All they had to do was make Reigns a silent badass, like he was in the shield. Build him up through the midcard before winning the rumble a year later than when he actually did, by then the crowd's thirst for D Bryan would be gone as he would have "retired" by then. Turning Roman into a smug, arrogant prick is probably the only thing that will save him but I don't see Vince turning him as he's in the line of thinking that any reaction is a good reaction.