It is a little known secret now that Roman Reigns carried out a 30 day suspension for violating the wellness policy at WWE. With Reigns dropping the title to Seth Rollins, who in turn dropped to Dean Ambrose, a triple threat match was setup for WWE Battleground this weekend, for the WWE (World Heavyweight) championship. This dream match of former Shield brothers has been slightly tainted with Roman’s mistakes.
Now personally I believe WWE and Roman Reigns handling of this entire situation was perfect. WWE took the title off Roman, set up a match and then announced the suspension. Reigns in turn took the mistake in stride and really owned is indiscretion and has been silent since. All this considered and being a first violation of the wellness policy, the show must go on and there is no need to change the match. There is however, a need to change Roman Reigns.
Redesign. Rebuild. Reclaim. The slogan for Seth Rollins’ return this year, but perfectly applicable to Roman Reigns. The Samoan Badass has been WWE’s project for some time now, with the attempt to make him the face of the company. Thus far, it had not worked with the rejection from fans in most arenas deafening. Although I feel this is unduly passed to Reigns as the rejection stems from fans going against “WWE’s pick”, the rejection still persists and is now worse since the violation.
So how would I want Roman Reigns to make his return? Well step one of the master plan needs to be a new look along with a new theme song. WWE need to repackage and rebrand Roman Reigns, which not only takes him away from The Shield music but also shows fans that WWE and Roman himself have used the time wisely. You have to somewhat go back to basics with Reigns.
A second and probably the most important change must be a heel turn. Reigns is probably the most booed in the company right now, with “real” heels like Seth Rollins and AJ Styles still getting somewhat cheered for. After a violation like this, there is no way fans will accept him now, especially if the reaction on SmackDown Live for the draft was anything to go by. Have him come out, be an ass kicker, not win the title and turn heel that same night at WWE Battleground or the next night on Raw.
Ultimately, Reigns needs to use suspension wisely and to his advantage. Turning heel and saying that the fans lead him to drugs to cope with the rejection. Tell the fans that he could not take that any longer and needed to do something to cope with it. Pair this with a manager, the likes of Paul Heyman, and you have definitely struck gold. Having Reigns walk out to the same music, wearing the same clothes, doing the same move-set will be the biggest wasted opportunity in WWE so far this year.
Enjoy Battleground. Til next week.
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