It's not just rhetoric, it's actual presentation and effort. They give guys they "believe in" anything and everything they can to make they look good, meanwhile the majority of the roster is stuck doing regular matches, dopey backstage promos, and are booked like mortals.
A guy like Reigns gets fed better opponents, breaks more tables/barricades/ring steps, gets more promo time, and is just all around presented as better than the rest of the roster.
Meanwhile guys like Cesaro are given a basic match and the same stock promo everyone who isn't in the main event cuts, and still delivers.
Imagine if Reigns and Cesaro's positions in the company were swapped? Reigns might realistically be drowning in the midcard or tag division while Cesaro could be making a case for being the only superfreak athlete to be able to topple the other superfreak athlete, Brock Lesnar.