In 2016, Reigns main evented the first seven WWE pay-per-view events (before the brand split started) and was booed in all of them: Royal Rumble, Fastlane, WrestleMania 32 (which ended with a chorus of boos when Reigns won his third world title), Payback, Extreme Rules, Money in the Bank and Battleground. CNET described a "fan rebellion" against WWE "moving heaven and earth" to make Reigns "the face of the company ... for the next decade"; while "many fans are aware" that former Shield member Dean Ambrose "is the true dark horse, both on camera and behind the scenes". ESPN described that "WWE started building Roman Reigns as the next great hero of the company about 18 months ago", but Reigns instead became "the most despised wrestler WWE has had since it turned Sgt. Slaughter into an Iraq-sympathizing traitor in 1990". Leading up to WrestleMania 32, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rikishi and Hulk Hogan have encouraged WWE to turn him into a villain. Meanwhile, during interviews promoting WrestleMania 32, Anoa'i acknowledged the fan backlash, but declared that WWE is a "kids show" and that he was not wrestling to impress "grown men" who boo him. He defiantly told his critics that he would not believe any of their negative opinions of him. As for his detractors, Anoa'i told them to "continue to be ready to boo. You're going to be mad a long time. I'm not going away".