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Had it been less than a year ago and fans were told that Roman Reigns would feud with Jey Uso for the Universal Championship, the reaction would have been a negative one.
Roman Reigns' hiatus from WWE gave him much-needed time away from the company and once he returned, he finally turned heel - something that fans had been begging to see for over five years.
WWE finally pulled the trigger on Roman Reigns' heel turn and while it wasn't surprising to see him capture the Universal Championship within a week of his return, it was surprising to see his first feud be against his cousin Jey Uso.
However, it played out organically and it's now among the hottest storylines in professional wrestling. Ahead of his unprecedented "I Quit" Hell in a Cell match on October 25th, Roman Reigns spoke to CBS Sports and revealed why the organic storyline managed to unexpectedly become the hottest angle in wrestling:
“I’ve taken these real-life qualities and experiences and put them in a storyline. That has been able to connect with our audience in a really cool way because they’ve seen me grow and they’ve seen my path and they’ve seen me operate on this top tier of WWE for a long time. For me to actually emote and explain the dimensions of it, I think they dig that and the feeling that the fourth wall is down from time to time. To me, this is Roman. He’s not Joe. I’m able to connect to everything I’m doing now way stronger than anything I’ve done before.”
Roman Reigns' confidence has skyrocketed
While Roman Reigns has been confident in his abilities for a while now, it was only half a decade ago when he was struggling to find his character as a babyface. The problem was evident - fans didn't want to get behind the handpicked golden boy, while WWE and Vince McMahon insisted on making Roman Reigns the next John Cena.
Thankfully, they've realized that the approach was never going to get a good reaction and they've now focused on making Roman Reigns the best version of himself. Upon his own admission in the interview, Roman Reigns feels as though he's doing the strongest work of his career and from a character standpoint - it's hard to disagree.
It's also hard to remember when the last time fans were this excited about Roman Reigns.
