Today, Roman Reigns is one of the most beloved superstars in the WWE.
As many will know, though, that wasn’t always the case. Before the Big Dog was diagnosed with leukemia, fans often made it known they had a strong disdain for his character and his push.
Since coming back from that illness, Reigns has managed to win over large sections of the WWE universe and, for the most part, he’s been kept out of the world title picture.
Seth Rollins appears to be the man that has inherited Reigns’ unwanted throne with the fans and he has received considerable backlash in recent months.
Much of that stems from a few tweets that he has sent, but Reigns thinks the only way Rollins can turn the corner with the fans is by doing the work in the ring.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Reigns says Rollins knows what to do.
“We’ve talked very briefly but just the way with our travel, it’s really separated us,” he said.
“We’re both out to conquer but we have to hold it down for our respective sides. With Seth, he knows what to do. He knows what to do in the ring and how to carry himself. It’s just a matter of riding it out.”
“This is a situation where sometimes it’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ You just have to go out the next night and kill it and continue to kill it. That’s all that matters – just bust your ass and work hard.
“The cream always rises to the top and that’s something Cena told me a long time ago.
“Don’t go out there and stink it up. Have a good match and at the end of the day our fans are passionate but they have respect for what we do…”
“Seth is a pro wrestling guy and he’s never going to go anywhere. He’s always had the dream of WWE and a little bit of a roller coaster isn’t gonna scare him away.”
Many would argue that in 2018, Rollins was WWE’s top guy. The fans were certainly ready to see him win the Royal Rumble and then beat Brock Lesnar – no one complained.
However, since then, WWE’s booking of has been questionable – see long-running Baron Corbin feud and partnering with real-life fiance Becky Lynch – and putting him against The Fiend, who is meant to be a heel but is the coolest character in wrestling to WWE fans, was never going to end well.
Rollins has been able to play the babyface he needs to and WWE are learning that the hard way. And yet, it doesn’t seem like they’re going to change direction any time soon.