The Punishment of Roman Reigns - And the eventual heel turn

[The Nothingness]

First off, let me say that I'm indifferent to Roman Reigns. I am not a big fan of his nor do I utterly detest him. It is obvious after WWE Battleground, he won't be chasing any championships for some time. Now lately Seth Rollins has been pretty much voicing the criticism others have made that Roman is still in the title match even though he will be coming off his 30-day suspension. So either he'll be taking the fall in the match or he'll be pulled at the last minute like at the PPV where it could be an injury angle where he is taken out backstage by someone(s) or Vince McMahon appears and says because of your actions, I am removing you from the main event. So when the PPV is through and wherever Roman ends up based on the Draft, will he be involved in low-tier feuds where he loses everyone until his punishment is over?

Considering the reaction he could get because of this wellness violation, would this be what Roman finally needs to turn heel? Having him cut a work shoot promo where he forsakes the fans and gets, dare I say, edgy? I keep thinking back to segment with him and Vince last December where Vince walked the politically correct line by pointing out how he treated Roman's father and uncle and that Roman was "one generation away from having a bone in his nose". Could Roman use something along the lines of "the only way people like me get respect from all of you is if I'm a primitive savage!" to show this new attitude?

 

[CatParty]

First off, let me say that I'm indifferent to Roman Reigns. I am not a big fan of his nor do I utterly detest him. It is obvious after WWE Battleground, he won't be chasing any championships for some time. Now lately Seth Rollins has been pretty much voicing the criticism others have made that Roman is still in the title match even though he will be coming off his 30-day suspension. So either he'll be taking the fall in the match or he'll be pulled at the last minute like at the PPV where it could be an injury angle where he is taken out backstage by someone(s) or Vince McMahon appears and says because of your actions, I am removing you from the main event. So when the PPV is through and wherever Roman ends up based on the Draft, will he be involved in low-tier feuds where he loses everyone until his punishment is over?

Considering the reaction he could get because of this wellness violation, would this be what Roman finally needs to turn heel? Having him cut a work shoot promo where he forsakes the fans and gets, dare I say, edgy? I keep thinking back to segment with him and Vince last December where Vince walked the politically correct line by pointing out how he treated Roman's father and uncle and that Roman was "one generation away from having a bone in his nose". Could Roman use something along the lines of "the only way people like me get respect from all of you is if I'm a primitive savage!" to show this new attitude?

 

[XYZpdq]

I don't see this really changing anything. He'll get slightly different roid-themed shitchants now, but he'll still be a bumbling stumbling waste of nice hair.

 

[BatNapalm]

Meh, this whole suspension thing is reason #12448438 for why they should just de-push the smug idiot.

His "Road to Redemption" should be paved with clean jobs to guys like Cesaro and AJ.

 

[milkshark]

Reigns was an experiment that achieved mixed results. WWE tried to create a successor to Cena and did so almost like painting by numbers. All of the pieces were there, but the fans could tell it wasn't an original work. So WWE stayed the course and had plenty of talents put him over. He held championships and won a Royal Rumble. Personally I felt he was upper midcard material the whole time, and I think that while he may one day be a top draw, he was given all of that too early in an attempt to christen Reigns. It appears a lot of fans agree because he is constantly met with boos from live crowds. The suspension gives WWE a chance to sweep the dust under the rug, so to speak. Reigns had his run at the top. They did what they could with him, he didn't sell much merch and he didn't pop the ratings or subscriptions. It's time to move on to a different guy. Reigns can put over people for a little while. He needs to lose matches and find a new approach.

 

[XYZpdq]

WWE tried to create a successor to Diesel

ftfy

 

[milkshark]

Reigns is definitely the new Diesel. Vince's pet projects are all the same.

 

[Ace]

Luckily, that "Road to Redemption" bullshit seems to be a fake, whew...


Now, on topic: Turning Roman heel is now, the wisest booking decision WWE could ever make and probably the only one that could make Reigns enjoyable to the fans and save him in the long run.

Which, by experience, is why they (or rather, Vince) won't do it.

There is this story running around the internet for quite a while where Kevin Nash says that Vinnie Mac rather have an arena half-full cheering for the guy he wants to be cheered than a full capacity show cheering for the guys they want to. Now, I believe there might be some truth to that statement, seeing how adamant WWE was in staying the course when it comes to Roman's monster push. They made Bryan, AJ, Paul freaking Heyman and others put him over repeatedly, be it in the ring or on the mic. He pushed the guy as an underdog in a time where everyone KNOWS that he is anything but that. Hell, look at that fucker. He's got the look the office wants, he is a big, scary fellow and they want to push him as an underdog?