WWE Gradually Restoring Fans' Faith in Roman Reigns with Booking

These days, six weeks is a long time in the world of professional wrestling, let alone six months.

It's been almost half a year since fans practically booed Roman Reigns out of Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center after winning the 2015 Royal Rumble. WWE fans were visibly and collectively disillusioned by his rapid push to the main event at WrestleMania 31, leaping over talent such as Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt and even former Shield compatriots Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.

The night after the Royal Rumble showed no signs of fans letting up on Reigns despite his win. Difficult promos involving Reigns attempting to force himself over in the eyes of WWE fans littered The Road to WrestleMania 31, and it wasn't working. 

That's why at WrestleMania 31, Brock Lesnar went into the match as the overwhelming favorite in the eyes of WWE fans, and when Reigns did not emerge victorious, it felt like a victory for his critics.

But since that night, WWE has gradually started to alter the way it's booked Reigns, and it's slowly restored him to a Superstar worthy of appreciation from WWE fans. 

It's important to look back at why Reigns was so underappreciated, though, before we can begin to examine how the problem has been corrected by those booking his fortunes. When The Shield split in the middle of last year, it was obvious that Reigns looked like a future main event star.

He had the look, the athleticism and his performances inside the ring were capturing the imagination of WWE fans. You only have to look at how he performed at Survivor Series in 2013 and even the 2014 Royal Rumble to see how into Reigns WWE fans were.

But Reigns never felt totally ready to make the main event leap. Suddenly, around the turn of this year, his matches became littered with similar endings, very little depth and it became painfully obvious that Reigns was being pushed too fast, too soon.

In a bid to make him seem like the complete package, the WWE forced Reigns to cut promos he wasn't ready to deliver following his Royal Rumble win. Seeing someone being pushed who clearly isn't ready doesn't sit well with WWE fans.

Then there's his win-loss record in the first part of 2015. Per ProFightDB.com, out of every single match Reigns competed in before WrestleMania 31 (including on TV, dark main events and any live shows) Reigns lost just twice in 58 bouts.

It took little over a month for Reigns to lose twice after 'Mania, and they were both on episodes of Raw, the company's flagship show. It wasn't a huge change in his win-loss ratio, but it was a sign that things needed to change for Reigns to go over.

The fact that, after WrestleMania 31, Reigns also began to look less and less invincible also helped his fortunes. The Authority took the approach it took with Daniel Bryan and began to throw each and every obstacle it had at him to try and make him retreat. 

A couple of losses on pay-per-view, including one at Payback for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, also helped fans buy back into the Reigns character, as it took away the feeling of him being  forced down fans' throats. Throw in that excellent Last Man Standing match against Big Show as well, and suddenly, Reigns had started to become more and more appealing.

But above all else, the last couple of months have been more about Reigns rebuilding himself slightly lower down the card. He's no longer the guy who is being thrust into the main event scene for little or no apparent reason; he's working good, solid feuds further down the card.

The allegiance with Dean Ambrose, who was perhaps the most popular guy in WWE at the time, also played a big role in getting fans back on Reigns' side. He wasn't stealing Ambrose's limelight—he was just doing what all good babyfaces do: help their friend out when they need it.

And now that we're just days away from his match against Bray Wyatt at Battleground, it's like Reigns has gone full circle in his relationship with WWE fans. We even saw Wyatt bring out the "old" Roman Reigns on Raw this past week, when the Samoan Superman attacked Wyatt without any provocation.

It was like watching Reigns during his days as a member of The Shield again; there was no cleanliness about him—just the no-nonsense aggressor WWE fans loved while he was working alongside Rollins and Ambrose. That's a trait WWE Creative would be wise exploit further in the coming weeks, as it's one that suits Reigns down to the ground.

It will take time for most fans to get back on his side, and some may never forget the needless push and the irrelevant promo work that limped along. But Roman Reigns' booking is making him more and more appealing as the weeks go on, and if the early signs of his feud with Wyatt are anything to go by, the slow-burner approach may pay off in the coming months.