Roman Reigns is having a great year so far. He is officially the victor of January's Royal Rumble, and people aren't happy. There was, and still is, plenty evidence of said disapproval all over Twitter. Fans of the WWE feel that the company is forcing Reigns on them before he has earned their respect. In protest, they started a small boycott. Interestingly and somewhat contradictory, other reports have suggested that the WWE network recently reached 1 million subscribers.
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'I is better known by his ring name, Roman Reigns.
Before his time as a professional wrestler, he played football with the National Football League and the Canadian Football League. His time there included short stints with the Minnesota Vikings, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Edmonton Eskimos.
Reigns signed with the WWE in 2010, but he didn't debut on the roster until 2012. He and his brothers of "The Shield" won several six-man tag team matches. For a while, the group went undefeated in their division.
Individually, Reigns has won many more titles and has even set several records.
For a long time, viewers and analysts have speculated that the promotion was pushing Roman toward super-stardom. However, based on a report by Business Insider, fans don't think Reigns has earned that yet:
"After the annual Royal Rumble event concluded Sunday night, fans railed against the WWE with a user-generated hashtag '#CancelWWENetwork,' that was trending worldwide by the end of the evening. Why the anger? Turns out that after Roman Reigns emerged as the victor of the Royal Rumble, fans felt that this was another way in which the company was forcing Reigns on them before he earned the respect of viewers and fans alike."
Even with the protest underway, The WWE received some good news this week. According to Cage Side Seats, the network has achieved 1 million subscribers:
"Talk about good timing. There's no word on whether or not the numbers that WWE released today are from before January's Royal Rumble or the fan reaction that made #CancelWWENetwork trend on Twitter, but the announcement two days after that consumer, public and investor relations mess that one of the over-the-top service's initial goals has been achieved is certainly no coincidence. Reports [stated] they have exceeded one million subscribers in only eleven months since launching the Network."
What do you think about the situation? Did Reigns deserve the push? Or, should the network be cancelled? Are you one of the loyalists who subscribed in spite of the controversy? Let us know in the comment section below.
