Public image of Roman Reigns

Reigns debuted on the WWE main roster in November 2012 (having performed in its developmental system since 2010) as part of a faction called "The Shield" and was well-received by critics.

Support began to dwindle upon Reigns's transition to a heroic main event singles act in 2014, largely due to his perceived forced push.

[1] During the early stage of his career as a top star, WWE fans took issue with Reigns over various reasons: his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, wrestling moveset, speaking skills and character presentation.

[9][10] Anoaʻi stated that the negative reception stemmed from jealousy over his "major success",[11] and he mocked those who questioned if he deserved his fictional role,[12] discounted critiques from non-wrestlers,[13] and declared that he would not change to appease his critics.

[14] Anoa'i saw an improved reception from critics and fans from summer 2020 when he turned heel and took on the "Tribal Chief" persona, leading the Bloodline faction.

"[18] While in NXT (the new developmental system) during 2012, Roman Reigns' character was described as a "businessman" who was "always dressed to impress" and viewed himself as "the most valuable commodity in WWE".

[31][32] Reigns' win of WWE's 2014 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award garnered surprise to the point of accusations of vote-rigging, although both Dave Meltzer and Pro Wrestling Insider alleged the fan vote was legitimate.

[33][34] Writers from the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter criticized Reigns in 2014 and 2015, for a "very limited" in-ring moveset,[35] "forced promo delivery"[36] and a "petulant and annoyed" attitude ill-befitting of a top fan favorite.

[46][47] From late 2014 to early 2015, various critics raised concerns that Reigns, despite being "not fully ready", was "being pushed too hard, too soon" while WWE tried to make him their next "flagship star", "no matter how fans reacted".

[51] At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, Pro Wrestling Torch described Reigns as needing security for his entrance while receiving "universal boos" and middle fingers.

[53][54] Despite the fan backlash in early 2015, critics praised Reigns' performances at Fastlane, WrestleMania 31 and Extreme Rules as exceeding expectations[55][56][57][58] while the negative reactions continued at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam.

[80][81][82] Meanwhile, during interviews promoting WrestleMania 32, Anoa'i acknowledged the fan backlash, but declared that WWE is a "kids show" and that he was not wrestling to impress "grown men" who boo him.

[86] In April, Pro Wrestling Dot Net reported that WWE "went out of their way to use [the charity] Make A Wish in hopes of getting [Reigns] over as a good guy".

Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch said that WWE was damaging its product by associating Reigns with "really good" and "popular" performers in a "hapless attempt" to get him over.

[99] In November, Fin Martin of Power Slam remarked: "Vince [McMahon] has successfully trained or retrained most of his audience to consume what he is serving.

[48][104] In January 2017, Pro Wrestling Torch began their weekly "Monday Night Reigns-o-meter", which monitored his "ability to beat the odds and come out on top".

[108] Keller also scolded Reigns and WWE for publicly claiming they are happy with any crowd reaction for Reigns, whether positive or negative, describing such statements as "insincere" and "spin" since they "turn the volume down; they seek out fans who are cheering him; they doctor footage to make it seem like fans are cheering him when they're not ... they manipulate in every way that they can to make it seem like he's not getting a negative reaction".

[110] Fans had anticipated other surprise entrants including Finn Bálor, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kenny Omega—international media outlets noted that this drew "This is bullshit!"

[133] Keller's colleague Tom Colohue noted that "everybody wants [Reigns] to fail", but applauded his "simple, effective promo" that was "probably the best work Roman's ever done on the mic".

[134] In March 2017, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE's long term plans ("which obviously could change") for 2018's WrestleMania 34 was to "once again build for a year and have the big coronation" for Reigns, who would still be a heroic character "between now and then" and beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship "to fully replace John Cena as the face of the company",[135] while the "idea" for Lesnar's role "for this year now" was "to become a monster, be unbeatable, run through everybody, beat them with one F-5 and then lose to Roman Reigns".

[139] Critics reported that after the match, WWE "did clearly turn down the sound" from the audience "and then they hit the pyro", but boos were still heard during a break in Reigns' music being played.

[155][156] In September on Raw, both (storyline) general manager Kurt Angle and commentator Corey Graves described Reigns as a wrestling "icon".

[170][171][172] Brian Campbell and Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports wrote that it was "just impossible to ignore how poorly WWE continues to treat its own fanbase ... this has escalated to the point where the psychology and storyline simply makes no sense in ways that can't be good for business".

Meanwhile, Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch criticised Anoa'i for arguing that he deserves his push due to hard work and winning many titles.

Keller pointed out that Anoa'i "doesn't work harder than dozens of other colleagues, yet he acts as if he's special", and that Reigns' title wins were "granted by Vince McMahon.

After beating Bálor, Reigns was again heavily booed by the crowd, which increased in intensity after the match when Braun Strowman attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank title shot.

[190] Reigns participated in a six-man tag team match along with Ambrose and Rollins against Corbin, Lashley and McIntyre in the exclusive pay-per-view show, WWE The Shield's Final Chapter on April 21.

This sparked criticism among journalists who claimed that if the company was trying to make Reigns the franchise player, losing it to McMahon (who is not a full-time wrestler) hurt his aura even more.

[203][204] By the end of 2021, some critics began to complain that Reigns' new character had grown stale, with Sam Fels of Deadspin writing that "WWE has built no credible challengers for him".

Fans also expressed annoyance that WWE relied on older, part-time wrestlers such as Edge, John Cena and Brock Lesnar to challenge Reigns for his universal title, while neglecting younger and full-time talent.