When Roman Reigns was showered with boos throughout the 2015 Royal Rumble match, people immediately wondered whether this was a one-off occurrence due to the event being held in the former home of ECW, Philadelphia, PA, where the crowds are notorious for being outspoken and reacting badly to lumbering acts being forced down their throats.
However, the frosty reaction Roman received on the live episode of Smackdown four days later proved that at least when the television cameras are rolling, he may continue to get the wrong reaction.
But TV audiences have a high proportion of hardcore fans in attendance, so the negative response on Thursday may not be the best indicator for how casual fans are responding to his current push. It would be a much more worrying sign indeed if Roman Reigns was also hissed and booed at WWE's house show events.
However, so far that has not been the case, as Dave Meltzer reported today that "Roman Reigns was heavily cheered in Edmonton last night."
More evidence of his popularity in front of house show audiences was provided by this video tweet of Roman making his entrance to an arena this weekend to a flurry of cheers:
Big announcement by @TripleH tomorrow on #RAW or not, @WWERomanReigns remains undaunted and focused in #WWE... https://t.co/EPF1bcwNdg
— WWE (@WWE) February 1, 2015
Such responses will be further vindication for Vince McMahon that he chose the right man to headline WrestleMania 31 against Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and that they've made the right decision to stay the course with Roman Reigns.
It also diminishes the possibility that WWE will turn Reigns heel before his title match with Lesnar. Instead, they'll likely use the same tactic that they have done with John Cena over the past decade. That is, largely ignore them, outside of scripting Roman Reigns in a fashion that suggests he doesn't sweat the boos. But if they go down this route, then WWE has to be very careful that he doesn't come off as a phony copy of their current top babyface.
It will be interesting to watch tomorrow's Monday Night Raw to see if this theory is true. As always, we'll be covering the show live here on CagesideSeats.com.