If you were new to the WWE Universe and the first pay-per-view you watched was this year’s Royal Rumble, you would swear that the big match was won by one of the most evil villains in the company.
After all, not only did he receive a chorus of boos for his victory, but he won after someone came out to help him. That’s cheating, right? Surely, he isn’t the same as those good guys like Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler who were cheered from the get-go!
Of course, this is not the case. Roman Reigns went into the event as one of the top names that the audience should have been rooting for and now we’re in a situation where there is speculation that the plans for WrestleMania could be changing to compensate for this different reaction.
Some think the next logical step is for WWE to go with the flow and turn him into a heel, while others are more willing to be patient and ride this out, hoping WWE can patch things up with the crowd before the big show. So which is the best course of action to take?
First off, let’s take a step back to where this all began at last year’s WrestleMania. The primary motivator for Brock Lesnar ending the undefeated streak of The Undertaker was to help set him up as a top heel above everyone else. That would be amplified even more when he destroyed John Cena at SummerSlam to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Now, whomever could defeat Lesnar would not only get a rub from defeating a big name, but also would win the top title and be able to tout that they were the one to defeat the man who took down The Phenom. That’s a job for a babyface, is it not?
Having Reigns turn heel going into WrestleMania effectively forces Lesnar to become the default face in return. This dampens the impact that this year long setup was supposed to end with. You could try to argue that Lesnar would be passing the baton to Reigns and when a babyface defeated him, he’d get even more of a rub, but everything will be diluted by then. Which is more important, beating The Beast in the main event of WrestleMania or beating Roman Reigns shortly after he wins the title at something like Extreme Rules? At that point, you’ve killed off most of the value of ending the streak and wasted a year’s worth of mystique.
Since Brock Lesnar is either leaving WWE after WrestleMania or at best sticking around at his current schedule where we rarely see him, a heel Roman Reigns as champion also has repercussions on the rest of the roster. If you’re fond of Rusev, you’re going to be disappointed to hear that he would have to take a step down on the villain hierarchy to make room for Reigns. The same applies to Kane, Big Show, and even Bray Wyatt. Perhaps the biggest heel that gets shafted in the exchange is Seth Rollins.
Mr. Money in the Bank only has a short window of opportunity to cash in his title shot before the time runs out. If you have him cash in at WrestleMania, it is a no-win situation. A heel would still be winning the title to end the night, unless you turned him babyface. If it was a temporary babyface turn that was retroactively denounced the next night on Raw, you’d end up with a situation similar to what happened with Cesaro last year, which was a disastrous turn for him. If Rollins becomes a true babyface, then you need to remove him from The Authority and he will in turn push the likes of Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and so forth down the hierarchy. Even if you have a babyface defeat Roman Reigns before the Money in the Bank pay-per-view and then have Rollins cash in on him, you’ve crammed two title reigns in a four month time frame. Does that really sound like Reigns and the babyface that beats him will look like they are top guys, or will it just be another scenario where fans complain about short title reigns hurting the credibility of the belt?
Others will argue that Reigns can turn heel and Daniel Bryan can be added into the match at WrestleMania, therefore allowing Bryan to be cheered, Lesnar to be a tweener and Reigns to be a heel. Lesnar cannot leave with the title without upsetting fans of Reigns or Bryan. If Reigns or Bryan win the title, then they haven’t capitalized on defeating Lesnar and getting the full rub from the streak momentum, because it’s a Triple Threat match. Then, we’re back to square one with everything mentioned above with the Money in the Bank, heel hierarchy, and other plans.
After reading all of this, you’re probably exhausted. Well, imagine how WWE feels trying to book around these problems! That’s why the smartest thing for them to do is to stick to their guns and go with the original plan. It requires much less effort, makes the most sense logically, and is not really as risky as some claim it to be.
The reaction to Reigns winning the Royal Rumble has not carried over in intensity. The crowds aren’t eating him up as they are with Bryan, but on this week’s edition of Raw, he was far from getting the hate that John Cena regularly gets.
This isn’t the same as the response to Batista’s Royal Rumble victory, so it shouldn’t be booked the same. There is no need for Daniel Bryan or another face to swoop in and save the day, because the main event calls for a face to defeat an unstoppable heel, which was not the case last year. Reigns was doing fine as a face before the crowd thought Bryan could win the Royal Rumble and the reaction to his victory would have been drastically different had he not been involved in the match. That speaks volumes to just how talented and important Daniel Bryan is and how he’s assuredly worthy of being a main event player. However, it does not mean that Reigns is a failure as a face, only that he’s not as popular in comparison.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was the most popular star in his era, yet he wasn’t involved in every title match, nor should Daniel Bryan. For fans that wish to have one guy at the top all of the time, I would submit John Cena’s name as proof that that’s not the case. There can be more than one face in the main event and there’s nothing that states that Roman Reigns can’t be a name among the crowd with Ambrose, Ziggler, Bryan and Cena. WWE can’t put all of their eggs in one basket, so in order to preserve the flexibility of having more than one top face in the company, Roman Reigns cannot turn heel just to appease those who would have preferred someone else in his spot.
For WrestleMania 31 to lay the groundwork for the rest of 2015, Roman Reigns must go into the match with Brock Lesnar as a face and win the title. What happens after? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Would you rather see Reigns as a heel or a face going into WrestleMania? One way or another, who do you want to see win the championship? Tell us what you’re thinking in the comments below!
