I'm not sure that this would've happened even if it was in front of a better crowd.
Yes, a better crowd would have made this look more legit, but the fact that Reigns is getting split (mostly negative) reactions in front of Midwestern and Southern crowds is really disconcerting. It's one thing for Northeastern and even West Coast crowds to shyt on Reigns. But when you have the Midwesterners and the now the Southerners giving him those same types of reactions, then you have a real problem on your hands.
Those are WWE crowds, not "smark" crowds, giving him those reactions. The SmackDown crowd I was in a couple of weeks ago had more kids than I've ever seen at an event in it (proportionally), and he still got a heavy split reaction. That can't be discounted, even considering how awful the Memphis crowd was tonight.
Did he get the best chance to shake that stigma off tonight? Absolutely not (as I said, this could have made him in front of a better crowd). But even in front said better crowd, I'm not sure this problem gets alleviated. They might really have to have Brock go over/Seth cash in and reset the Reigns push if they want to get anything out of him as a babyface. Otherwise, this guy's going to end up Sheamus 2.0, except with worse results for his heat and character.