When it comes to Roman the Reigns, WWE have made it clear, although at times it may appear that they are listening to the fans, it is simply a delaying tactic.
Roman Reigns seems destined to be the top babyface, no matter how many crowds booed him, no matter how many better options there might be, because the WWE have decided that he is the guy they want to be on top.
Despite the negative crowd reactions towards Reigns, the WWE is still wildly profitable, as they were when John Cena was receiving similar reactions. Therefore, it’s hard to say that their methodology is completely wrong when everything they’ve been doing has made money.
Also read: 5 Reasons why Roman Reigns should become WWE's top heel
Of course, as history has shown, just because something is working right now doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever. People always like to point out that even the actual Roman Empire, which spanned a significant part of the largest continent in the world, eventually fell.
Somehow, that seems like an appropriate comparison here, where WWE is pinning a lot of hopes on a Roman Empire of their own, and while it is very unlikely to end up costing them their existence, they may end up taking a costly hit when they finally realise that another decade with a “polarising” top babyface, is not best for business.
As a 27-year WWE fan, I feel qualified to Iay out what I feel the WWE need to do to reverse their never-ending Roman Reigns situation, in just 5 simple steps.
Step 1: Turn him heel
This one is so easy. The guy is the most over HEEL in the WWE. There isn’t a single heel in the WWE who gets the reaction that Reigns gets when he comes out. You only need to listen to the reaction when he came out at number 30 at the Royal Rumble and then again when he threw out The Undertaker.
The Undertaker match at WrestleMania would be the perfect time and opponent to turn him heel against, when he cheats to win.
Step 2: Be vicious and kill the link to the Shield
There can be no confusion as to if he has or has not turned. Roman Reigns can NOT be perceived as any kind of tweener.
Steve Austin has often spoken about turning heel, needing to team with Triple H and having to almost literally “kill” people with chairs, when he turned heel in 2001, in order to get the audience to recognise him as a full-fledged heel act.
If the video above doesn’t get you in the mood for a Reigns’ turn, nothing will. The Reigns turn would also present the perfect chance for Reigns to ditch the link to the Shield by ditching the Shield gear.
Part of the reason he is booed is because fans think it is unfair that Reigns was allowed to be the main beneficiary of the group, with him keeping both the gear and the music.
Step 3: Make him cool
Often a heel does such a good job in a heel role, he ends up becoming cool. This will be much easier in a PG era if Reigns is allowed to push the PG rules to the edge, which he should be, given that he is their number 1 project and priority.
His cousin, The Rock, was a prime example of being so cool that the WWE had no choice but to turn him face. If Reigns is given a license to push both his promos and his levels of violence, it won’t be long before you’d start hearing cheers.
The video above shows The Rock in his prime as a heel, where he was unable to finish his own promo as he was so over with the fans. As you can see, The Rock was primed and ready to turn face.
Step 4: Make the turn
As much as it was essential to make the heel turn clear cut, the face turn needs to be clear too. In addition to that, Roman has to back a cause that even the smarkiest mark can get behind. In the film Scarface, Tony Montana (the lead character) was a criminal gangster throughout the film.
However, Montana was seen as such a cool character, that he became a cult hero. Montana also turned babyface in the actual film, when he refused to be involved in detonating a bomb that would kill a mother and child, opting to kill the assassin who was co-hired to carry out the hit (see the video added) instead.
Despite Montana killing multiple people throughout the film, this was seen as a noble and heroic act. Obviously Roman Reigns can not save children from being murdered, however, there are viable many causes that would get the fans behind him.
It would not currently work without a heel turn first, as it would be seen as shoving the “Superhero” down our throats even more. However, coming from the Tony Montana position, it would definitely work, especially after collecting up 12 months of cool heel points.
Perhaps saving someone like Daniel Bryan or The Rock from a heel attack would be a good way to complete the turn. Or perhaps the WWE could involve Reigns’ family.
Step 5: Keep him cool and don’t undo the work
The babyface turn cannot result in Reigns turning into a white meat babyface, booked to be the next Hogan or Cena. What WWE need to go for, is a PG Stone Cold Steve Austin. Reigns would essentially be a tweener who fights babyfaces.
It’s not too far from what Reigns is today, however, the WWE have already damaged him too much. The WWE also need to insert Reigns into a feud or situation where fans are pulling for him and where he doesn’t emerge victorious so that he can actually inherit some sympathy and support.
They need to follow it up by letting the fans know that Reigns “CARES about his loss.” Too many faces in the WWE lose matches or titles and appear on TV the next week, seemingly not phased by their loss. If the wrestler cares, the fans will care.
Going back to our friend Tony Montana, in the final and most famous scene in Scarface, he was killed. However, he had to take on around 100 hitmen who raided his home, before he was finally killed by the lead assassin.
This is how wrestling has ALWAYS worked best. Stack the odds against the face, watch him rise against a heel machine, fail, and then get back up again to win. Although there was no coming back from death for Tony Montana (see the video added above), nobody wanted to see Tony fail.
Had Tony overcome the raid on his home, it would’ve been a truly epic babyface comeback. In the world of WWE, Roman Reigns can come back from whatever the heels do to him, in the end. It’s wrestling 101.
To keep up to date with my thoughts and breaking stories, listen to our podcast, the “Dirty Sheets.” I would like to dedicate this article to my friend Derek of the Steel Cage Podcast, who firmly believes that Roman is beyond saving. I disagree, providing WWE follow this simple 5 point plan.
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