Roman Reigns should be a WWE megastar, complete with thunderous cheers welcoming his arrival each night.
In spite of his good looks, impressive physical gifts and a growing resume of top-notch matches, he's not anything close to that. A good chunk of the audience continues to reject him. Fans spit online vitriol at him.
That wasn't always the case. As the muscle for the black-clad badasses known as The Shield, Reigns enjoyed far more favorable reactions.
When he charged at the enemy and laid them out with a spear, WWE fans roared in approval. He was a squared-circle superhero and treated as such.
So, what happened? How did his push to the top become so painful? Why did crowds turn on him?
The short answer is he wasn't Daniel Bryan. The longer version details a shift in attitude as his prominence grew and as WWE missed out on chances to anoint Bryan, the sawed-off, bearded people's champion.
Reigns began his WWE career as one-third of the white-hot faction The Shield.
Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins barreled into the WWE world at the close of Survivor Series 2012. The group proved unstoppable, both in how the company booked them and how popular they became.
As they knocked off superteams left and right, Ambrose and Rollins did more of the talking. Reigns played the mostly silent gladiator.
His overflowing passion and high impact were a hit.
But soon fans realized WWE was prepping the throne for him. Chunks of the crowd preferred to see the indy-hardened Rollins and Ambrose or the everyman Bryan take that spot.
In many minds, Reigns wasn't yet ready for a top-tier position, but he marched toward it anyway.
Reigns and Rollins captured the Tag Team Championship. At Survivor Series 2013, The Juggernaut tied an event-record four eliminations in one match. He made history two months later, ousting a record 12 Superstars in one night at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
That's where the tone of his story changed.
Jan. 26, 2014: Royal Rumble
Fans had fully fallen in love with Bryan at this point. Reactions to his triumphs were at a volume we had not heard in years.
Still, WWE underestimated his popularity.
The crowd wanted badly to see Bryan win the Rumble and earn his spot in the WrestleMania main event. It was the result that made the most sense, but WWE didn't even put him in the match. He wrestled Bray Wyatt earlier in the night, and when Rey Mysterio dashed out as the final contest in the Battle Royal, the beloved luchador heard boos.
The company chose to script a victory for the returning Batista, who had been away for four years making movies.
When Batista stood in the corner to celebrate his win, chaos broke out in the audience. Boos echoed in the arena. Fans cursed. Anger pulsated.
As Pro Wrestling Illustrated put it, WWE simply didn't give fans what they wanted:
That decision would cut out Reigns' legs from under him a year later.
June 2, 2014: The Shield Implodes
A chair shot to Reigns' back sent him on a solo mission from that point forward.
Rollins signaled the end of The Shield by cracking the steel weapon against his brothers' spines. The Architect broke up the faction in order to join forces with Triple H, the rebel becoming one of the tyrants.
For Reigns, it meant existing outside of the comfort of The Shield.
He didn't have as obvious a direction as his old allies. Lady J wrote for FightBooth, "When the dust settled on the end of The Shield, Rollins was a newly crowned Prince, Ambrose was a wild man seeking revenge, and it was Reigns who was left to wander, without a real purpose."
Aug. 17, 2014: SummerSlam
Reigns battled Randy Orton in his first major singles match.
Many wondered what The Big Dog would look like on his own on such a grand stage. The match was solid, but many were unimpressed.
The common criticism was that The Viper carried Reigns. Writing for Uproxx, Brandon Stroud referred to the match as "Randy Orton Wrestles a Broomstick."
Reigns' performance wasn't enough to erase doubts about his readiness.
Dec. 8, 2014: The Slammys
Even as his push to the marquee was in full swing, the audience hadn't fully turned on Reigns.
When he won the Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year in 2014, he received a good amount of cheers. A "Roman Reigns!" chant even broke out.
Reigns was clearly WWE's next golden boy. The backlash to that wouldn't arrive until later.
Dec. 29, 2014: Bryan Announces He's Entering the Rumble
On the last Raw of 2014, Bryan told the crowd he was ready to return to the ring after recovering from the neck issues that stripped him of his WWE title reign after WrestleMania XXX.
He vowed to win the 2015 Royal Rumble.
So many fans saw this as a sign WWE was going to finally give them the image they wanted, that of Bryan outlasting 29 other men. The company could start over with the Bryan story and let him reclaim the world title. The thought had fans buzzing with excitement.
Had WWE simply held back Bryan's return until after the Rumble, things would have turned out far differently for Reigns. Instead, he would soon become a scapegoat.
