Finn Balor Says Roman Reigns an 'All-Time Great'

As Roman Reigns' career progresses, his peers continue to assert the tsunami of criticism he faces is unwarranted. And Finn Balor may have just made the strongest statement yet.

In an interview with Sky Sports, the former Universal Champion had nothing but great things to say about Reigns.

"He's probably one of the hardest working people in WWE, he looks great, he's professional, a great talker and behind everything, a great person," he said.

Balor's praise of Reigns continued as he explained The Big Dog's backstage persona and would even go on to say that Reigns is one of the best of all time.

"He's great behind the scenes, he will help you with anything you want and he's always polite," Balor said. "He was great to me when I first came into WWE and he continues to help me today. I can't speak of anything but greatness for Roman Reigns, he's one of the all-time greats."

To Balor, the hate for Reigns is misguided, and likely fueled by mob mentality.

"I think it's monkey do as monkey see and people are easily led," Balor said. "They might read what one person has written in a newsletter, decide that person's right, and then jump on the bandwagon.

Balor went on to underline how fluid a wrestler's relationship with the fan base can be.

"People are very fickle - I remember when The Shield were doing their thing and everyone was behind Roman; he was the coolest guy in The Shield. Opinions change in this business and they forget the past but Roman ain't sweating it," he said.

By now, it's become a stale stance to lament "how bad" Roman Reigns is. While it may be fair to criticize how WWE has booked, Reigns, The Big Dog has only delivered when called up. Even more, considering how may fan want to reject him, Reigns probably has the toughest job of any WWE Superstar.

WWE is conscious of how tumultuous Reigns' relationship with fans can be so in recent years they've used thoughtful strategy to keep Reigns' momentum alive. The latest episode of Raw was just another example of that as WWE just rebooted The Shield for the second time in as many years.

This reunion should muffle any negative squawking about Reigns earning his first turn as Universal Champion. Without The Shield, WWE ran the risk of Braun Strowman being elected as the true hero of the company. But with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose supporting him, Roman Reigns can comfortably sit on WWE's throne.