10 Times WWE Picked The RIGHT Wrestler At The WRONG Time
2. Roman Reigns
The above photo has become an iconic image in wrestling folklore. On the left you have Roman Reigns, the young rookie who is flushed with elation having won his first Royal Rumble. On the right, there's the Rock, the confused veteran who is clearly thinking, "Uh, cuz, you know they're not supposed to be booing the sh*t out of you?"
Reigns much-maligned Royal Rumble win in 2015 has become emblematic of the entirety of Vince McMahon's ill-judged campaign to shove Roman down his audience's throats. For the four years following this win, Roman was presented as the WWE's babyface saviour whether the fans liked it or not. And like it, they most certainly did not.
For years, fans made it clear that they were much happier rooting for Reigns' opponents, regardless of how vicious or brutal they were towards the former Big Dog. Fans were begging for a reason to legitimately boo the unloved babyface, and in 2020 WWE relented when Roman Reigns began his ascent as the head of The Bloodline.
Roman has utterly excelled as the vicious, insecure, gaslighting narcissist that runs the WWE's biggest stable, and the fact that he's kept his character strong for almost four years is a testament to the man's capabilities as a heel. Roman Reigns was always destined to be the biggest name in WWE - the company just had to stop portraying him as Luke Skywalker and let him be Darth Vader instead.