Disclaimer: This piece is an opinion of the writer, and does not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda
One of the most popular conversations online for the past couple of years has been the story of WWE turning Roman Reigns heel.
It’s the same story that people have wanted WWE to tell for the past ten years with John Cena, and much to the chagrin of those supporting it, the change of heart for the 16-time World Champion is never going to come.
There is a better chance of seeing Roman Reigns going bad because his career is still young, but that doesn’t truly seem to be on the cards anytime soon, if ever.
Nothing subtle about it
There has been some chatter that WWE is trying to be subtle about the turn, by doing things with him that make the fans hate him. That includes things like being the number 30 entrant in the Royal Rumble instead of a surprise such as Samoa Joe and eliminating The Undertaker from said match with the greatest of ease.
It’s almost a compelling argument, but it’s not enough. If they wanted boos, they would stop having him do good-guy things like pandering to the crowd and trying to vanquish the bad guys. Some people give WWE too much credit when it comes to subtlety.
It’s rare for this company to be subtle about anything, and it won’t happen with someone as high-profile as Roman Reigns, who they have handled nothing but ham hands. No kid gloves, no safety net, just pushing forward with a clear goal and a path full of ignored obstacles.
Also read: Should WWE consider a heel turn for Roman Reigns?
That’s how they got into this situation with Reigns, and that’s how they are going to get out of it. Big, broad strokes. No subtle hints at going bad, no sneaky subliminal attempts at making the whole audience boo the guy.
Why? Because if you want to turn him heel, you need to have the kids booing him too. Making the adults angry because he eliminates The Undertaker or because he takes the presumed spot of a surprise entrant isn’t going to turn him heel.
It’s going to continue the status quo of WWE holding strong that Reigns is “The Guy” with the vocal majority of the audience booing him while he still gets a favourable response from the younger audience, some females, and most importantly, Michael Cole.
If Cole is going to talk about Roman’s virtues, there’s no way that the people as a whole will buy him as a bad guy.
Being John Cena
The road to the “mixed reactions” Reigns is receiving has a lot of similarities to what happened to John Cena. Roman came up to the main roster with The Shield just over ten years after John Cena made his debut against Kurt Angle on SmackDown.
The trajectory was different, as Cena came up as a good guy and almost lost his job because they didn’t properly follow up on his great debut and he was as kept as bland as possible for a few months.
He lucked into being given the rap character after the fateful 2002 SmackDown Halloween party, turned heel, and ended up being so awesome that the character was slightly tweaked and became a top babyface.
He won the WWE Championship after almost exactly 3 years on the roster, and within a few months, the powers that be decided to take away just about everything from his character that made the entire crowd love him.
He very quickly went from the top babyface that WWE so badly needed to the top guy that WWE wanted the crowd to love, but instead, ended up being completely polarising.
Thanks to years and years of great performances and sporadic promos like the one he cut on AJ Styles on the SmackDown before Royal Rumble, the crowd has come around to him enough that you see moments like his 16th World title win.
He was cheered much more than he was booed upon his victory. He still gets “Let’s Go Cena - Cena Sucks” chants, but the crowd generally is more on the “Let’s Go Cena” side than the “Cena Sucks” side. It has taken him a long time to get there.
Roman Reigns was getting major cheers after his initial heel run with The Shield. The team itself turned face, and in the 2014 Royal Rumble match people were actually receptive to having him take home a victory (after their heroes were eliminated and it became clear that Batista was going to win).
He was a complete badass, and the crowd loved him. WWE messed up when they started having him talk, and more importantly, pander to the crowd, which was a stark contrast from what he did as a member of The Shield.
Dean Ambrose was chosen by the fans instead of Roman Reigns because he was a likeable, crazy, fearless dude who didn’t pander to the crowd. He didn’t change. Reigns started smiling and making silly jokes, and the crowd turned on him just like they did when John Cena did the same.
And the hatred has kept on growing with the continued silly jokes and the separation from the character that made him popular in the first place.
Closing his mouth
It doesn’t have to take almost a decade to get the crowd back on Roman Reigns’ side. This past Monday night on RAW, Reigns made one quick appearance. He showed up, and, without saying a word, laid out Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, and Braun Strowman.
He ruined the championship match they were having. Instead of sticking around and smiling, or cutting a cringeworthy promo, he proceeded to walk right back up the ramp, not even bothering to spend any time surveying what he had just done.
Reigns entered, he created chaos and destruction like a beast and then left. It didn’t take much time, so he couldn’t wear out his welcome. The crowd didn’t seem jazzed when he first came out, but when he simply kicked the crap out of everyone and walked away, the actions received a positive response.
And that’s how you make Roman Reigns into the guy that people want to see.
The “mixed” reactions can make for a good atmosphere occasionally, but it’s even better to have a guy that the crowd goes rabid for in a good way. Right now, the audiences are generally rabidly against the man. A simple change, by way of having him shut his mouth and limiting the emotions, and the crowd will come around.
To evolve his character, they first have to devolve him back to the guy he was when the people wanted to see him walk into the arena.
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