It’s no secret that WWE has had high hopes for Roman Reigns to be their next top babyface for years to come. He debuted as the standout of the Shield, the most pushed and protected stable in years. They had Roman equal the record for most eliminations in a single Survivor Series match. They had Roman break the record for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match. Roman’s even won the Royal Rumble match. WWE has given Roman so many feats and accomplishments in order to “make him really strong”. Despite all of this, Roman’s nowhere near in the position that the WWE had hoped. To quote Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez: “the guy is not over to the level of his push.”
It’s quite baffling that someone with the look and “cool” factor of Roman Reigns that has been pushed and promoted so much is not able to break out on his own as a single main event star. He’s been reduced to a passable on-going feud with the Wyatt Family, while teaming with Dean Ambrose. He’s not really getting anything from this feud. WWE have tried everything in order to get Roman Reigns over as the next top babyface. However, I think that’s the problem right there. What WWE should be doing is quite the opposite. Before Roman can flourish as a top babyface, he needs to take a turn to the dark side. Roman needs to first flourish as a top bad guy.
Reports are suggesting that Vince McMahon is freaking out about RAW’s TV ratings declining and may be about to pull off some big angles in order to get the ratings rolling again. I’m not usually someone that condones any desperate attempts for ratings. I don’t like the idea of wrestling companies hot-shotting angles that are done for shock value rather than properly developing storylines. If WWE currently have a plan for Roman to turn heel, I wouldn’t want them to rush into things. But if they don’t have a plan, then get Roman to turn heel pronto.
Roman Reigns is the one person in the WWE that desperately needs a heel turn. There’s no one else on the roster whose allegiance is killing his/her career so badly. Paige needed a heel turn in order to turn the Divas Revolution around and it happened. Roman Reigns needs a heel turn in order to turn his career around. To the relief of the WWE’s big wigs, his heel turn would help Roman’s chances of being the next top babyface down the road anyway. I might be about to contradict myself here, but a bit of patience with Roman acting as a heel can help him get over with the crowd in the long run.
That does seem quite a contradiction looking back. If WWE needs to be patient with Roman as a heel, then why rush into turning him heel? Trust me. If I had all the time in the world, I would have the greatest time in the world writing up a scenario where Roman would turn heel. However, WWE doesn’t have a lot of time. Roman’s career is already taking a tumble in my eyes. If you want him on the right track, you need to act soon.
The “healing process” for Roman Reigns starts by taking him back to roots. I don’t mean re-unite the Shield. Have him go back to being the hard-case that made him and the rest of the Shield such stars to begin with. They were cold and calculated hounds, that targeted the heroes of WWE all in the name of “justice”. Roman needs to become heel once more and find the Roman Reigns that became such a big hit. The Roman Reigns that became such a big hit barely spoke. The talking was mostly left to Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins when he was apart of the Shield. Roman let his fists do the talking and acted like a total badass. The fans didn’t like Roman Reigns because of his mic skills. They liked him because they liked to see him beat people up. Let him do just that.
I listed all of Roman Reigns’ accomplishments since the Shield begun. Ever since the 2015 Royal Rumble however, Roman’s had a great deal of bad luck. He was not able to win the WWE World Championship at Wrestlemania, he was not able to win it at Payback, he lost at Money In The Bank and he lost to the Wyatts at Battleground and Night of Champions. It’s been a big spell of disappointment and the fans aren’t helping him out a great deal either. It’s the perfect catalyst for Roman to decide to change up his attitude.
I don’t want to go into many specifics about how I’d do it, since there’s a million ways for Roman to turn heel. He could turn on his “brother” Dean Ambrose. He could sell his soul to the Authority to become the WWE World Champion. He could target John Cena. He could be the Authority’s new “Plan B.” He could do anything. Just let him be the badass that made him such a star. Have him beat people up. Have him break faces. Have him destroy his opponents. Have him cripple people. Have him just downright dominate.
You know who needed to turn heel in order to get himself over in the long run? The Rock. When Rocky Maivia debuted in 1996, WWE tried pushing him as this next great babyface star. They even put the Intercontinental Championship on him in a matter of months. At the time, this belt was incredibly prestigious. However, the fans quickly turned on Rocky. They turned on him to the point where the fans were chanting “Die, Rocky, Die.” They gave Rocky so much and they were baffled that the fans were turning on him. What happened next? Rocky turned heel, became The Rock and the rest is history.
Roman Reigns needs this turn more than anything else in the world. It’s almost a guarantee at this point, that Roman Reigns will one day become WWE Champion. Make sure his journey towards the belt includes a trip to the dark side of the WWE.
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