Roman Reigns offers a transparent response to a WWE push that came too hard, too soon. Joe Anoa'i first signed with the company in 2010, and ahead of his 2012 main roster debut, he was immediately pegged to be The Next Big Thing. Largely due to his Samoan heritage connecting him to The Rock, Anoa'i was primed for greatness, but his original Big Dog babyface run received a less-than-favorable reaction from crowds.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Joe Anoa'i reflected on his reign in WWE as Roman Reigns, particularly taking time to address the negative crowd reactions during his time as the Big Dog. In the Vanity Fair profile, he says the following:

They’re an educated fan base, and they’re just not going to have someone who’s not 100 percent ready pushed onto them because those flaws are apparent. They were able to see the holes in my game, the inexperience that was still lingering over me.

It was very simple. They were honest and I wasn’t.

It's a candid ittance to something that fans said for years before his rebranding under The Bloodline's Tribal Chief persona: Roman Reigns was not ready for his first singles push. To understand what went wrong, it's important to put Anoa'i's words in a greater context by analyzing Roman's Big Dog run at length.

Roman Reigns its the Fans Were Right in Booing Him as the "Big Dog"

What Went Wrong with Roman Reigns' First Singles Push in WWE?

Despite several WrestleMania main events and WWE World Championship reigns as The Big Dog, Roman Reigns' time under the moniker is considered a failure. It was a gimmick that was, for lack of a better term, force-fed to audiences who were vocal about their displeasure with it. Prior to becoming The Big Dog, Roman Reigns was adored as a member of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, but during this time, Reigns was mostly a blank slate. He was the silent enforcer while Ambrose and Rollins did all the talking for their promos.

When it came time for Reigns to start cutting promos and develop a character of his own upon Rollins' shocking betrayal, Reigns had to figure things out in real time. Before he could truly develop either to perfection or find his voice, he was plunged into the main event picture. It didn't help that his progress was stifled by an ill-timed incarcerated hernia injury that he wouldn't be cleared for until weeks before Royal Rumble. His lack of promo skills was exposed upon his return, and seeing WWE choose Reigns as their heir to the throne ahead of Daniel Bryan drew the ire of fans.

Daniel Bryan emerged suddenly and authentically as the people's champion, chosen by the fans as their most beloved hero. Daniel Bryan felt authentic as a character in all the ways The Big Dog did not, contributing to the latter's hatred among audiences. The lack of authenticity would become a running theme throughout Reigns' time as The Big Dog, and that's exactly what Joe Anoa'i speaks to in his interview. To his point, the WWE audience is savvy enough to see through inexperience and inauthenticity, and both were working against him.

Reigns Was Pushed to the Top of WWE Before He Was Ready

WWE Presented Roman Reigns as Something He Wasn't Yet

Inauthenticity prolonged Anoai's earliest push as The Big Dog, as WWE presented him as the best in-ring performer and talker, when at the time, he was neither. While he wasn't a bad performer, he was still a rookie, and the expectations created for him vs. what he was actually capable of as a young rookie created a disconnect with fans. Not only were the holes in Reigns' game apparent, but to see WWE ignore those holes and push him in spite of them only enraged fans more. Fans didn't so much hate Reigns as a man or character, but they hated the fabrication that WWE was trying to sell them.

It's also worth noting that one of the key reasons why audiences did not like Roman Reigns was his feud with The Authority corporate stable. Their rivalry was presented as the ultimate underdog being pitted against a machine that was actively trying to prevent his rise to the top. In reality, the exact opposite was the case, and fans knew it.

Alternatively, a rare instance of Roman Reigns receiving cheers and a positive reception from fans as The Big Dog was when he announced his hiatus from wrestling following a leukemia scare. Fans no longer saw the fabrication that WWE tried to push for so many years, but they saw Joe Anoa'i, a real person dealing with a legitimate struggle. Fans fell in love with Daniel Bryan because they saw his legitimate struggle to get over when WWE would rather push Randy Orton and Batista to the WrestleMania XXX main event. Fans fell in love with The Big Dog when Reigns presented himself as the person behind the dreaded gimmick.

Roman Reigns' Talent Needed the Right Direction to Blossom

Once WWE Presented Him as Authentic, Fans Fell in Love

Upon his return to WWE following his remission, fans continued to cheer on The Big Dog for once. Authenticity would finally punch a ticket to Reigns' success when he rechristened himself as The Tribal Chief. As the Tribal Chief, the Roman Reigns character put a greater emphasis on his family legacy. Not only did he surround himself with his family, but his mission statement was driven by providing for his family as the Head of the Table. While inauthenticity led to the Big Dog's flop, WWE took a real, relatable trait to blend fiction with reality.

The result was a character that still resonates with audiences today. Beyond the character, he continued to improve on the mic and in the ring to the point he truly can make a case for being among the best in-ring wrestlers and talkers on the WWE roster, if not the very best. As much as audiences can see through inauthenticity and inexperience, they can also see and applaud realness and improvement. Roman Reigns is proof that the WWE Universe is willing to forgive bad presentations like The Big Dog to reward such improvement.

Source: Vanity Fair