History YMMV / RomanReigns

** His match vs. Jey Uso at ''Clash of Champions 2020'' crossed it after Roman, not satisfied with Jey just "taking the payday and laying down" and pinning him, decided to lay a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on his cousin until Jey verbally declared Roman as his "Tribal Chief". Jey [[{{Determinator}} refused to give up]], forcing his injured brother Jimmy to ''limp down to the ring and '''literally beg Roman to stop''''' before throwing in the towel for Jey and declare Roman as the "Tribal Chief". Even Wrestling/PaulHeyman, Roman's own "special council" who managed [[Wrestling/{{Rikishi}} The Uso's dad]] in the 1990s, [[EvenEvilHasStandards was disgusted over the beating]]. This also signified that the Roman Riegns of old, vest and all was gone.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Specifically, the WWE and Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. After over half a decade booking Reigns as babyface despite massive fan backlash, WWE finally relented and gave him a heel turn. Which has led to the single most successful run of Reigns' entire career and fans legitimately being so onboard with his "Tribal Chief" persona, they've supported a year long title reign that continues at the time of this entry.

** Reached an absolute tipping point for fans after [=WrestleMania=] 39. After killing off Drew's and Sami's lightning in a bottle moments, they managed to convert Sami's momentum into another moment with Kevin Owens and The Usos as part of the grander story of the cracks in The Bloodline, with the additional caveat of helping to set up Cody Rhodes to "finish the story" of both his personal quest to capture the gold his father never had and of the fall of the Roman Empire. Yet, one night after Owens and Zayn capture the tag titles from The Usos, supposedly detonating the powder keg...Roman wins to retain the title the exact same way he always does, with The Bloodline numbers game working seamlessly against Cody despite Sami and Kevin being there to stop The Usos. This would lead fans to wonder what the actual point of investing in a Reigns title match was anymore. To make matters worse, the events that immediately followed this decision were Wrestling/VinceMcMahon retaking full public power over WWE via the sale and merger to [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship the UFC]]'s parent company Endeavor, as well as WWE putting on what has widely been panned as the worst "''Raw'' After ''[=WrestleMania=]''" show in history. From there it's not a question of if the Bloodline eventually succumbed to this trope through baffling booking decisions, a repetitive story and match structure, and a lack of fan investment in Roman compared to the hot babyfaces he kept beating, but ''when''.
Many believe that, by the time Cody or anyone else actually gets to dethrone Reigns, the next-level "new champ energy" that WWE shot down on at least three occasions ''(including the one they were supposedly aiming for all along!)'' will be a distant memory at best.
*** Roman's title reign has become so long that WWE is forced to create a third world title for others to compete in, especially since Roman started to become a part-timer.

** Reached an absolute tipping point for fans after [=WrestleMania=] 39. After killing off Drew's and Sami's lightning in a bottle moments, they managed to convert Sami's momentum into another moment with Kevin Owens and The Usos as part of the grander story of the cracks in The Bloodline, with the additional caveat of helping to set up Cody Rhodes to "finish the story" of both his personal quest to capture the gold his father never had and of the fall of the Roman Empire. Yet, one night after Owens and Zayn capture the tag titles from The Usos, supposedly detonating the powder keg...Roman wins to retain the title the exact same way he always does, with The Bloodline numbers game working seamlessly against Cody despite Sami and Kevin being there to stop The Usos. This would lead fans to wonder what the actual point of investing in a Reigns title match was anymore. To make matters worse, the events that immediately followed this decision were Wrestling/VinceMcMahon retaking full public power over WWE via the sale and merger to [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship the UFC]]'s parent company Endeavor, as well as WWE putting on what has widely been panned as the worst "''Raw'' After ''[=WrestleMania=]''" show in history. Many believe that, by the time Cody or anyone else actually gets to dethrone Reigns, the next-level "new champ energy" that WWE shot down on at least three occasions ''(including the one they were supposedly aiming for all along!)'' will be a distant memory at best.

** For the first several years after Roman's FaceHeelTurn, many fans considered a match between him and his cousin [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] to be a Dream Match to determine the "True" Head of the Table. When Rock finally returned in early 2024 to challenge Reigns for the Undisputed Title at [=WrestleMania=] XL, it ended up bringing back ''both'' men's old XPacHeat due to fans being pissed about Rock taking Wrestling/CodyRhodes' Mania main event status, preferring to see Cody "finish the story" from the previous year's Mania main event with Roman rather than having two part-timers fight over the belt.

* HarsherInHindsight: The angle of Braun Strowman tipping over Roman Reigns in the ambulance and later telling Reigns that the next time they'll meet, "it will be [Reigns'] funeral". Too bad it had to happen a week before his brother Matthew "Rosey" Anoaʻi died.

* HilariousInHindsight: For detractors, at least. Rapper Monteasy Moore made a fan song about Reigns called "Heart of a Warrior" that has a lyric which says "Royal Rumble, I'm winnin', takin' the gold". In his six Rumble appearances thus far, Reigns was the last man eliminated by the winner in 2014, won the Rumble only to eat the pin in the main event at [=WrestleMania=] in 2015, lost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a failed title defense in the Rumble match in 2016, and was again the last man eliminated in the 2017, 2018, and 2020 Rumble match.

* PanderingToTheBase: For a good few years beginning around 2016, WWE's then latest strategy in attempting to get Roman over seemed to be rooted in this. First, it was the attempted reunion of Wrestling/TheShield (unfortunately derailed by Wrestling/DeanAmbrose getting injured), then it was having him repeat smark complaints about Wrestling/BrockLesnar never showing up to defend his Universal Championship (which would have worked better if Roman wasn't always the one getting the few shots at Lesnar that ''did'' happen and repeatedly coming up short). Then on his first ''Raw'' after finally winning the Universal Championship from Lesnar he declared his first act as champion would be to give a title shot to the inaugural Universal Champion who'd been injured while winning the belt and forced to relinquish it then never given a return shot- Wrestling/FinnBalor (a repeated complaint for several years had been "Finn never got his rematch!"), which certainly went over well. They then reunited The Shield again (Ambrose having recuperated and returned) after Roman beat Finn to foil Wrestling/BraunStrowman's attempt to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase on Roman. WWE seemed to be using Roman to pander to every smark complaint ''except'' for the ones about ''him...'' until, of course, came '''2020''', the year in which this trope would be played ''far straighter than anyone could have predicted'': '''[[CueTheFlyingPigs the year of Roman's Heel Turn as a Paul Heyman man.]]''' A Heel run that, to this day, has claimed nothing but critical acclaim.

