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The main event of Payback saw Roman Reigns defeat Braun Strowman and ' The Fiend' Bray Wyatt to win the Universal Championship. With this win, Roman Reigns became a two-time Universal Champion, this was his first world title win in almost two years. While Roman Reigns winning the title was a given, what did surprise a lot of fans was how The Big Dog won the title.
With both Strowman and Wyatt down after a superplex, which led to the ring collapsing, Roman Reigns came out with Paul Heyman. Heyman would hand Reigns the contract, which he would sign and make his way to the ring, with a steel chair in tow.
Reigns would batter Strowman with the chair shots before turning his attention to Wyatt. However, Wyatt would grip Reigns with the Mandible claw. Roman Reigns would kick Wyatt in the groin (a classic heel move) to break the hold before proceeding to spear Strowman and pin him to win the Universal Championship.
Roman Reigns' newly-minted partnership with Paul Heyman has been a big talking point among wrestling fans online over the past few days. The closing moments of SmackDown last week showed Reigns and Heyman together, which got a lot of people talking. Given what we have seen off the duo so far, it seems like WWE has finally gone ahead and turned Roman Reigns heel.
Roman Reigns' actions since his return have been that of a heel. His association with Heyman is another indication of The Big Dog finally going bad after six long years. Following his return at SummerSlam, there have been numerous reports suggesting that the company is looking to slot Roman Reigns as the top heel on Friday Nights.
Roman Reigns' heel turn is a win-win situation for everyone involved. But, the question on everyone's mind is whether Vince McMahon & Co have finally conceded defeat to its hardcore fanbase.
One of the biggest stories in pro wrestling over the last decade has undoubtedly got to be the perception of Roman Reigns as a babyface. The company's persistent push of Reigns as their top babyface didn't go down well with a large section of the WWE Universe.
The negative fan perception of Reigns increased with every passing year. It came to a point where Reigns would get booed every time he made his way to the ring. But, despite the continuous fan backlash, WWE continued to position Reigns as a top babyface.
Many saw it as Vince McMahon's way of not bowing down to fan pressure. The WWE Universe have been clamoring for a Roman Reigns heel turn for years now.
However, WWE decided not to listen to the fans expectations and went ahead with what they thought was right for the Roman Reigns character.
While The Big Dog's battle with leukemia and his off-screen persona has led to fans warming up to him in recent times, the vocal minority or the hardcore fans have been against him as a babyface.
Does Roman Reigns' heel turn mean that the WWE Universe were right?
In a way, it does. The backlash generated by Reigns' babyface push was not only lacklustre booking, but also put the company under a spot of bother from a financial standpoint.
By not caving into what the fans were demanding at that time, the company ended up upsetting one of their money generators, i.e., the WWE Universe.
While the Reigns babyface push isn't the sole reason for this decline, it certainly is one of the biggest reasons why the company hasn't been able to make significant growth in fan-centric metrics.
The declining TV ratings, merchandise sales, and live event attendance have shown that fans are not happy with the product that the company has been putting out.
While the Roman Reigns' heel turn doesn't entirely wipe out themistakes of the past, it certainly sets things in the right notion. The response so far to Reigns' new character has been positive. Fans are excited to see what happens next with this heel version of The Big Dog.
One hopes that the company has finally learned their lesson and thinks twice before going on a similar path with another Superstar.
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