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Re: Reigns:
People could see the push. They hate that now. What used to work when kayfabe was still a factor, or charisma could be implied and implanted, doesn't now. People see the strings and they think "It's bullshit this guy is getting this push over *insert wrestler that doesn't have the machine behind them*." It doesn't help that WWE, as a company, have heeled themselves constantly, so that when a guy gets a special entrance they feel like they are being jammed down your throat (see: Cena, Royal Rumble 2006). And WWE educated people in 2004 to accept the narrative that hard work and talent in professional wrestling are more important than star-power or kayfabe results (Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero's heroic stories as journeymen). You can't have a guy waltz into that environment without stripes and start killing people and have people buy it. It's all about the performance quality now.
Reigns was also presented in a way where he was coddled and preserved. Not protected, in terms of booking, but he kept The Shield aesthetic -- the look and the music. The other guys had it stripped away and had to either sink or swim, but you could tell they wanted to keep what was over and chain it to Reigns as much as possible. It was a safe play, but one that subconsciously came off as one when you are supposed to be taking a major chance with the guy. It'd be like if The Rock kept his Nation of Domination vibe, and maybe even the music, after leaving the group and getting a push on his own, because they were too scared of him not connecting with anything "new."
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