Roman Reigns Will Evolve as a Top Babyface Despite Polarizing Response

Roman Reigns Will Evolve as WWE's Top Babyface Despite Polarizing Response

Credit: WWE.com

On a night where WWE drew a record crowd ^[1] of over 101,000, many of them booed Roman Reigns.

The response was expected, as negativity toward top babyfaces has come to define this generation. Reigns may never be the type of wrestler who stimulates hardcore fans. They've always had a propensity to enjoy a more physical, at-times reckless, style which makes them numb to the more diluted approach of WWE main eventers.

If the plan really is to soldier on with Reigns as a babyface, any boos will eventually become a term of endearment.

This is the same crowd that booed vociferously upon John Cena's return at WrestleMania 32. But as the crowd chanted "John Cena Sucks," something happened. Cena gleefully egged the fans on, waving his fingers like a conductor at an orchestra, as he basked in the rhythmically negative chants.

Cena's star power was never hindered by his polarizing nature. He is one of the biggest merchandise movers of all time, babyface pop or not.

Tonight I gained 20 followers, then lost them when I defended Roman Reigns. Better they find out now I guess.
— aubrey sitterson (@aubreysitterson) April 4, 2016 ^[4]

In fact, Cena is a trailblazer for the present-day babyface. The loudest boos come from the most passionate fans, most of whom will follow WWE's product religiously and will never stop watching. This was made clear when WWE announced it had cleared one million subscribers ^[5] immediately following the short-lived #CancelWWENetwork ^[6] campaign.

This is why WWE shrugged off an overwhelmingly negative reception at WrestleMania 22 and stayed the course with Cena as one of the longest-tenured good guys in history.

The fact that Reigns received a similar response is a sign of the times, and as Reigns learns to accept these reactions, it will be easier to render them as empty as a fanatic's threat to quit wrestling.

Cena did not treat tonight's boos with discomfort. He enjoyed them. He clearly missed them. And why not? To be a lightning rod for such a response is something only the biggest stars can pull off.

There's no enticing debate all over the Internet about Cesaro because people it's clear that he'll never be at that level. After a lukewarm run where he was unable to stand on equal footing with former manager Paul Heyman, his ceiling was defined.

Many will argue that Reigns winning the WWE Championship amid loud boos is evidence that WWE doesn't listen to (hardcore) fans. Hogwash.

Roman Reigns could receive a hot tag from Jesus Christ and would still be booed out of the building #WrestleMania ^[9]
— JDfromNY (@JDfromNY206) April 4, 2016 ^[10]

WWE spent the past two WrestleManias trying to win the hipster vote. Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins, who each left WrestleManias 30 and 31 as world champion respectively, fit the mold of the workhorses that are blindly supported by the homogeneous Internet Wrestling Community.

After over a decade of overly physical wrestling, Daniel Bryan was forced to retire and Rollins is currently recovering from a serious knee injury.

It's WWE's turn to steer the ship. By showing up to AT&T Stadium in record numbers for WrestleMania, fans proved that they're not all that outraged with Roman Reigns in the main event.

Roman Reigns has done everything he needs to deserve this moment. Those who boo him don't understand this business. pic.twitter.com/nFymHFI6iX ^[11]
— Dameon Nelson (@DameonNelson) April 4, 2016 ^[12]

Reigns simply needs to chalk moment like these up to the era that he's in, just as Cena does. On a recent episode of The PodNasty Wrestling Podcast ^[13], WWE artist Rob Schamberger recently told me that Reigns is consistently his best-selling subject. Reigns' episode of Canvas 2 Canvas drew a series-high 329,000, more than Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose combined.

Poor Cesaro has yet to even have an episode.

There's clearly a business upside to Reigns' current run as a babyface. And, like Cena, any loud booing that comes with such a polarizing figure will eventually become music to Reigns' ears.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes ^[14]. Like^[15] him on Facebook.