25 Great Wrestlers That EVERYBODY Turned Against
5. Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns got a spot in a debuting Shield stable when - per most authoritative reports at this point - it was earmarked for cult and indie favourite Chris "Kassius Ohno" Hero.
From the very beginning, he was at the root of a culture war between different types of wrestling fan, and the problem got much worse when WWE attempted to break him away from the group that got him over.
When the trio split in 2014, audiences seemed genuinely invested in the singles progressions of both Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and with good reason. The two now had a baked-in blood feud, took to sporting different looks, entering with different themes, and for the first time in two years were able to tweak what made them tick.
Roman - based on the in-house belief that what already worked was what was best - kept The Shield theme and aesthetic, including walking through a crowd that week on week were getting less interested in buying what he was selling. A summer going over many of the established upper tier in the company did nothing to reverse the trend, and the events of the 2015 Royal Rumble became infamous as they as they were happening.
The rot set in for Roman, the pattern got worse the harder he was pushed, and everything got stuck in a loop for the better part of five years (!) never truly recovered until - with not a solitary soul in the building - he was able to finally rebuild his career with a pandemic heel turn.
Worst of all, it wasn't even the first time WWE were battling this problem...