintain himself as the face of the company in the future.

8 1. He Has Proven That He Can Hang With The Best in the Ring

via judao.com.br
via judao.com.br

Roman Reigns might be hated on because of his infuriating catchphrases and superman abilities, but he has proven himself inside the squared circle whenever it mattered. Roman has headlined two WrestleManias already with two WWE legends, as he has the balls to take the battering from Brock Lesnar which others would’ve shivered at the thought of and pulled off a grueling, hard-hitting match against Triple H in spite of the negative taunts from the crowd. The Guy never backs out of a fight and continuously proves himself in the ring which is what Vince would want from his guy. The chemistry Roman has with his opponents in the ring is really good and because of the blatant hate from the audience, much of his hard work is actually underseen by many as Roman will definitely be on top if he continues to dish out solid matches like he does nowadays.

Reasons He Isn’t THE Guy

7 7. He is Outspoken on Some Sensitive Issues

via:orlandosentinel.com
via orlandosentinel.com

Roman Reigns is that kinda guy who lets his fists do the talking most the time in the ring, but outside the ring in real life he obviously has to voice his opinions on things when questioned upon by the media. The thing which hampers his likability among smarks is that he’s very outspoken in his interviews and says things which can infuriate a proper wrestling fan. In a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Reigns addressed the negative reaction by saying “he isn’t in the business for grown men”. He would go on to address WWE as a “kids show” and a “PG Product” which is infuriating for a wrestling fan following the product for a long time. Comments like this will never get him over with the fans, therefore hampering his quest on becoming the face of the company.

6 6. He Might Lose Relevance in the Coming Years

via:forbes.com
via forbes.com

The Big Dog is in hot water amongst the fans nowadays, and even though he attracts fans through his presence and gets a lot of attention because of his state in the WWE right now, he might lose that presence in the future. The fans will boo him for maybe the next 2-3 years before moving on to a younger, better product and Reigns might lose his ground at that time. Losing all the attention he gets might hamper his progress and stall him in his tracks. It’s obvious that the WWE universe will move on from him after sometime, and he might lose his relevance amongst the fans then who will just tend to ignore him more than booing him unless he becomes a full-fledged heel.

5 5. He has had no Individual Progress

via fanpop.com
via fanpop.com

Because of the way WWE has booked him so far, Roman Reigns’ character has seen close to no change from his Shield days. While his “brothers” in Seth Rollins (who became the architect and then the arrogant champion) and Dean Ambrose (who became the lunatic fringe) have changed since their days at the iconic stable, Reigns himself hasn’t really changed. Be it the same outfit he has been wearing for like three years now to his theme song being the Shield’s theme and he was also walking through the crowd until some months back. WWE’s unwillingness to change his character or even turn him into a heel (which he can excel at) will hurt him in the long run and disable him from being a vibrant face of the company.

4 4. He Can’t Work a Crowd

via sportzwiki.com
via sportzwiki.com

It’s no secret that Roman Reigns is pretty bad on the mic and his promo skills are underwhelming to say the least. But another bane to his arsenal is that he can’t work a crowd either considering the noise he gets when he comes out to speak, and this hamper’s the legitimacy of his character. When he comes out to speak, Reigns often gets distracted by the noisy crowd and cannot deliver his promos well and neither can he handle the crowd properly. His “the guy” promos are a prime example of this as he just seems like a fed up guy trying to stake his position to the crowd, making his promos seem lazy and some badly written promos don’t help the guy voice his own opinions either.

3 3. He is Very One Dimensional

via:allwrestlingsuperstars.com
via allwrestlingsuperstars.com

The thing about Roman Reigns is that his physical appearance and the constant Superman-like booking from the WWE has made his character very one dimensional and that’s a bad thing. His gimmick is already getting very stale and the lack of change in it will make it outdated soon, so Reigns and WWE need to act on it fast. But the problem is that Reigns cannot be booked as an underdog because of his previous booking, and neither can he be that slimy heel because of him being the face of the company. His one dimensional behavior is already getting extremely boring and the fans will just pay no heed to it after sometime unless his character is changed up a bit.

2 2. He is Underwhelming on the Mic

via kayfabenews.com
via kayfabenews.com

If Roman Reigns is the Superman of the WWE, then the microphone is probably his kryptonite. Reigns didn’t really speak much in his Shield days which made so many like him because of his no talk, only fist approach but after they disbanded he started talking, and it turned out to be not good at all. To be fair to the guy, his promos are pretty badly written themselves by creative trying to show him as this fair, righteous guy but come out very wrong to the crowd. Like trying to get him to say sufferin’ succotash like a Looney Tunes character does no good to his own character and his promos in general are barred with bad writing and volatile responses by the crowd. The Guy needs to improve his skills on the mic in order to become the face of the company as it is an extremely important part of the WWE.

1 1. He is Disliked by Vocal Fans

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via youtube.com

WWE is what it is because of its fans. Even the arrogant and egoistical Vince McMahon cannot deny it as his billion dollar company has been built up from the money and support of the fans. So when they decide to turn on your #1 guy, you know there’s a storm coming. Roman Reigns gets some unjustified hate nowadays mostly because this being the Internet era with its own darlings and stars who get buried by Reigns and Vince. Reigns definitely doesn’t deserve all the jeers he gets, but his buildup as this unstoppable Superman where he hasn’t lost a single match in his main roster career cleanly or his prized moments being leaked before they actually happen make for some backlash from the fans. And because of the backlash they watch on TV, more fans join this flock of anti-Roman and this definitely cannot do him any good if he indeed wants to become The Guy of the company, as WWE needs to act fast in order to curb the hate towards their main man soon.