Several WWE Superstars including Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, Luke Gallows and Drew McIntyre recently spoke with Forbes‘ Brian Mazique. They were asked to share their thoughts about fan opinions, and how they feel regarding the backlash a lot of WWE programming has been receiving.
Roman Reigns addressed the negative reaction to the main event of WWE’s recent Hell in a Cell pay-per-view between WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt. The match ended in a referee stoppage.
“I think you should express your opinions, but it doesn’t hurt anybody if you have a shred of respect,” Reigns said. “Have a little respect for the performers who were out there killing themselves for you. I didn’t like the Hell in a Cell finish either, but I wasn’t about to cuss some guys out who got hit in the head over and over. Bray Wyatt put his health on the line to entertain some fans to the best of his ability. I didn’t like it, but I respect Bray’s effort and willingness to go out there and do what you have to do. So, if you can, just a little bit of respect.”
RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch added, “It’s hard being a wrestling fan sometimes. We’re all just going out there doing our best to entertain you guys. We care about you guys. We want you to enjoy yourselves and it hurts when you don’t like it. We feel your pain. We’re all in this together. I’ll do all I can. Just tune into my Twitter. I’ll be entertaining there.”
“If You Love Wrestling, Just Let It Play Out”
O.C. member, Luke Gallows, also spoke about the Hell in a Cell main event. He recommended that fans try to just enjoy the product and that they should trust that Vince McMahon knows what he’s doing.
“There are 52 weeks of episodic television,” Gallows stated. “There was controversy over the pay-per-view (HIAC) the other night. Guys, the story continues on Monday. It continues on Wednesday, Friday, and then on and on. My advice would be to enjoy it. In a movie, there has to be an antagonist. There has to be a negative to turn into a positive. So, in my opinion, if you like what we do, it’ll turn out the way you want it to. We’re in a culture of complainers.”
He continued, “[…] I think you just have to let the story play out. WWE has been in business for how long? The company has been master storytellers. Vince [McMahon] obviously knows what he’s doing. There’s got be a reason for certain things that happen. If you love wrestling, just let it play out.”
Drew McIntyre offered that society seems to be obsessed with living in a negative culture. He pointed to social media as a tool that allows people to wallow in their negativity.
“It’s like every aspect of life, people are very negative,” McIntyre said. “You see them complain on social media. When I was younger, I became complacent and deserved to get fired. Because I forgot I was living a dream. You have to realize, you can’t always be in the lead. If you work hard, you’ll get your opportunity. Look at Chad Gable. He’s getting his opportunity. I don’t remember seeing him on social media every minute saying, ‘I’m not getting the opportunity I deserve, brother.’ He just worked hard until he got it.”
