Analyzing the Power of the Boo at WWE Events

The audience's boos can shape the WWE landscape much like wind erosion changes the face of the desert over time. Narratives and characters have changed course, with negative fan reaction acting as the catalyst. 

Pro wrestling reacts and responds to the fans. Plans get scrapped; heroes morph into villains.

It's that same power that many fans want to employ now, trying to push Roman Reigns off his throne and make room for someone else.

WWE, though, has seen a disconnect between the negativity aimed at Reigns and the money it is putting in its bank. While there has certainly been a history of booing inspiring change, it's hard to hear even the loudest jeers when the company is busy counting up record money.

Steering Storylines

In 2014, fans altered the WrestleMania card. A steady chorus of boos beginning at the conclusion of the Royal Rumble that year inspired WWE to rethink its plan.

Batista had returned from a four-year absence; his star power had since increased thanks to a surging movie career. WWE wanted to paint him as a triumphant babyface who battled his way back to the main event.

He outlasted the rest of the Rumble field, but instead of getting a hero's welcome, the Pittsburgh crowd fiercely booed him. 

Writing for the Baltimore Sun, Aaron Oster noted, "I can't remember a time when fans, both the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) and your 'common fans' were so unified against what was happening in the ring."

That booing continued as Batista appeared on Raw and SmackDown. It continued until WWE decided that it couldn't move forward with the planned WrestleMania headliner of Batista vs. Randy Orton. Daniel Bryan would take on Triple H to decide who would be the third combatant in that title fight.

Had fans simply responded to Batista with mild enthusiasm, WWE wouldn't have had Bryan beat The Game en route to creating a hugely memorable moment where he toppled The Authority at WrestleMania. It would have just had Batista take on Orton. Booing drove that departure from the script.

The 2015 Royal Rumble match ended much like the previous one.

Reigns won, but the fans refused to treat him like a babyface. Boos filled Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

The reaction was so strong that WWE wouldn't ignore it. On Raw afterward, it folded that reality into its storyline. Reigns addressed the negative reaction.

The Big Dog's tale then became about proving his doubters wrong. That included colliding with Big Show and beating Bryan at Fastlane.

And one has to imagine that the stream of boos that accompanied Reigns along that journey inspired WWE to throw the curveball that ended WrestleMania 31. Rather than crown Reigns, who fans had pushed back against so hard, Seth Rollins entered the fight via his Money in the Bank contract and seized the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a stunning move.

In both cases, WWE adjusted on the fly. Much of that can be attributed to the message fans sent by booing.

The raucous positive reactions for Bryan played their part, too. Had Dean Ambrose earned the kind of thunderous chants that Bryan did ahead of WrestleMania 30, WWE would have been more inclined to have him and Reigns switch places at this year's WrestleMania.

Instead, WWE went forward with the elevate-Reigns strategy. But booing looks to be altering just how that character is.

A Shift in Character

If a babyface garners no reaction, it's likely that wrestler will tumble down the card. If instead that wrestler earns the crowd's venom, getting booed every night, WWE will often take note and use that to its advantage.

During his time at NXT, Bo Dallas was at first supposed to be a spirited and inspirational fan favorite. The act bombed. It got to the point where fans began to turn their backs when he appeared in the ring.

Scott Fishman of the Miami Herald noted how Dallas was hearing the kind of boos John Cena so often did:

That didn't convince WWE to shelve Dallas. Rather, his alignment changed. He continued to be the same character, only his defining traits were used to portray him as a grating heel. 

A run as NXT champ soon followed.

Fans rejected The New Day so soundly that WWE flipped its strategy with that group as well. Early on, Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston tried to get the crowd behind them by clapping and preaching positivity.

As 2015 began, audiences chanted "New Day sucks!" during the trio's matches, as PWTorch's Benjamin Tucker pointed out: 

A move toward villainy was imminent, as was two reigns as tag team champions. The New Day took what fans viewed as annoying and corny and used that as a foundation for what became a red-hot heel act. Booing kick-started that transition; the improved version of The New Day was a response to the audible criticism sent the group's way.

The Rock knows just how the tag team champs feel.

As Rocky Maivia, a straight-laced babyface with his thumbs up and a saccharine smile on his face, he couldn't get the fans to pull for him. Fans booed him to no end, a reaction that eventually led him to turn heel.

In a recent Instagram post, The Rock detailed that experience, remembering how much pushback he received during his first WrestleMania match:

This is where booing is most effective. It sends a clear signal that the crowd isn't buying a wrestler as a fan favorite. The rejection has time and again motivated WWE to turn these grapplers heel.

And in several cases, it has led to Superstars improving their game and reaching their full potential. Without the outright rejection Maivia received, there's no telling if The Rock would have ever been born. Had fans simply not responded to The New Day, the group may never have found its groove.

That process looks to be in the works for Reigns.

He continues to get booed as a supposed babyface. However, the champ has become more smug over time. He seems to care less about how fans feel about him.

That all appears to be foreshadowing of a heel turn, a move that would make Reigns the latest example of how booing impacts the product.

Limitations

Despite Reigns so often receiving a negative reaction, WWE had him chasing the WWE title at WrestleMania. The company making him the headliner had many predicting a disaster.

Brian Gulish, co-host of Chair Shot Reality, was among those awaiting a storm of boos for Reigns:

Boos did make up a big part of the soundtrack to The Big Dog's title victory that night. It didn't matter.

WrestleMania was so financially successful that WWE could easily justify ignoring the crowd backlash. What kind of power does booing have when it's done after one pays for a seat and buys a T-shirt? 

AT&T Stadium hosted the largest WrestleMania crowd ever.

WWE announced that WrestleMania 32 was "the highest-grossing live event in WWE history at $17.3 million." It also broke the record for netting the most merchandise revenue ($4.55 million) and was seen in a record 1.82 million homes worldwide.

Fans keep asking why WWE isn't listening to the message they are sending via boos, but there's another message that is speaking more loudly. All that dough rolling in and all those eyes on the product are what ultimately matter.

If crowds were to stop going to WrestleMania, if WWE was struggling to fill arenas for Raw each Monday, it would force the company to re-evaluate which stars it has on top. Right now, there's no incentive to do that.

The numbers say that Reigns as champion isn't hurting the bottom line. The numbers say that fans may complain and boo, but they do so from the comfort of paid seats.

John Cena has long been the recipient of boos.

A vocal portion of the crowd has pushed for WWE to put someone else in his spot. Yet, he has remained there for a decade. All the T-shirts he sells and all the seats he fills drowns out the boos.

Absence is ultimately more powerful than booing.

Still, WWE clearly does take negative reactions into account. Failed babyfaces will continue to be converted into heels thanks to booing. Tweaks to cards will continue to happen, too.

Booing is a weapon that fans wield, but it's not an all-powerful one, and it's one offset by what fans pull from their wallets.