AVM Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Not a Roman fan personally, but I’ll cut him some slack. The WWE’s target audience is so vast than you can’t possibly appease everyone. In this case, the vocal part of the audience, the real hardcore fans generally don’t like him, however the kids love him, he sells a fuck tonne of merch, I appreciate how WWE have concluded they need to push him to the moon. Personally, though, as I say, he’s not for me and generally WWE as a product isn’t really for me anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambulance Chaser Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Best bit is how they pretend they don't care and "any reaction is a good reaction". Weird how they pipe in cheers and or mute the boo's isn't it if it don't matter. Vince aint fooling anybody he literally paces the house at 3am fuming that Roman isn't universally over as a babyface. Never ever gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Dem Wanz Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 My God that Braun and Elias segment was the best thing I’ve seen on Raw in ages - fucking kudos to whoever had that idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members mim731 Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 I love that week-on-week Braun is adding more facets to his character. Handled wrong that segment could have made him look ridiculous, but he added some comedic chops, alongside the brutality and still looked strong coming out of the segment. He just seems to get it. At the pace of improvement/growth he's currently going at, if Braun's not the top guy in WWE by the end of the year I'll be quite surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 To further highlight the might of Braun, he's somehow managed to get something as shit as "Get These Hands" over with every crowd. Decent show, this week. Helped tremendously by a crowd that was into almost everything. They ended on a cliffhanger too, which was nice surprise. Just a shame I couldn't give a care about Rollins and Balor at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 6 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said: They ended on a cliffhanger too, which was nice surprise. Just a shame I couldn't give a care about Rollins and Balor at all. They've spoiled the cliffhanger by just announcing that both will be in a 7 man chamber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members mim731 Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 I suppose it makes sense, with Jason Jordan out until after Mania I assume that leads to Rollins vs Balor given neither have anything going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 (edited) Imagine someone telling you a year or two ago that the best guys on Raw would eventually be The Drifter and Braun Strowman. Fantastic segment. Fuck the plan. Put the belt on Braun at Mania. Edited February 13, 2018 by Supremo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakashi Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 The boos for Roman is just a gimmick for the shifty fans to make themselves feel part if the show. Nothing will change that, short of a heel turn so they think they won. As much as good fans make the product better, these fuckwits make it worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestryka Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Do we think that the kind of heat that Roman (and too an extent Cena still gets) is exclusive to this era? Thinking back a few years I can't remember anyone else who was being portrayed as a face getting so actively booed. During the Attitude Era I guess we had a lot more "cool" tweener characters that the crowd could get behind, but it didnt feel like any of them were being forced on you as "the guy", things seem to feel more organic. Whereas I think now we are very much told who we SHOULD cheer for rather than letting personalities shine through. I guess time will tell, but it seems at the moment that Elias has a good chance of transitioning into a babyface organically as he gets the crowd behind him, which inevitably means they will ensure he remains a heel whether we like it or not. There was a similar thing a couple of years ago with Bray where the crowd really started to root for him and he seemed to be reacting to it, however, as it didnt fit the company vision his character just remained dull and now everyone is sick of him. On the current roster I think there are a few natural transitions they could make, the biggest being turning Reigns, but I just can't see them doing it. Alongside reigns I could also see: Samoa Joe > Face Balor > Heel Elias > Face Rusev > Face Sure that could be a topic all in itself. I'm sure there are many other examples. I think all in all it's just a case of Vince/Hunter believing they know what we want better than we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyGraham Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 If they'd pushed forward with Lex in the early 90's would that have made the product better? Fans SHOULDN'T cheer someone they're not positively invested in. There are reasons to be behind Roman, he can go well enough and you could see even in developmental that he was the absolute prototype for a main eventer in WWE. The Roman Reigns character though has been historically booked terribly and it doesn't help that he did his best to convince everyone he's a massive ballbag outside of kayfabe in the run up to