CheapShots: Plants, and Bots, and Paid Fans, Oh My!

Cheap Shots are unfiltered, uncensored opinions, and those opinions reflect only the author!

Hi, my name is Tiffany and I have a confession to make: I’m a Roman Reigns plant. My head is really a rosebud, I have lovely, sharp thorns, and a heavenly smell. I’m also a Twitter bot that WWE is paying to cheer Roman Reigns and denigrate ‘real’ wrestling fans.

Have you stopped laughing? Are you completely lost? Those are the latest accusations made by anti-Roman fans to explain the shift between Roman getting booed at WrestleMania and him getting cheered and Brock getting booed on Monday night. Apparently, the idea that the rumors of Lesnar’s new deal with WWE might have soured some fans, or that WrestleMania crowds aren’t the best gauge as to how popular or unpopular someone really is, is so outrageous it couldn’t be true. I realize that plants are an old wrestling thing, but the fact that people are using that to justify the belief that no one cheers for him is ludicrous.

The anti-Roman group has always had an excuse or conspiracy theory, to explain why Roman is cheered when the word in the bubble says he’s not: They’re muting the boos, the fans don’t know real wrestling, they’re cheering for his opponent, the opponent carried him to a good match, the list goes on and on and ON! WWE’s not muting the boos, the translation of Live audience to tape (or whatever they use to record) always quiets background noise so commentary and the wrestlers can be heard. In other words, they’re ‘muting’ the boos and the cheers. St. Louis is a great wrestling town, home of the NWA for decades, so I think they know what good wrestling is.

Why is the concept that Roman is more popular than the internet wants to believe so hard to comprehend? Why is it easier to believe that WWE is spending money to make Roman seem more popular than stepping back and saying ‘Okay, maybe it’s me’?

I’m not really sure why reactions to Reigns so obsess people. John Cena’s been booed for the better part of a decade, but the idea of WWE taking away his push would be met with scoffs and denial because ‘He’s John Cena. He always delivers great matches.’ Okay, but so why doesn’t Roman get that same treatment or respect. Why is him getting a mixed reaction a deal breaker for so many people?

I am not a plant, either literally or figuratively. I love roses, but pollen makes my sinuses go haywire. I am not a bot, I’m a living, breathing person who regularly watches bloody wrestling matches while doing her nails or needlework. I am certainly NOT being paid by WWE to cheer for Roman, and if I am, my checks are way overdue. I have been to three WWE events in my entire life, two of them were events where Roman was featured and can testify that he’s very over with crowds. Contrary to internet belief, Roman is extremely popular, both with live crowds and the boys in the locker room. He is a trusted employee and a respected co-worker, he makes WWE money and represents it very well all over the world. Stop trying to think of ways to delegitimize him and focus on your own damn favorites instead of bringing him up all the time and then complaining when the people you do claim to support don’t get pushed.