There are a lot of wrestling fans who won’t give Roman Reigns a chance because it seems like the WWE is forcing him in as the top face in the company instead of having it happen organically. A lot of fans boo Reigns when he comes out to the ring and bad guys are cheered when they feud with Roman. Foreign heels like Rusev and violent monsters like Braun Strowman have gotten cheers when fighting Roman Reigns. However, one man who is a huge fan of Reigns is someone who did organically get over with the fans – Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Steve Austin on Roman Reigns
Stone Cold Steve Austin says that Roman Reigns has “star written all over him.” This statement came on the most recent episode of Austin’s podcast. Stone Cold said that Roman has a great physique and looks like a star. He said that Reigns is a good worker and he is a star. Where Austin said that the problems lie are with the storylines that have been built around Roman, which are “hot/cold” and “on and off.”
Austin said that if Roman Reigns is going to be a star in the WWE, he still has to climb the ladder but the road to the top has been built. Stone Cold said that The Shield was the hottest heels in the WWE but when they broke up, something happened when it comes to Reigns.
Austin said that Vince McMahon chose him to be the star babyface and the fans just stopped responding. However, Austin said the WWE just needs to keep pushing him out there and the fans will come around.
The difference with Stone Cold
When Stone Cold Steve Austin debuted in the WWE, he was a mid-card wrestler known as The Ringmaster.
He was really good but the fans didn’t seem to care. However, when Austin won the King of the Ring, he cut an amazing promo about Jake “The Snake” Roberts after winning and created his future tag line “Austin 3:16.” Soon after that, Steve started wrestling more violently and by the time he fought Bret “The Hitman” Hart at WrestleMania, fans were ready to cheer for him.
When Austin started feuding with Vince McMahon, the fans were all in and he was the biggest star the company had in the Attitude Era. Compare that to the breakup of The Shield and Vince McMahon anointing Roman Reigns as the superstar baby face he planned to push. Fans didn’t come to love Roman as a singles wrestler on their own and refused to allow the WWE to force him on them as a result.
However, while Stone Cold Steve Austin was a heel when the fans started to come around, he doesn’t think Roman Reigns needs to become a heel just to be a heel. Steve said to keep Roman on the same track and not just push him harder as a heel because the fans likely won’t buy into that either. According to Stone Cold, Roman has the talent to win WWE fans over, he just needs the time to work his way to the top on his own.
