AJ Styles just gave a pretty blunt assessment of Roman Reigns’ rise to the top of WWE — and according to him, fans weren’t the ones asking for it back in 2016.
Styles was talking about WWE’s current main-event scene on his podcast when the conversation turned to Reigns still being one of the company’s biggest stars a decade after Styles made his WWE debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble.
That’s when Styles pointed out that the Roman Reigns he met back then was a very different guy from the one fans see today. Styles said Reigns was being positioned as WWE’s top star because that’s what Vince McMahon wanted, even though a huge portion of the audience clearly wasn’t buying into it.
“Here’s what I think. Here’s the biggest difference, in my opinion. The Roman Reigns that I ran into in 2016 wasn’t what the fans wanted. It was what Vince wanted.”
Styles wasn’t saying Reigns didn’t have the talent to be the guy. He made that clear. The problem was how fans reacted to WWE constantly putting Reigns front and center while trying to establish him as the company’s next massive babyface.
“Not to say that he wasn’t capable of being that guy, that top guy. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying the fans felt like, ‘Freaking, you’re pushing this guy down our throats.’”
That reaction was impossible to miss during that era. Reigns was getting some of the loudest responses on WWE television, but plenty of those reactions were boos while the company continued treating him like its unquestioned top hero. Styles arrived right in the middle of all of it. His WWE debut came during the 2016 Royal Rumble, where Reigns was the first wrestler standing in the ring when Styles entered. Not long after that, the two were working a major WWE Championship program together.
A decade later, Styles believes Reigns has completely flipped the script. Instead of being the guy WWE was trying to convince fans to accept, Styles says Reigns has become the real deal at the top of the company.
“But now, now Roman is so dialed in. It’s unbelievable. Like, he is the top guy for sure. There’s no doubt about it.”
That’s a massive difference from where things stood in 2016. Reigns eventually reinvented himself, ditched the clean-cut babyface presentation and became one of WWE’s biggest attractions through his Tribal Chief run.
Styles basically watched the entire transformation happen from inside the company. He saw Reigns when fans were fighting against the push, and now he’s looking at a version of Roman who doesn’t need anyone telling the audience he belongs at the top. Vince McMahon may have wanted Roman Reigns to be WWE’s top guy long before the fans were ready for it, but Styles believes Reigns eventually became exactly that on his own terms.
Do you agree with AJ Styles that WWE fans weren’t ready to accept Roman Reigns as the top guy in 2016, or do you think Vince McMahon was right to keep pushing him anyway? Leave your feedback in the comments.
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