Does Roman Reigns fit as a face or as a heel?

[Terry Gyimah]

Honestly I think Roman Reigns he has a long way to go as a babyface if you ask me, yes sure he is getting cheered by fans everywhere now but how long will that really last? How long before the fickle fans of the WWE Universe turn on Reigns? Hell they have already started to and just when a wrestler is at their peak, at the point or at the edge of their popularity the fans always turn on them and honestly Roman Reigns is no different

Roman Reigns watch if he wins the Royal Rumble Match look at how fast the fans will turn on him, Batista 2014 all over again but with Roman Reigns being the object of people's hatred

But honestly then why even turn Reigns babyface in the first place? They should have just kept him as a heel then and honestly Reigns' character screams heel rather than babyface anyway

 

[George Steele's Barber]

He should be a heel. He is naturally better than everyone else in all the ways that no one else has complete control over (eg. legacy, looks, support from management) and he tends to be failing at the things that we believe take time, practice and effort (eg. match quality, mic work).

Plus being a heel is easier than being a face in 2014. It is far easier to entertain the masses as a bad guy doing bad guy things compared to a good guy doing predictable things.

Angry cocky Reigns should feud with America's favorite underdog Daniel Bryan at Mania.

 

[Navi]

This is a question that has been asked before many times. It's because they want a new face to represent the WWE going forward, and McMahon has hand picked Roman Reigns, as his guy.

John Cena even though he still has gas in the tank, isn't getting any younger. Reigns has a good 10 years left in him, Cena maybe not.

Reigns was a heel for the first year and half of the Shield run. It wasn't until they turned on Kane that they became faces. I don't really know if Reigns would make a great heel. Don't most heels have a different moveset, Reigns uses the same moves he always did. His demeanor hasn't really changed, and well quite honestly nothing about him has changed. The only difference now is he's fighting heels.

If he does turn heel, I doubt we'll see any change again, just he'll be fighting Ziggler instead of Big Show.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Reigns does have the look and support of management but Reigns also is a second-generation superstar the son of a WWE Hall of Famer, Reigns comes from a great wrestling family the Samoan wrestling family the Anoa'i family with his father being one half of The Wild Samoans, Sika, and his uncle being Afa and also Reigns is related to superstars like The Usos, The Rock, the late WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna, the late Umaga and Rikishi

Great wrestling family Reigns comes from

And not to mention you would think with all of that wrestling pedigree he comes from he would have mic work as well as match quality

 

[Navi]

Reigns does have the look and support of management but Reigns also is a second-generation superstar the son of a WWE Hall of Famer, Reigns comes from a great wrestling family the Samoan wrestling family the Anoa'i family with his father being one half of The Wild Samoans, Sika, and his uncle being Afa and also Reigns is related to superstars like The Usos, The Rock, the late WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna, the late Umaga and Rikishi

Great wrestling family Reigns comes from

And not to mention you would think with all of that wrestling pedigree he comes from he would have mic work as well as match quality

I agree he should have some of the qualities that has been imparted to him gene wise, and in a way he does. Reigns has a great look, the look of a champion, but he's lacking in so many of the other factors that he needs to be a top star. They will come in time, he's very inexperienced.

Being a second generation superstar gets you one thing, your foot in the door. Once there you have to prove yourself. He hasn't so far. Look at Curtis Axle, Ted Dibiase jr two second generation superstars who haven't really done much. Yes their fathers were great, but somewhere along the line the train went off the tracks. Let's just hope Reigns can get better, I think he can, but he needs the chance, not the push he's getting.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Exactly Reigns got his foot in the door more or less because of who he's related to but also because of his look too and at the same time you would think with all of that wrestling pedigree the genes he has that it would make him a superstar but so far it has but how long before he ultimately crashes and burns

 

[MartialHorror]

Anti-Hero. Or heel.

I liked Reigns when he was in his transition face, where he wasn't the hero like Cena is, but was no longer walking the path of villainy. His heel work is fine, but if he goes that route, he will be derailing his career Cesaro-style.

 

[Mustang Sally]

His career path almost seems like John Cena in reverse. Cena started out as a bad guy when the company decided to throw their full support behind him.....ultimately concluding his best destiny lie as a face...which seems to have worked out, no?

Roman Reigns started as a heel because of his association with a heel group, then was switched to a face due to circumstances associated with the break-up of the group. In this case, I believe the company will determine his best destiny lie as a heel......because he looks so sinister, so overpowering.

Like Cena, WWE apparently plans to put the machine fully to work in Roman's benefit, no matter whether he touches down on the side of good or evil.

His flaws on the mic can be sooner overlooked if he's a bad guy, too .....delivering his evil deeds with actions more than words.

 

[rmp0012002]

I agree with the anti-hero. He just comes across stronger as a heel and winning the Rumble over fan favorite Bryan could set that in motion. On the mic, sometimes saying less gets you over more. I think he needs to increase his skillset as his matches seem to constantly follow the same pattern due to his limited moves.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Roman should go corporate. Be a heel, be the Authorities man. In hind sight, I wish that him and Rollins had both turned on Ambrose. Being a face is harder than being a heel today. Ever since Razor Ramon came on the scene, it has been harder and harder to be a face without being a dork. Roman just hasn't developed his TV skills enough to be a top face now. He will, but it just takes time and practice. I think going heel could make him look good, and if he went Authority, then turning him back face again would be very simple.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think Reigns would fit well as a tough heel. His look, his persona when a member of The Shield, even his ring gear suggest that he fits in just fine as a heel. Plus, as a heel, we wouldn't hear Vince ripping off catchphrases from Looney Toons characters for Reigns to use in his promos.

