Now that the match between Roman Reigns and The Undertaker is official, fans seem to be straining to convince themselves that this might be good for both characters. Clearly, the much-preferred encounter would have been The Deadman taking on John Cena, but in true Vince McMahon fashion, you can’t always get what you want.
That being said, some wrestling fans out there are still optimistic that this match might finally be the kick-start needed for a Roman Reigns heel turn. The thinking goes that if Roman has to beat the Undertaker, and most people are now assuming that’s going to happen, he must turn heel as a result.
But the question remains, would this help the Big Dog in any way? Here are five reasons why I believe that despite what happens in his match with Taker, Roman doesn’t need to turn heel.
#1 It will further expose his poor mic skills
It is sometimes said that being a heel in professional wrestling is easier than staying a babyface. There is some truth to this. There are quite a few easy ways to get fans to boo you. For example, making fun of the town you’re in will get the locals riled up and using underhand tactics during a match will add to your in-ring image of a cheat.
There just seems to be more options available for you to show your dark side.
However, while becoming a heel can be straightforward, becoming an effective heel is another matter entirely. In this sense, becoming an effective babyface is actually easier, especially if you’re somebody like Roman who struggles with his mic skills.
To really get the crowd believing in you as the top heel in the company, you need to lay into the babyfaces on the roster, and insult fans to the point where they’re almost ready to punch you themselves.
When you’re a babyface standing across the ring from a really effective heel promo performer, you really don’t need to do anything other than channel the hatred of the fans and knock your adversary to the ground.
In a way, you could say that a babyface is only as effective as the heel standing next to him. This is why so many of the legends started off as really great heels – Stone Cold, HHH, The Rock, they all began by being so effective at ticking the crowd off that eventually the fans just gave up hating them and instead applauded their obvious talent.
Roman does not have the skills available to him that will encourage the crowd to pay money to see him get his behind kicked. He is much more protected as a babyface, working off the heat provided by a skilled heel.
#2 Who is going to be the top babyface on RAW?
The WWE arguably have a surplus of heels at the moment. If you had to pick five Superstars to carry RAW into the rest of 2017, four of them, currently, are heels. Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, Charlotte and Roman Reigns are the dependable five that most of the top story lines will be built off.
If you turn Roman heel, you will be faced with a serious babyface shortage.
When you discount the part-timers that we are not likely to see for a while after ‘Mania – Undertaker, Goldberg, Lesnar – you don’t really have a lot of options left. Of course, there is Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, but are you really going to trust these two to carry your flagship show considering how prone to injury they have been recently?
Roman fights with a style that means he is much less likely to get injured, and that’s what you need at the top of your billing every week. The only other option would be to turn Kevin Owens babyface and have him fill the role left behind by Roman.
This could potentially work, seeing as the fans already love him, but he can’t compete with all of the heels at once. He will still need a backup.
#3 He fights a very ‘babyface style’
One thing you can say for Roman is that he’s managed to master the art of using a limited offence very effectively. This is the ideal style for your top characters, just ask John Cena and Randy Orton.
As previously mentioned, part of being a consistent, top star is avoiding numerous injuries, and having a few power moves in your arsenal. This lets the other guy do most of the work for you. The Superman punch, Samoan drop, drive-by and spear are all Roman really needs, and all of these moves suit a babyface more than a heel.
They are high-impact, and always get a reaction from the crowd. Being a heel often means you need to employ more lengthy holds to allow the babyface to draw some support and energy from the fans. It also means being able to sell effectively so that the babyface can look strong.
From what we’ve seen so far, there’s not much to suggest that Roman will be able to do either of these.
#4 He’s just too ‘marketable’
The ‘smart’ fans in attendance might enjoy booing Roman out of the park, but there is so much more to being a WWE Superstar than just the wrestling – particularly if you want to be a top talent. Roman is a good looking guy and has the right sort of build for a WWE main eventer, which means he looks great on talk shows and printed on billboards and posters.
Plus, WWE marketing has already made such a big deal out of him being a family man who loves his wife and daughter.
He’s a million miles away from the ‘free-styling, pro-filing’ lifestyle of Ric Flair, and he’s already turned down several requests to join the Authority owing to the fact that he’s more motivated by wrestling than money. To turn him heel and have him talking like The Miz or Brock Lesnar (I’m only here to make money and be a star) would just feel strange.
Plus, it’s a well-known fact that babyfaces sell more merchandise than heels, and I assume Vince has big plans for making a lot of money out of Roman Reigns in the next few years. Turning the guy heel might seem like it’s best for the fans, but it probably wouldn’t be best for business.
#5 He will become the wrong sort of heel
The Babyface/Heel dynamic just isn’t what it used to be back in the Hogan era, partly due to the after effects of Attitude era talents like Stone Cold and The Rock. Saying the things a babyface would normally say is no guarantee you’ll get over as one.
It might even be more accurate to say that the WWE has ‘those the fans like’ and ‘those they don’t’, regardless of what their character does – this is the new babyface/heel dynamic. In this sense, Roman is already a pretty effective heel – fans love to boo him and want to see him lose matches.
If you turned him heel now, one of two things would happen and neither of them would be desirable:
He could either just become a de-facto babyface, with fans cheering for him in order to be subversive, much like they boo him now even though they are supposed to cheer. In the long run, I guess this could help, as it will be easier to transition him back to a babyface in the future.
However, there’s always the possibility that the same thing will happen and the guy will just have a very long and awkward career where he consistently gets the wrong reactions.
The second option is that because his mic skills are too limited to get people to hate him, he becomes the wrong sort of heel and receives the much dreaded ‘X-Pac heat’ (or Stephanie McMahon heat, as a modern day example). This is where fans boo you because they just want you to go away, they’re not even interested in seeing you get your comeuppance anymore.
It’s a very subtle difference in terms of reaction, but you can really tell. This would be disastrous for all involved. Roman would probably never be able to become a babyface ever again, and the babyfaces working with him wouldn’t get much of a rub either. Being an awkward babyface is much better than being an awkward heel – just ask Sheamus or Batista!
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