WWE news, rumors: Roman Reigns has the respect of Ric Flair, AJ Styles despite kick back from fans

Roman Reigns[photo: Commons Wikimedia/JcastroDR]

Roman Reigns may be the crowd's least favorite WWE World Heavy Champion to date, but he has WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair behind his back.

In a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho podcast, Flair talked about how Reigns's versatility could be one of his main strengths that WWE could capitalize on.

"I think they struggled with him at first, but with Roman, they've got the best of both worlds," Flair said. "They've got a guy that one day can wrestle Seth Rollins and be the hottest bad guy in the [professional wrestling] business, which that match will be huge when they have it or he can go out and wrestle Hunter and whatever, right?"

He also said that because of his previous WWE Payback match with AJ Styles, it would be unnecessary for the fans to boo him again.

"Roman [has] got legs. It makes him a better performer. You can't [boo him] anymore. But he just had to work hard to win them over," Flair added.

WWE had gone to great lengths just to cover up Reigns's unpopularity among wrestling fans. In early May, 411 Mania reported that the company opted to edit the anti-Roman Reigns fan signs that can be seen on the official WWE website.

The company also tried muting the boos shouted by the audience during WrestleMania 32 and playing canned cheers every time Reigns appears onstage.

Styles also praised Reigns during an interview with Rolling Stone late last month, saying that he is a more capable athlete than what most people can realize.

"He should get a lot more credit for his athleticism. He's unbelievable, he can do a lot of stuff. I think he's been able to showcase that with me," the former TNA champion said.

Despite the approval of his colleagues, Reigns must still work hard to earn the favor of the fans as he holds onto the WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt.