10 Most Infuriating Roman Reigns WWE Moments

Sufferin' Succotash!

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Once upon a time, WWE fans really liked Roman Reigns. When he was in The Shield, the entire group became insanely popular, and Reigns was the de facto leader, the cool guy who usually let his actions speak for him. Fans responded - look no further than the 2014 Royal Rumble, where the audience completely rejected Batista eliminating Reigns to win the match.

When it was time for Reigns's singles push, though, things changed. Nothing about his ascent to the main event felt organic, and fans didn't want to see a star that they felt had been forced on them. It wasn't long before the WWE Universe started to boo Reigns vociferously, doing their best to reject him and creating a problem that has been going on for more than two years.

Of course, WWE's shown no signs of slowing down Reigns's push, nor has there been any sign that they'll turn him heel. Fans have simply been made angrier and angrier over the course of his main-event run, and given that he's rumored to be taking on The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 - a match that may prove to be The Undertaker's last - the worst could be yet to come.

10. Sufferin' Succotash! - Smackdown, January 9, 2015

Before I get too far into this article, it's important to mention that this isn't a hit piece on Roman Reigns. Over the course of his career, Reigns has proven himself to be quite talented - he's had great matches, both with The Shield and by himself - and he's very charismatic. This article is an indictment of WWE's bookers, who have chosen to ignore Reigns's strengths and try to turn him into John Cena 2.0.

Case in point, the infamous "sufferin' succotash" promo that Reigns cut on Seth Rollins right around the time the backlash against him started. Allegedly written by Vince McMahon himself, the real problem with the interview wasn't that Reigns used the Sylvester J. Pussycat catchphrase (there was a wink and nod in there that established he was too cool for the language) - the problem was that it was, in word and mannerism, totally a John Cena promo (and not a good one at that).

Reigns's best days in The Shield saw him inflict pain at will and only speak when necessary. This promo marked WWE's mandate that he become the joking babyface the company already had, and it did incredible harm to his career.

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Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013