This isn’t true for ret though.
Ret prior to the rework had more buttons than majority of dps. The rework wasn’t just to give them more survivability it was also the change their dps rotation.
The spec was a immobile melee glass cannon that only had bubble to rely on. In raid/mythic +s and in pvp it died too often because it only had one reliable defensive on a 3.5 minute cooldown.
In pvp Divine shield was extremely weak because warriors and priests have been FOTM since SL, Both of which have an immediate counter to rets.
Ret has become popular due to the rework, it wasn’t popular prior.