WM31. I'm resigned to him. I don't feel strongly either way now but I don't feel obliged to cheer a guy just because he's on top. I wouldn't do it for Hogan or Lex in the early 90's and I won't do it now. I don't think that makes me a bad fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 7 minutes ago, stevestryka said: Do we think that the kind of heat that Roman (and too an extent Cena still gets) is exclusive to this era? Thinking back a few years I can't remember anyone else who was being portrayed as a face getting so actively booed. Not entirely, but it's MUCH more common and widespread now. Places like New York and Toronto were renowned for going against the grain sometimes. The white meat babyface HBK being booed against Sid at Survivor Series 96 in MSG for instance, and although a different example given the nationalities, anyone going up against the Harts whilst they were heel in Canada. This has grown as the fanbase has evolved to become more smart mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestryka Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 26 minutes ago, BrodyGraham said: If they'd pushed forward with Lex in the early 90's would that have made the product better? Fans SHOULDN'T cheer someone they're not positively invested in. There are reasons to be behind Roman, he can go well enough and you could see even in developmental that he was the absolute prototype for a main eventer in WWE. The Roman Reigns character though has been historically booked terribly and it doesn't help that he did his best to convince everyone he's a massive ballbag outside of kayfabe in the run up to WM31. I'm resigned to him. I don't feel strongly either way now but I don't feel obliged to cheer a guy just because he's on top. I wouldn't do it for Hogan or Lex in the early 90's and I won't do it now. I don't think that makes me a bad fan. A well written and compelling argument...a very fair point as well. Kudos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 36 minutes ago, PunkStep said: Not entirely, but it's MUCH more common and widespread now. Places like New York and Toronto were renowned for going against the grain sometimes. The white meat babyface HBK being booed against Sid at Survivor Series 96 in MSG for instance, and although a different example given the nationalities, anyone going up against the Harts whilst they were heel in Canada. This has grown as the fanbase has evolved to become more smart mark. Yeah. It's really nothing new. Everyone from Sting to The Rock to Hulk Hogan have had cities and periods where a section of the fan base turned on their babyface act - noticeably so. Of course, it shows that it means nowt in terms of box office, because Hogan and Rock were still massive at the time (as is Cena). We don't think about Hogan or Rock getting booed to hell because WCW and WWE read the mood and decided to turn them heel before it got too toxic. It's worth noting that Rock and Hogan managed to get the fans back onside after doing some of their best work in years being entertaining heel, which freshened their act up no end. Hollywood Rock being one of the most entertaining heel run a wrestler has ever had. It's why a lot of fans constantly think a heel turn could sort Reigns out, which is never a guarantee, but if he does the schtick that he did against 'Taker last year I doubt he'll struggle too much. Honestly, I think a big part of why fans still give Cena grief is it's now as much a part of the show as chanting "YES!" when Daniel Bryan turns up. Some fans turn up to boo Cena because that's what you do. Of course, a minority are still on the "you can't wrestle" bandwagon, but they probably wank into their sock while thinking of that time they paid £50 to meet that young Bayley fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 13, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted February 13, 2018 37 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said: We don't think about Hogan or Rock getting booed to hell because WCW and WWE read the mood and decided to turn them heel before it got too toxic. The Rock is a perfect example, so much that I completely forgot about him when I was providing examples earlier! But at the time, from WrestleMania 18 up until his eventual heel turn, the crowd were increasingly against him. There were a few pivotal moments, but it wouldn't surprise me if the match against Brock at Summerslam 2002 was when they finally decided to change direction with him when he would next return. The funny thing is, and I really think the same would happen if they turn Reigns and if they had turned Cena years ago, as soon as The Rock returned as a heel he was over like rover. The crowd at Mania 19 (if memory serves) were split between him and babyface Austin and at Backlash the crowd were firmly behind him against Goldberg. The Rock was entertaining as hell during that heel run, and you know Cena would've been exactly the same had he turned at the peak of the backlash against him. Do you know what fan reaction I really hate, because of how nonsensical it is? The crowd chanting 'you suck' OUT OF RESPECT (as per the announcers) at Kurt Angle, with him lapping it up as though he's hearing 'you deserve it' in another language. It's fucking barmy. A great example for the Wrestling Without Context account on Twitter. How on earth do you explain that to the average Joe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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