WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. 6’5”, 265 pounds and a member of one wrestling’s greatest families. Son of Sika. Cousin of The Rock, Yokozuna and The Tonga Kid. And one of the most hated wrestlers in the industry today.
Roman Reigns is the WWE ’s hand-selected pick to take the mantle of the company’s biggest star. John Cena’s career is winding down and while he is not fully retired, Cena is branching off to do movies and TV shows. There is a need for a top dog in the WWE and Vince McMahon is fully behind Reigns to take that number one spot. There is just one problem… No one likes Roman Reigns.
Since The Shield (a trio consisting of Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) broke up in 2014, Reigns has had a meteoritic rise to the top of the WWE. His rise has been met with much resistance from fans who believe that Reigns is getting a push despite many other more deserving names. Reigns is a polarizing figure in professional wrestling, similar to Cena at his height of hatred in his career.
Per the WWE, the spin machine is attempting to make Reigns into a star by stating that because people stand for his entrance, whether they boo or cheer, it means people care about him. Look at this video of JBL and Peter Rosenberg spinning the reactions that Reigns gets:
The only way for Roman Reigns to truly become the top guy in the WWE and gain respect from the fans is to do the unthinkable – Roman Reigns must become a heel.
It has been said that if John Cena turned heel at some point in his career, he would be an even bigger star at this point in his career. Hulk Hogan’s career stalled as “eating vitamins and saying prayers” was not cutting it anymore. Hogan tuned into “Hollywood Hulk Hogan” and became one of the vilest heels in wrestling during his time in WCW. When he returned as the red and yellow hero, the fans came around and gave him more love than they did before. Hogan, like many babyfaces who turned heel and turned back, had to earn admiration from fans as a villain before fans came back to love him when he returned. They earned their spot according to many fans. That is what could happen to Reigns.
While Reigns’ mic work is above average, his in-ring skill is just average and he suffers from a generally bland presentation. In his WrestleMania match against The Undertaker, Reigns botched numerous moves and brought the quality of the match down significantly. For what seemed like “Taker’s” last match, Reigns did not make it memorable. But as wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer tweeted, Reigns will continue to get pushed down everyone’s throats.
It will never end. Isn't that obvious by now. https://t.co/wc71TSgyis
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) February 3, 2017
The Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania was revealing as Reigns did not speak for over five minutes while the crowd, which consisted of mostly “internet smart fans,” tore into Reigns with a series of hateful and explicit chants. His response was one of a heel character, even though he isn’t one yet.
A heel turn will benefit Roman as much of his attitude is of a heel, not a babyface. His current character traits screams of an entitled millennial who everyone hates because he gets everything he wants, even though he is a good guy. Turning Reigns heel will give the WWE the opportunity to build the company around a heel Reigns, with a down the line babyface turn could benefit the company in the long run. They need to just pull the trigger.
Turn Roman Reigns heel immediately.
