Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
With Seth Rollins currently out with a knee injury, the WWE is considering turning one of its top babyface Superstars heel as possibly the new “Face of the Authority.”
Several top Superstars are also out of action. John Cena is currently taking some time off – he’s slated to film a reality show, Daniel Bryan is out due to concussion issues and Randy Orton is out due to shoulder surgery. WWE, on one of its biggest house show tours of the year in Europe, was left with two star babyfaces — Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, and with Kevin Owens as the closest thing to a main event level heel.
Dave Meltzer reports that the WWE World Heavyweight Match at WrestleMania 32 was expected to feature Reigns taking on Cena before Rollins went down with the injury. Whether Reigns would have turned heel, or this would be a face vs. face match with Cena doing the ultimate passing of the torch, has not been confirmed.
It also remains unclear who The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar will be facing at “The Granddaddy of Them All” in 2016. While PWInsider.com reported late last week that Cena was slated to face “The Deadman,” a WWE source immediately denied the rumor to Meltzer. By process of elimination, that would lead to Reigns taking on Lesnar, which could happen given the tease on RAW of the idea that we don’t know who would have won that main event match at WrestleMania 31.
While Vince McMahon is determined about not turning Reigns since his goal was to establish the 30-year-old as WWE’s top Superstar at WrestleMania 32, the injury to Rollins has made things complicated for the immediate future. Since Rollins is out for six to nine months, the company is now in desperate need of a heel with star power. The babyface side will be getting Cena back next month, and has Lesnar likely working more dates in early 2016. Therefore, McMahon is giving serious consideration to turning a top face heel soon, and the names being discussed are Reigns and Ambrose.
The idea of a Reigns heel turn and aligning himself with The Authority, particularly since Reigns turned it down on RAW this past week, makes sense on one hand. There is a feeling within WWE that if Reigns were to become a hot heel, that when he turns back, there won’t be any crowd resistance to him that there was before WrestleMania 31, and, at some televised events, continues to be. Ambrose could also turn, since it’s unlikely he’ll ever be the top face in WWE, but he can be positioned as the lead heel.
Reigns turning heel comes down to the fact that he’s just starting to gain momentum as a face and is currently the second-ranked merchandise seller in WWE, behind Cena. But if he or Ambrose doesn’t turn, that means, almost by default, Owens would be the top heel and have little backup, since the other top heels would be Del Rio, who the audience has been largely apathetic towards, Bray Wyatt, who has already worked a program with Reigns, and Big Show, who fans are very tired of getting pushed.