Unless things change dramatically for Reigns in terms of his overall abilities, I simply do not see him being a John Cena inspired babyface. He doesn't have the easygoing, smooth, confident, family friendly charisma that Cena has, he's not nearly as comfortable on the mic as Cena is and in 2015, I don't think a lot of fans are going to want to see essentially another John Cena as the top dog in WWE for the next 10 years.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Reigns in a sense he reminds me a lot of Batista the 2004-05 version of Batista that was breaking away from Evolution Reigns reminds me sort of like that Batista in terms of his personality but also due to his look as well but also Reigns he is just too much of a bad-ass to ever be considered a goody-two-shoes type

 

[Freddy4190]

I think Roman Reigns would be absolutely brilliant. The guy has the look. With that look, he can accomplish anything. I think once hops off his nuts and maybe gives him a bit more breathing room, he'll be a lot better on the mic. As long as he has Vince writing his promos and scripting his every word, it's gonna be disastrous. Reigns is such a tough looking bastard, that it's so hard to take him serious as this good guy character. It was much more believable when he came out in the SHIELD and murdered peoples faces, because heres this big ass dude with sleeves and muscles on top of muscles that is just breaking everyones face. It was brilliant. Him now? Eh.. still kinda cool, just.. bland.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

Roman should go corporate. Be a heel, be the Authorities man. In hind sight, I wish that him and Rollins had both turned on Ambrose. Being a face is harder than being a heel today. Ever since Razor Ramon came on the scene, it has been harder and harder to be a face without being a dork. Roman just hasn't developed his TV skills enough to be a top face now. He will, but it just takes time and practice. I think going heel could make him look good, and if he went Authority, then turning him back face again would be very simple.

This is how I feel about Reigns too. He should've turned heel with Rollins, in a ploy to mess with Triple H. Have everything stay the same, with Rollins being in the Main Event the past 6,7 months, while Reigns dominate the midcard with help from the Authority(replacing Harper). After a while have Reigns reveal that it was all a work by The Shield, but Rollins allowed the power get to his head. (When he "legitimately" injured Ambrose, Or with the Edge insident) Afterwards SLOWLY turn Reigns good. (Even if its a little smile after a loss in a competitive match with a face)
I also agree were Chuck talked about Faces being "dorks"/lame, that's a complaint that many fans have when it comes to faces, most look/act lame. Cena's never changing gimmick, Bryans "YES!" Chants(and beard), Big Show(crying), Sheamus(old folk tales), etc. There's no bad*** faces anymore that just kick*** and leaves. That's one of the reasons Ryback was so over in 2012, but he had his criticism of how he looked lame chanting "Feed Me More!" All the time.
I say he should be heel, its easier to get people to hate you, and its less work on the mic. As a face you have to have plenty of mic time, to get the fans behind you. Wwe should've had Reigns heel to begin with, Cena isn't going anywhere soon, so actually having a TOP heel on Cena's level would've been great. (No offense to Rollins, but having him get beat by Cena so much doesn't help him)

 

[kadroan]

Honestly I think Roman Reigns he has a long way to go as a babyface if you ask me, yes sure he is getting cheered by fans everywhere now but how long will that really last? How long before the fickle fans of the WWE Universe turn on Reigns? Hell they have already started to and just when a wrestler is at their peak, at the point or at the edge of their popularity the fans always turn on them and honestly Roman Reigns is no different

Roman Reigns watch if he wins the Royal Rumble Match look at how fast the fans will turn on him, Batista 2014 all over again but with Roman Reigns being the object of people's hatred

But honestly then why even turn Reigns babyface in the first place? They should have just kept him as a heel then and honestly Reigns' character screams heel rather than babyface anyway

I think he could do both. Right now, they need him to be a face. WWE needs an alternative besides Bryan and Cena in the main event and that alternative is Reigns. Don't forget fans were cheering him when he was in the final two of last year's Royal Rumble match and when he tied the elimination record at 2013 Survivor Series despite being a heel in both matches (Survivor Series 2013, Royal Rumble 2014)

 

[Navi]

I think he could do both. Right now, they need him to be a face. WWE needs an alternative besides Bryan and Cena in the main event and that alternative is Reigns. Don't forget fans were cheering him when he was in the final two of last year's Royal Rumble match and when he tied the elimination record at 2013 Survivor Series despite being a heel in both matches (Survivor Series 2013, Royal Rumble 2014)

I agree they need an alternative to Cena and Bryan and they've picked Reigns that's fairly obvious.

But also don't forget they only reason he was cheered at the Rumble last year was because fans didn't want Batista to win. If the final two had been Batista and a trained chimpanzee, the chimpanzee would have been cheered through the roof. Considering the shape Batista was in, the chimp would have probably been the better wrestler of the two.

I'm not sure how many fans at the show knew that he beat Kane's record as it was happening. We knew because we were being told by Michael Cole, but unless they were keeping count, and knew of Kane's record, they would have had no idea.