WWE Rumors: Roman Reigns Being Built Up as Babyface Being Screwed by Management

It's no secret WWE fans have been slow to jump aboard the Roman Reigns bandwagon in the way WWE has wanted, and a large reason for that might be down to execution.

Wrestling Observer Radio's Dave Meltzer (h/t Aaron Varble of WrestlingNews.co) reported the company is trying to portray Reigns as an underdog fighting insurmountable odds.

"They are trying to tell the story, and I cannot believe it because they've been trying for a couple of months," Meltzer said. "But they're still trying to tell the story that he is Daniel Bryan and management is screwing him over and that's why he's not the champion, but nobody buys it."

WWE seemingly teased as much in March, when Reigns confronted WWE chairman Vince McMahon at the gorilla position backstage on Raw over his frustrations with how he felt WWE was given universal champion Brock Lesnar special treatment. McMahon then told Renee Young he suspended Reigns:

The company also tried this story in the buildup to WrestleMania 32. McMahon made Reigns defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the 2016 Royal Rumble match, and he lost the title to Triple H. Reigns got his revenge in the main event of WrestleMania.

Treating Reigns like he's somebody constantly held back by management fails for a number of reasons, most obvious is because he continues to be positioned in the title picture on a regular basis. Even when Reigns lost cleanly to Lesnar at WrestleMania 34, he was granted a rematch for the Universal Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble, another match he lost clean.

There's also the fact Reigns is essentially the perfect ideal of what a WWE star should be. He's a solid in-ring competitor with good looks and an even better physique. Reigns carries on the tradition of guys like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock and John Cena.

Compare that to Bryan, whose 5'10", 210-pound frame was famously highlighted by Stephanie McMahon as a reason he'd forever be a B-plus star rather than the face of the company:

Should WWE continue to paint Reigns as an underdog, it will run into the problem Bleacher Report's Dave Schilling noted Sunday night after Reigns' win over Samoa Joe at Backlash:

That distinction is why WWE fans cheered for Reigns to win the 2014 Royal Rumble and then booed him out of the building when he did win the Rumble match a year later.

Nothing about Reigns' rise to the top has felt organic. The Shield broke up in June 2014, and almost immediately Reigns became a world-title contender—a position he has generally held ever since then.

By maintaining its current course with Reigns, WWE is doing the former world champion no favors.