** Reached an absolute tipping point for fans after [=WrestleMania=] 39. After killing off Drew's and Sami's lightning in a bottle moments, they managed to convert Sami's momentum into another moment with Kevin Owens and The Usos as part of the grander story of the cracks in The Bloodline, with the additional caveat of helping to set up Cody Rhodes to "finish the story" of both his personal quest to capture the gold his father never had and of the fall of the Roman Empire. Yet, one night after Owens and Zayn capture the tag titles from The Usos, supposedly detonating the powder keg...Roman wins to retain the title the exact same way he always does, with The Bloodline numbers game working seamlessly against Cody despite Sami and Kevin being there to stop The Usos. This would lead fans to wonder what the actual point of investing in a Reigns title match was anymore. To make matters worse, the events that immediately followed this decision were Wrestling/VinceMcMahon retaking full public power over WWE via the sale and merger to [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship the UFC]]'s parent company Endeavor, as well as WWE putting on what has widely been panned as the worst "''Raw'' After ''[=WrestleMania=]''" show in history. Many believe that, by the time Cody or anyone else actually gets to dethrone Reigns, the next-level "new champ energy" that WWE shot down on at least three occasions ''(including the one they were supposedly aiming for all along!)'' will be a distant memory at best. From there it's not a question of if the Bloodline eventually JumpedTheShark through baffling booking decisions, a repetitive story and match structure, and a lack of fan investment in Roman compared to the hot babyfaces he kept beating, but ''when''.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: His 2014-2019 face run had WWE do anything in their power to try and the crowd to love Reigns, with varying results:
** Wrestling/VinceMcMahon has literally tried ''everything'' to get Reigns over as the new face of the company, from being shilled by legends, to main eventers, to even ''Wrestling/PaulHeyman''. That's not even getting into late 2015, where he had Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} cash-in, in order to recreate the magic of the [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] storyline two years prior despite an anti-corporate underdog being the complete opposite of both Reigns's character and actual reality, which caused it to backfire.
** They seemingly succeeded in getting Reigns over after TLC. As it turns out, he didn't need to ''turn'' heel, he just needed to beat up people the crowd doesn't like, such as Wrestling/TheAuthority (in this case, Wrestling/TripleH), and the next night in Philadelphia (the very same city in which he was booed out of the building in ''Royal Rumble 2015'') actually ''cheered'' for him when, after being kicked in the groin by Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, he Superman Punched Vince, and going absolutely nuts when he won the title on ''Raw''.
** However, it later turned back around. The pops for him started to fade away in the weeks leading up to the 2016 ''Royal Rumble'', eventually culminating in him being viciously booed when he came in during the Royal Rumble match. From then on, he's gone from being cheered in Philadelphia to receiving tepid reactions once again.
** Things got even worse for Reigns with another case of an Author's Saving Throw that backfired, similar to the one in ''Survivor Series 2015''. On the February 22 edition of ''Raw'' in the smark city of Detroit and coming off the disastrous 2016 ''Fastlane'' PPV, every mention of his match with Triple H at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 32'' was met with unanimous boos. Worse still, to close the show Triple H came out after Reigns's match with Sheamus, and proceeded to give a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Reigns, having to be torn away from him by the referees due to the sheer brutality of his attack, his taped fist covered in Reigns's blood. So bad was the beating that the official clip of the attack is [[GoryDiscretionShot edited with a gray filter.]] The crowd response? Wildly cheering The Game, and after banging Reigns's head onto the announce table repeatedly (with "Yes!" chants in unison with the hits) and giving Reigns the [[FinishingMove Pedigree]] on the steel steps, received a standing ovation and chants of "One More Time! One More Time!" To say that Reigns's goodwill with the crowd is gone might be an understatement as even ''[[TargetDemographic the children]]'' were reportedly cheering for Triple H by the time Reigns was bleeding. One tweet from the official Twitter feed of Cageside Seats[[note]]An SB Nation offshoot that covers pro wrestling[[/note]] summed up that night like this: "If Triple H had pulled out a shotgun, that crowd would have been chanting 'PULL THE TRIGGER. Clap Clap Clap-Clap-Clap.'"
