While I think a sizeable portion of his detractors are the guys you saw, I know a few who don’t fit that particular mold but still fit the IWC smark mold.

The Wade Kellers of the world have only fueled that fire IMO by nitpicking every last appearance and word and mannerism of Reigns. I’m an avid Torch listener and when I hear callers call or write in with Reigns comments, they often tend to parrot Wade’s critiques right down to the phrasing.

Reigns is definitely tone def in a lot of ways but everything he says and does is ridiculously amplified to the absolute worst possible conclusion in terms of motive and intent.

Between that and the general smugness of the, YEP, IWC, Reigns is at a fairly significant disadvantage when you add that to his own shortcomings and McMahon’s insistence on staying the course. Reign’s own shortcomings along with the early failures of WWE creative to present him properly certainly share a large portion of responsibility for this fiasco but there’s a significant disparity between the intensity of this ‘X Pac’ heat toward Reigns and a level that’s actually warranted.

Regardless, this is where we are and Vince is fucking Reigns up royally by refusing to turn him and capitalize on this hate. Fans can and should boo and cheer whoever they so choose, even if they’re petty losers.

I don’t buy any argument that rests on “but what choice does he have?” (oddly enough, an argument that is also spouted by Keller and Bruce Mitchell) because this roster is teaming with viable options. The biggest obstacle here is Vince’s shitty sensibilities and refusal to market to the moment where guys like KO would be over *like that* if Vince allowed it.

Overall I feel bad for Reigns for being placed in an unwinnable situation.