10 Times WWE Forced It Down Our Throats

10. Roman Reigns

Let's get Roman out of the way, shall we? It's been a tough period for the man earmarked by WWE as their next Cena. Back when The Shield were running riot, it seemed that Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns could do no wrong. Ambrose was the mouthpiece, Rollins the in-ring wizard, and Reigns the silent muscle. As a trio, they just worked. Of course, no stable lasts forever (although DX may beg to differ) and singles competition was always going to be the endgame for each of these three men. What was unexpected, perhaps, was that WWE would push one of these men so much faster and harder than the other two.

Despite Seth Rollins's current status as WWE Heavyweight Champion, it was undoubtedly Roman Reigns who had the rocket strapped to his back ever since breaking Kane's record for the number of Royal Rumble eliminations in 2014. Reigns was cheered by the live crowd over the returning Batista, which was hardly surprising - there wasn't much goodwill for the 6-time world champion - but fast forward a year, to the 2015 Rumble, and oh my, how things had changed. The crowd booed for the final three of Kane, Big Show and Reigns (and Rusev, but we'll get to that) and continued to make their displeasure heard once Kane and Show returned to give Reigns a beatdown after being eliminated. That was, until The Rock came out to make the save. Rock got a pop, of course, because he's the freakin' Rock. Once he'd raised Roman's arm in apparent victory, however, the boos resumed, until Rusev (see, told you we'd get to him) reappeared, having not been eliminated.

The crowd cheered. They had wanted Daniel Bryan, who hadn't even been in the Rumble match, but Rusev would do. Anyone but Reigns. Rusev, though, went sailing over the top rope, and Roman was going to Wrestlemania.

Was Seth Rollins cashing in the briefcase at Wrestlemania 31 the original plan? Did WWE realise that no one was buying into Roman Reigns? In any case, Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Rollins all deserve credit for making the main event what it was: one of the most exciting conclusions to a Wrestlemania in years. For that alone, you have to hope that Reigns manages to become a worthy main event performer in the eyes of the fans as well as the WWE top brass.