10 Most Infuriating Roman Reigns WWE Moments
8. The "De-Push" - Every Raw In September And October Of 2016
In June of 2016, Roman Reigns was given a 30-day suspension for an infraction of WWE's Wellness Policy. Internally, WWE must have been chaotic - not only was Reigns the WWE Champion (he lost the belt after the failed test but before the suspension), but a perception of him as a cheater would do nothing to help his popularity problems.
It was decided that the best way to take some of the heat off Reigns would be to focus on him less when he came back. For the first time in a while, Reigns wouldn't be competing for the top prize, and that would allegedly engender goodwill toward him. After that, he could be put back into the main event.
That plan may have been doomed, but it didn't even get a fair chance - yes, Reigns was pulled out of the title picture and put into a U.S. Championship feud with Rusev, but that quickly became the top program on Raw. Universal Champion Kevin Owens was often relegated to an undercard role while Reigns continued to headline Raw every week. The only "de-push" was for the brand new heavyweight championship.