10 Things WWE Fans Need To Admit About Hating Roman Reigns
5. ... Yet They Were Once Ready To Cheer Him
Funny thing, that.
In days of yore, a man named Ba(u)tista made a return to the world of pro wrestling with championship aspirations. He was promptly booed back into the obscurity of Hollywood Boulevard.
In retrospect, the 2014 Royal Rumble was a rare oddity we might never see again (like a hang glider getting hit by a golf ball). It was the last time the Yes Movement would ever be open to a main event that Daniel Bryan didn't win.
Even after the crowd turned on the event when Rey Mysterio walked out, there was hope for a pleasing finish when it came down to Reigns and Batista.
A win for Reigns, still with The Shield, still on a big roll since an impressive Survivor Series performance, would have been a step in the right direction (i.e. away from an ageing, sometimey Batista) and the same people who call him fatally unfit for a push now were rooting for him to get one back then.
It just behoves us all to remember this because perspective.