It is no secret that Roman Reigns is Vince McMcahon’s pet project, and has been for years now. Many believe that The Shield were protected so heavily because of Vince’s interest in Roman Reigns and making him the face of the company.
However, Reigns has continually faced rejection from the fans for nearly two years now, yet Vince McMahon refuses to turn Reigns heel.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated that the reason behind this is that Vince considers Reigns to be a big time draw. Meltzer stated that Roman is not a ‘big draw’, and does not know why Vince thinks that way.
A vast portion of the WWE Universe has been imploring for a Roman Reigns heel turn for a long time. Even WWE Hall Of Famers Jim Ross and Stone Cold have openly stated that WWE should turn Reigns heel and make him go the organic route.
Turning rejected babyfaces heel, helping them get over and then turning them face later on is a tried and tested formula that has worked on multiple stars, most famously The Rock, and more recently, The New Day.
Reigns as a draw has not reflected in the ratings. He has been positioned to be John Cena's successor for a long time but has not yet been able to fill that role, primarily due to fan rejection. While he is embraced more by a certain demographic of the audience (women and children), The Big Dog rarely ever gets vocal cheers from the audience.
There was a rumour during Reigns' suspension back in June that he was done being the top guy "for now". It seemed to reflect when he took three clean pinfalls to Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Finn Balor respectively. The latter two were on two consecutive nights.
This led to speculation as to whether he was viewed as the top guy anymore, with Finn Balor clearly taking his spot.
However, with Balor’s injury at Summerslam, WWE was forced to change plans and turn Seth Rollins face. Roman Reigns, in the meanwhile, won the United States Championship. Regardless of the fact that he was a mid-card champion, Roman Reigns was and still is booked as the top babyface of the company, and is heavily protected.
It became clear that the rumoured “punishment” inflicted on Reigns was just 3-pinfall losses and being away from the main event for around 4-5 months.
Send us news tips at [email protected].
