Every major sport has its polarizing figures. The MLB had guys like Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez, who were huge fan favorites at home, but were heavily booed at opposing ballparks. The NBA has seen LeBron James and Kevin Durant go from hero to villain, and back to hero in LeBron’s case. While in the NFL, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and even Commissioner Roger Goodell garner a lot of positive and negative attention. Professional wrestling is no different. Throughout the years there’s been plenty of polarizing characters in the sports entertainment business. Once upon a time, the good guys were cheered and the bad guys were booed, it was as simple as that. However over the years the lines began to blur, guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock initially got over with fans as heels, and were looked at as antiheroes. Even Bret Hart was heavily cheered in Canada while working heel in America. In more recent history, John Cena has been the recipient of a split crowd reaction, and despite being WWE’s franchise player and working a Hulk Hogan like babyface gimmick, Cena receives boos unfitting of a top star. A couple years ago it looked like he’d go down as the most unpopular “Face of the Company” ever, but times are changing in WWE. Cena is becoming a hot commodity outside of wrestling, and a less prevalent character on WWE programming. To fill his void the company has decided to go with Roman Reigns. Sadly for Reigns though, the fans don’t seem to be very split on how they feel about him. To put it bluntly, they hate him. His predecessor John Cena always had his non believers, but his crowd reactions were always an even split of cheers and boos. Reigns on the other hand, hears almost all boos every time he performs, but it’s not all his fault. WWE has made some very poor booking decisions ever since “The Big Dog” started his singles career, and it’s really prevented him from reaching the level of stardom that he once seemed destined for.
