By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE star Roman Reigns was asked about the idea of turning heel in an ESPN interview. “It’s a weird question because aren’t I already a heel?” Reigns said. “If I garner that reaction, what’s the point? It’s already happening. If I’m already being booed, then why try to get booed? I have a great opportunity, because I’m a gray-area guy, to do a little bit of everything. I’m in a good place to do whatever I want and just play with this character and not just be a heel or a face. I feel my character can be so much more than that.”
Reigns also spoke of working against Daniel Bryan: “Y’all wanna see me turn heel? Put me in the ring with him. We can talk about so many different things, about wrestling and the different things that make up the art form and the performance, but when it comes down to it, it’s about making people make a lot of noise. Obviously with the reactions and the way I stir up the crowd, I think it would make up for a pretty dynamic and electric atmosphere. Bryan is one of the best ever to mix it up in the ring, I have a lot of respect for him. To see someone like him on top and have it all taken away so fast, it’s very scary.” Read the full interview at ESPN.com.
Powell’s POV: Reigns is delivering the company line about already already being a heel because he’s being booed. The truth is obviously that Vince McMahon would love for him to be cheered and universally accepted as the top babyface in the company. And while Reigns certainly gets a reaction, I strongly believe he would be even more valuable if he were positioned as a true heel and fans were encouraged to root against him. In fact, taking that approach could even lead to fans accepting him as a babyface somewhere down the road. I’ll never understand why McMahon is so stubborn when it comes to the way he has positioned Reigns. I know the company likes to frame it as if only hardcore fans feel Reigns should be a true heel, but that’s simply not the case. In fact, it’s hard to find many people in the industry not on the WWE payroll who feel the company should stay the course with Reigns. I do hear from people who feel like a lot of people who boo Reigns currently would cheer him if he turned heel. I don’t subscribe to that theory, but even if that actually were true then couldn’t you just apply the same “any reaction is a good reaction” excuse the defenders currently use?
I feel like what he’s saying makes a degree of sense in some convoluted way, if these were his words alone, coming from his perspective. What about him says babyface right now? What mannerisms could he add to be more heelish? Basically all he has to do is keep doing what he’s doing, and it’s been proven that people won’t cheer him.
Where this stance is rubbish is when it comes from the WWE, though. You can’t snidely ask isn’t he already a heel when you know you’re continually booking him against heels. They set him up as a babyface because they want him to be a babyface. And if they’re going to be too stubborn to change course, the way they’ve successfully done in the past with the Rock- then they need to own that failure, admit he’s supposed to be their top face, and that he’s just not where they’d like him to be. It drives me crazy that they try to justify their terrible creative decisions by saying if they booked a true heel turn, people would cheer him. No, they wouldn’t if they did it right. You have him turn heel on someone like Zack Ryder, sure, they might pop for the moment. If you do it right though, and turn him on Seth or Dean… he won’t be cheered. Vince doesn’t want that, though. The way he tries to spin it so it looks like he’s giving us what we want though- it’s trash. I just wish he’d go play with his football league, and let HHH run the WWE with Steph.
I hope he turns heel…………….turns on his heel and heads out the door.