** After Reigns (inevitably) won the title in the main event of ''[=WrestleMania=] 32'', they've tried another one to build on the intense heat by having Reigns start each promo by saying that [[WildCard he's not a bad guy or good guy]], but he is ''the'' guy. So far? Nada, he's still being booed out of every arena. The smug delivery of that line on the ''Raw'' after 'Mania, and his equally smug expression toward all the would-be challengers for his title as they fought each other over who deserved the shot, left people hoping the much-needed heel turn had arrived. But turning the line into a catchphrase, toning down the smugness in every subsequent promo and continuing with conventional face booking of his matches dashed those hopes.
** WWE is now trying to spin this by telling audiences that fans boo Reigns because they ''like'' to boo Reigns, [[BlatantLies they don't really hate him]]. In essence, they're trying to say that Reigns is getting what Wrestling/KurtAngle used to get during his WWE run (and arguably what Wrestling/JohnCena gets now), but it isn't working simply because (A) fans actually liked Angle and Cena, and (B) LoveToHate is a reaction typically desired for a heel, not for a top babyface whose crowd reactions are routinely edited on taped shows and even muted on live shows.
** When Wrestling/SethRollins returned from injury and was thrust into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture, it put WWE in the unenviable position of having to try to book the largely disliked face Reigns against Rollins, who they wanted to keep as a heel but had already become something of a sympathetic figure with fans even before he had to take seven months off to rehab from a severe knee injury. Somewhat fortunately for them, Rollins's return was timed perfectly with the ''Money in the Bank'' PPV, which enabled them to TakeAThirdOption by having Wrestling/DeanAmbrose win the titular ladder match and cash in the contract after the Reigns[=/=]Rollins match at the end of the night, walking out of the PPV as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Ambrose, being arguably the most popular wrestler on the roster (he was probably the only wrestler on the roster that Rollins would be booed against, for numerous reasons) ''and'' a face (the top one after Reigns in fact, at least until Cena returned), was the perfect alternative choice.
** A legit successful attempt at a Saving Throw came on the RAW the night after ''Wrestling/SummerSlam 2018'' when newly-crowned Universal Champion Reigns announced he would be giving an immediate title shot to inaugural Universal Champion Wrestling/FinnBalor, who had been forced the relinquish the title the night after he'd won it due to injury and never given a rematch (a recurring complaint among fans ever since). Sure Roman won clean, but it at least addressed the complaints about the unfairness of Finn being denied the chance that was rightfully his and made Roman look good too.
** After the goodwill he got following his announcement of his Leukemia return (see AlasPoorScrappy above), after his return in 2019, WWE seems to have pulled a 180 on him. He hasn't main-evented a pay-per-view in months [[note]] His match at Wrestling/WrestleMania against Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre was in the middle of the show, at ''Extreme Rules'' his match was the opening bout and he wasn't even on the card for Wrestling/SummerSlam despite main eventing the previous year [[/note]] and has pretty much been kept out of the title picture. Yes, he still wins matches cleanly [[note]] His only pay-per-view loss to date was against Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon at the Saudi Arabian ''Super Show-Down'' which only happened because of interference from Drew. [[/note]] but they're mostly against wrestlers people don't care about, and some even show marked improvement[[note]]A match he had against Buddy Murphy, for example where he really made the latter look good[[/note]].
** All this being said, the real AuthorsSavingThrow didn't come until Roman returned at ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'' 2020 and finally made a FaceHeelTurn. On top of refreshing his character, it no longer restricted Roman on the mic, which only helped his improved promo skills. Combined with addition of Paul Heyman to further play up the danger and despicableness of his heel character, and Roman has quite likely started the best run of his career. The fans certainly seem to thinks so, at least.

