50 Absolute Worst Things WWE Has Done In The 21st Century
43. Sufferin’ Succotash, Son! (2015)
Today, Roman Reigns is a smouldering picture of charisma and star power. His change from unwanted babyface to Bloodline boss and 'Tribal Chief' in 2020 revived Roman's fortunes, and there was no turning back. Years of outstanding heel work eventually led to a proper face run the people demanded. They turned Reigns baby organically because he wasn't forced down their throats as a good guy. Imagine that.
In 2015, WWE might as well have had Roman carry a big neon sign that screamed: 'LIKE ME! LIKE ME! CHEER ME! CHEER ME!". Their desperation was too much for most to stomach as the company tried in vain to turn Reigns into the next John Cena. They didn't learn lessons that should've been processed during Cena's rise to the top either, which is why pretty much everyone gagged when Roman uttered a cringe-inducing line on the 9 January 2015 SmackDown.
Interrupting Seth Rollins, Reigns told his old Shield buddy that he was "a snivelling little suck up sell out full of sufferin' succotash, son". Then, as if to somehow make things even worse, Roman added: "I know, that was not easy to say", then turned to the hard cam and flashed a wink. This attempted fourth wall break was supposed to endear Reigns to the audience by gently poking fun at WWE's writers, but it'd become known as a Roman Reigns moment to forget.
Instead, it made the so-called babyface hero look like a complete clown and was regularly used as a stick to beat him with. Someone wrote this thinking it'd make Reigns look really, really cool. They were wrong.