Like I've said before, the narrative from fans that are anti-Roman will ALWAYS be that he's booked to win the title or ANY big event and if he loses, they'll just complain about how he's booked to win the next one.
It's been this way since his first Mania main event. He lost that match.
People figured he'd take the title he eventually DID win into the Royal Rumble, go in at 1, and defeat the entire roster because Vince wanted him to beat everyone.
He lost that and pretended to be cool with TRIPLE H main eventing MANIA it because they felt Roman was being "coronated".
They watched that match, complained, and continued to watch.
The same brigade said that they'd have Roman win this past year's Rumble again because, once again, they figured they knew it all. He didn't, but he's still in a big match at Mania with a chance to win his first Universal title.
The fact that people think they know what's going to happen with Roman and the fact that pro-and-anti Roman folks are always going to be invested in what the 'E does with him is the exact reason they keep him in the fold.
He gets the most eyes on everything he does b/c he's got the ultimate heel and ultimate face magnetism. People won't be leaving to beat traffic or turning Mania off because they want to either pin-point the exact reason they have to complain and say I told you so, OR they want to
![russ :russ: :russ:](https://www.thecoli.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/sabu.png)
if he actually DOESN'T go over.
He's probably the only guy with STAKES that people give a fukk about. People LOVE AJ and Shinsuke, but if we're being honest, no one really gives a fukk if one loses to the other. They're fine with either one winning and if the match is as good as their last one, there's no real discussion to be had because it's what they expected.