He's apparently still doing well in merchandise, so they can justify his run based on that much.
The true heels of the business are us fans though, not the company and definitely not the talent. We determine the ratings and whether somebody is over or not. As for popularity, unless a baby face is of a 'tongue in cheek' quality, fans boo them. It's a fact. The New Day is self aware so they get cheered. It doesn't hurt they play clowns on TV sucking themselves dry for the fans entertainment.
Roman Reigns, as far as I can tell, doesn't insult his own pride or tell much of a story whether in the ring or out of it. When watching a character one ought to get a sense of who that person is and what really matters to them so I can understand the disconnect there. However, the fans go too far. They demand a slave who will dance and who will maim him or herself for the fans' selfish enjoyment. Fans cheer talent willing to psychologically and physiologically damage themselves beyond repair. Reigns isn't doing any of that so they hate him even more. Without the self loathing, fans have zero chance to connect with him. Sure Daniel Bryan is beloved. He also suffers from depression and will likely suffer from head trauma for the remainder of his life. If I were Reigns I would coast, turn heel or whatever I needed to do. The absolute last thing any man needs in his life is for the quality of his own life to suffer because fans are a bunch of d*ckhead heels.
Have to nearly 100% disagree with everything you've written here (which might be a first). The only thing I really can't disagree with is the merchandise sales because I don't really pay attention to much. But you're right that if he pushes a lot of merchandise, that is a checkmark in his favor for his current push.
I don't agree that us fans are the true heels of the business. Heel actions are determined by choices that wrestlers make that make them heels. Fans cannot control what they like and do not like. If I could flip a switch and suddenly like Roman Reigns, I would flip that switch. And you know why? Because I'd much rather enjoy his run than sit here and groan every time I see him because I am not enjoying him. I cannot decide who I like and don't like. That's not how emotion works.
Furthermore, "heel" doesn't mean "not over" For a very long time, the "cheer babyface" "boo heel" line has been very blurred. The New Day don't get cheered because they're self aware. They get cheered for the VERY point that this thread makes. They were an extremely unpopular face team, who was rather tongue in cheek when they were faces... but they got booed out of the building. So they became heels. And they played their heel characters to the hilt and became super popular for this reason. They injected a LOT of their own personality into their characters. They were then made faces again while keeping their "heel" characters intact. The New Day, much like Roman Reigns, were doing characters that weren't working for a large block of the fan base. So WWE changed them and it worked like a charm. And for the record, they sold plenty of merchandise as a heel team too, so there is no saying Roman won't do the same.
I don't demand that Reigns become some sort of slave who damages himself in many ways. I don't want him to even change his moves that much, other than losing that idiotic Superman Punch. I have never heard a single person say that they want him to hurt himself in order for us to like him. We simply don't like the fact that there is a disconnection with his character and are only asking for something different. I am sure that he would probably prefer to be cheered as well and WWE would probably be happy if he was too. They have been presented with a formula that has worked for decades of turning an unpopular face heel and seeing them suddenly become over, yet they continue to reject this suggestion which would only be beneficial for them. That is silly.
What irritates me is that people get offended when we suggest Reigns should turn heel. Let me say this clearly, anyone who thinks that we are AGAINST Reigns since we want him to turn heel are completely missing the point. If we were against him being popular, WE WOULDN'T BE SUGGESTING A WAY TO GET HIM OVER! His character is stagnant. His character has continuously been stagnant. We want him to turn heel because we think it would be good for his character and good for his career and THIS will help us enjoy him more. I want him to turn heel because it would be fresh for his character and because if he is going to continue to be a main guy, I WANT TO LIKE HIM AND I DON'T. I want them to do something with him that will make me enjoy him.
WWE like any business only exists at the will of its customers. As a fan, I have that right. As a person who has paid for the network EVERY month since it came out... as a person who has bought hundreds of PPVS in the last 30 years, given the show ratings, bought merchandise, spent thousands on tickets, I have EVERY right to express my discontent with the product. Without the collective money of the fan base, Roman Reigns would not have a job. When someone pays your salary, they have EVERY right to criticize everything you do.
The reason the counterargument falls apart is this: WWE may satisfied with their ratings and they may not. However, not a single person cannot tell me that they would not gladly welcome higher ratings, higher merchandise sales, more networks subscriptions and more ticket sales. Of course they want all of that. All of that comes from one place and one place only: the fans. Being that this is a fact, every person has a right to be critical of the product and to state why or why not they support that product. That doesn't make them dickheads. That makes them consumers. It also would behoove them to listen to those fans who are dissatisfied and who are not watching the product right now. It would make sense because listening to them in regards as to what is wrong, and doing something to make it better, will bring in higher ratings, more fans, more money. Revenue goes up and stock prices go up. Pretty simple fact of capitalism there.
Now I am not saying that WWE has to change Roman because so many fans want him to. I am not saying that Roman should change anything about himself because the fans want him to. However, to criticize the people who give him the money right now so he has a job just for expressing their opinions is asinine. Obviously I don't like Roman's character but WWE still gets my viewing and my money. I'm not going to lose sleep over it if they never change him. However, if they continue to promote him in a way that continues to get him nearly universally booed, I'm going to call them stupid for doing it. That's my right as their customer. A person who gives their money to a company and doesn't say a word even though they hate what the company is doing is an idiot.