*** Has a variation on Website/TikTok where people react to the finals of various other sports such as the Formula 1 Driver's Championship or the World Cup final and being surprised by Roman somehow winning that too.

** Reached an absolute tipping point for fans after [=WrestleMania=] 39. After killing off Drew's and Sami's lightning in a bottle moments, they managed to convert Sami's momentum into another moment with Kevin Owens and The Usos as part of the grander story of the cracks in The Bloodline, with the additional caveat of helping to set up Cody Rhodes to "finish the story" of both his personal quest to capture the gold his father never had and of the fall of the Roman Empire. Yet, one night after Owens and Zayn capture the tag titles from The Usos, supposedly detonating the powder keg...Roman wins to retain the title the exact same way he always does, with The Bloodline numbers game working seamlessly against Cody despite Sami and Kevin being there to stop The Usos. This would lead fans to wonder what the actual point of investing in a Reigns title match was anymore. To make matters worse, the events that immediately followed this decision were Wrestling/VinceMcMahon retaking full public power over WWE via the sale and merger to [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship the UFC]]'s parent company Endeavor, as well as WWE putting on what has widely been panned as the worst "''Raw'' After ''[=WrestleMania=]''" show in history. Many believe that, by the time Cody or anyone else actually gets to dethrone Reigns, the next-level "new champ energy" that WWE shot down on at least three occasions ''(including the one they were supposedly aiming for all along!)'' will be a distant memory at best.
*** Roman's tittle reigns has become so long that WWE is forced to create a third world title for others to compete in, especially since Roman started to become a part-timer.
*** That being said, when the Bloodline's story continued in full extent starting from the build up to the ''Night of Champions'' 2023, fans began to realize that Cody's involvement wasn't supposed to ''end'' the story, but rather pave the way for Wrestling/TheUsos' bigger involvement in the story... And judging by how ''hot'' the crowds are for every Bloodline-related segment even after the ''[=WrestleMania=]'' and "''Raw'' After ''[=WrestleMania=]''" debacles, it proved the doubters wrong (especially the smarks' doubts) as both casual fans ''and'' smarks are drawn back to the story in excitement to see what WWE has in store for the story.

* WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees:
** See the second entry of ReplacementScrappy. When the smarks prefer ''John Cena'' over you, something is definitely wrong. Reigns' push as the new face of the company for the past year has gone terribly so far and the fact that the company is ''still'' going along with it in spite of this has caused many to theorize (half-jokingly, half-not) that this is all one long, deliberate con on the part of Wrestling/VinceMcMahon to get Cena over with the IWC so that way he doesn't get booed when he inevitably wins his sixteenth world title. If that were honestly true, then that would make Vinnie Mac the biggest MagnificentBastard in the history of wrestling. If it isn't, then Vince has lost his goddamn mind. This ultimately became less and less heard of when Cena started reducing his schedule in WWE and it became clear that they were genuinely preparing Reigns as the new face of the company.
** For a while, there was a mildly popular theory that Wrestling/TripleH ''deliberately'' sabotaged Reigns' character so he could be over with the audience one last time when he won the title for ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 32''. This is disregarding the fact that Triple H had expressed no interest in holding the title again (outside of kayfabe, of course) and seems more than willing to put other, younger talent over. It died down as the storyline went on, as Triple H and Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon made numerous over-the-top and outright desperate attempts to get heat on themselves, up and including invoking ThisLoserIsYou during the weeks leading to the event (and during Triple H's entrance at ''[=WrestleMania=]'' itself) so Reigns could get over as a face, to the point that it was sad when all said attempts failed, and in some cases, actually managed to get Triple H face-heat.

** While seemingly more ruthless during his heel run, many has noted that the Tribal gimmick doesn't seem to be as strong as the Big Dog, especially after his first year as Universal Championship. Other than becoming a part timer like Brock who only defended his tittle once every few months, fans also note than Roman can hardly win without using a low blow (which he usually does while kicking out of a pin) or having his cousins interferring for him. In fact, Roman hasn't won a match without outside interference since June 17, 2022. This is jarring since Roman, back when he was a face or during the Shield's initial run, was known to be a OneManArmy but has now become a typical DirtyCoward heel who needed others to bail him out. This ended lowering Roman's credibility and hype as he his doesn't seem to be a adass InvincibleVillain like Lesnar or even Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

** While seemingly more ruthless during his heel run, many has noted that the Tribal gimmick doesn't seem to be as strong as the Big Dog, especially after his first year as Universal Championship. Other than becoming a part timer like Brock who only defended his tittle once every few months, fans also note than Roman can hardly win without using a low blow (which he usually does while kicking out of a pin) or having his cousins interferring for him. In fact, Roman hasn't won a match without outside interference since June 17, 2022. This actually lowers Roman's credibility and hype as instead of being build as a badass InvincibleVillain like Lesnar or even Hollywood Hulk Hogan, he is instead developed to be a typical DirtyCoward heel who needed others to bail him out.