After the TLC Pay-Per-View and Raw the following night, it looked like WWE had finally done the impossible - after a year of incessant work, they'd finally gotten their crowd to accept Roman Reigns as a babyface WWE Champion. Philadelphia - where Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble in front of a livid crowd - actually chanted "You deserve it" when Reigns captured the title on Raw. Reigns was able to hold onto his popularity until last night. Maybe the Royal Rumble crowd was made up of more "hardcore" fans, or maybe the foolishness of the "One Versus All" and McMahon family feud storylines finally caused fans to snap, but the WWE Champion was once again on the wrong side of the audience's fury. The backlash wasn't at the level it was at last year's event, but it was clear that the vast majority of spectators in Orlando did not want to see Roman Reigns victorious. Was this a one-time event, or will fan antipathy hound Reigns on the road to WrestleMania once again? The answer - and its effects - should be interesting.
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
