Five ways the WWE missed the boat with Roman Reigns

WWE Fastlane win over Daniel Bryan

Compare Reigns ‘experience in the 2015 Royal Rumble to that of the 2014 Royal Rumble and they are diametrically opposed from one another. In 2014 he was being cheered as fans hoped he would take the victory and head to main event the biggest show on earth. One year later those feelings turned 180 as fans hoped that Reigns wouldn’t win the Rumble – but that is exactly what they received. Fans were pulling for a victory by Daniel Bryan but when he was casually dumped over the top rope, the revolt began. Reigns’s victory was met with disgust but the situation didn’t end there.

In an attempt to help “correct” the situation, Reigns was paired against Bryan at Fastlane the following month; with the storyline that Reigns had to defeat the former champion to keep his main event slot. Not only did he defeat Bryan, but Bryan then did a monologue the next night; putting Reigns over as the top star. It was clear that this was a mandated delivery in hopes that Bryan’s co-signing of Reigns would be enough to get him over with the fans. It wasn’t. In fact, the reaction was worse than expected.

In the eyes of many people, the saving moment from WrestleMania that year was Seth Rollins hitting the curb stomp on Reigns to steal the victory after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase. That set a path for Rollins to become one of the most over stays in the company and kept the title off of Reigns for a bit longer.