Jan. 9: 2015: Sufferin' Succotash
WWE struggled to find the right role for Reigns.
In his feud with Rollins, it tried to mold him into Cena 2.0. The worst elements of the Cena character seeped into Reigns' act. He was suddenly cartoonish and corny.
The most memorable moment during that stretch was when Reigns used the line "sufferin' succotash" while talking trash to Rollins. The Big Dog turned to the camera and winked afterward.
That poor booking planted seeds of the backlash to come. It stripped Reigns of his likable side, leaving a shabby imitation of Cena behind.
Jan. 23, 2015: The 'Guy Getting Rich' Interview
As the relationship between Reigns and the audience grew more tense, the wrestler refused to use a politician's tact. He chose to instead fire off controversial statements.
Appearing on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast (h/t Jack Jorgensen of FanSided), Reigns said of his critics: "The fans have to realize that as opinionated as y'all are in the way you want it, the company is the same way, and they're gonna do what they wanna do. ... At the end of the day I'm just a guy getting rich."
Not exactly the way to endear one's self to a fanbase. Reigns came off as elitist, worsening the situation.
Jan. 25, 2015: Royal Rumble
Fans started booing once Wyatt knocked Bryan out of the Battle Royal. The dream of seeing the everyman prevail was over. It was then clear that victory awaited Reigns.
The ending dragged as the The Authority dumped out Dolph Ziggler, as Kane and Big Show ganged up on Reigns.
WWE tried to sell Reigns as an underdog. It brought in The Rock to help Reigns win over the crowd. It all failed.
As Dave Tach wrote for Polygon, "In his moment of victory, poor Roman Reigns, sweating and bloodied from his performance, ascended the ropes, put his hands above his head and was met with pure, unadulterated vitriol."
Reigns garnered the same angry response Batista had a year before. Online, fans threatened to cancel the WWE Network. A feeling of unrest permeated the arena.
Jan. 26, 2015: The Snowed-In Raw
A snowstorm whipped through Connecticut the night after the Royal Rumble, forcing WWE to hold Raw inside its corporate headquarters. The interview-heavy show featured no live in-ring action.
Reigns was saved from the flurry of booing that would have welcomed him to Raw that night. WWE had a spare moment to recover from the poor reaction to The Big Dog's win.
All those fans talking of not watching WWE as long as Reigns was on top apparently didn't live up to their word. Despite it being a studio show, Raw's numbers were excellent.
James Caldwell of PWTorch noted that the show earned the "highest rating since the post-WrestleMania Raw drew a 3.70 rating on April 7, 2014."
Feb. 22, 2015: Fastlane
In 2014, Bryan fans were so loud and forceful, WWE decided to add him to the Batista vs. Orton WrestleMania main event. A year later, they were clearly hoping to do the same thing, to leave WWE no choice but to adjust its plans.
Bryan got a crack at claiming Reigns' spot at the Fastlane PPV. If he knocked off Reigns, he would challenge Lesnar for the world title, and the booing, restless part of the crowd would get the David-vs.-Goliath story they demanded.
It didn't happen.
Reigns received a mixed reaction; Bryan earned a hero's welcome before the bigger man outlasted him in an excellent matchup. As tremendous as The Big Dog did that night, his critics still weren't convinced.
Twitter was awash with fans dismissing the performance as being the result of Bryan having carried Reigns.
March 29, 2015: WrestleMania 31
Reigns walked to the ring to an underwhelming response from the fans inside Levi's Stadium. And despite him playing a heel role, the fans roared for Lesnar.
The audience was firmly behind The Beast Incarnate the whole night, cheering Reigns' destruction.
WWE threw a curveball in the bout's climax. Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract mid-match and pinned Reigns to steal the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Don Feria/Associated Press/Associated PressSeth Rollins celebrates winning the WWE World Championship at WrestleMania 31.
The company seemed to realize it wasn't yet time for Reigns to rule. One has to imagine the incessant rejection of Reigns played a role in that move.
Aug. 8, 2015: Fan Attacks Reigns
A replica Money in the Bank briefcase struck Reigns in the head during a match against Wyatt at a house show in Victoria, British Columbia. The blow stunned him.
A 31-year-old fan had, as the Canadian Press (via CTVNews.ca) detailed, "tossed the briefcase into the ring, hitting wrestler Roman Reigns in the back of the head."
Whether or not this fan did this out of protest, the incident felt symbolic of fans' frustrations with WWE and Reigns.
Nov. 22, 2015: Survivor Series
When Rollins went down with a torn ACL, he had to drop the WWE title.
A tournament for the vacant belt culminated at