Was WWE testing the waters for Reigns heel turn?

[That N Word]

As you all saw Monday night, Reigns kicked off Raw and endured 8 minutes of extreme boo's and brutal chants. Reigns trolled the crowd over and over by acting like he was going to say something but putting the mic back down repeatedly and let them continue before saying 5 simple words.

My question is...Was it planned like that? I could imagine WWE sending Reigns out and going based off how bad the reaction he got was to determine whether or not they turn him. Right now, it appears Reigns will come in contact with Strowman first. But does a heel turn follow? Reigns is currently planned to be in a year long build up to a match with Brock Lesnar at next year's WrestleMania 33 for the Universal Championship. If you missed Raw on Monday, Brock appears to be back as a complete babyface.

Wouldn't be the worst move in the world. In fact, it probably can be the best. WWE's long term goal is still to make Reigns the most over babyface on the roster. The smart way to do that is to turn Reigns heel after he wraps up with Strowman and have him dominate as a heel. Have him beat Lesnar at Mania for the Universal Title in brutal fashion as a heel and hold on for the belt the entire 2018 calender year. Have Reigns remain heel all the way up until WrestleMania 35 in 2019 where he faces off against John Cena and do a double turn. That may be the best way to get him over because by the time he faces Cena, fans will likely be cheering the new cool heel Reigns.

Only major problem is it means Reigns would have to headline 5 consecutive Mania's in a roll because no way a match as big as Reigns/Lesnar isn't the closer and there isn't a chance in hell that perhaps the biggest match of this era in Cena/Reigns doesn't close Mania.

But back to the original question, Do you think they sent him out Monday in pre-planned form to figure out the next move? or do you think it just happened like that because Reigns was just letting them play into his hands?

 

[Brian440]

I would need to go back and watch it again, but my initial impression watching live (Granted I was also cracking up) was he wasn't necessarily "trolling" the crowd. Every time Reigns would attempt to say something, the crowd would just boo even louder, so he'd put the mic down as if to say "Alright. Go ahead. Get it out of your systems."

I do think they are slowly turning him heel. Not only because of the simple fact that they are seriously on crack if they think he'll be cheered after the outcome of 'Mania, but these last couple of Raws, Reigns has just come off like a complete douchebag. His promo on the go-home Raw before WrestleMania was no where a babyface or "Cool guy" promo. It was a ******** that most people would want to see get his ass kicked.

 

[Messiah]

What heel turn?.. He already turned heel, you must have missed it.. He just didn't have some huge heel turn people were expecting.

He acts like a heel.
He went up against the biggest babyface in WWE at WrestleMania.
He ended Undertaker's career and defeated him in his last match.
He gets booed more than anyone

Give 1 reason how Reigns is a babyface?.. I'd bet every cent that i have you can't come up with 1 solid reason. He doesn't even pander to the crowd or crack corny jokes anymore.. Sorry, but to anyone who thinks he's still a face is a moron.

 

[Gallops77]

What heel turn?.. He already turned heel, you must have missed it.. He just didn't have some huge heel turn people were expecting.

He acts like a heel.
He went up against the biggest babyface in WWE at WrestleMania.
He ended Undertaker's career and defeated him in his last match.
He gets booed more than anyone

Give 1 reason how Reigns is a babyface?.. I'd bet every cent that i have you can't come up with 1 solid reason. He doesn't even pander to the crowd or crack corny jokes anymore.. Sorry, but to anyone who thinks he's still a face is a moron.

We'll have to see next week. It's all been how they book him. Before Mania, he was feuding with Braun Strowman who is booked as a monster heel. Reigns was the defacto face. If they keep booking him against heels, then by logic, he's a face. He needs to destroy a major face on Raw. Rollins, Balor, Cesaro, Zayn, Jericho, etc. He needs to not be facing Owens, Samoa Joe, etc. Only time heels face each other are one off matches.

So for people think he's still a face isn't making them a moron. It's how he's honestly being booked.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

He acts like a heel.
He went up against the biggest babyface in WWE at WrestleMania.
He ended Undertaker's career and defeated him in his last match.
He gets booed more than anyone

He acts like a heel? Does he cheat or take shortcuts or lay down vicious beatings or even cut scathing promos on his opponents? What does the Roman Reigns CHARACTER do that is remotely heel-like?

Before this program with Taker, were you saying that he was "already a heel"? If so, then why was he only having matches with heels? If not, and he is just NOW a heel BECAUSE of ending the Undertaker's career, then you must be sure that his next feud will be with a babyface. I don't see that happening.

He gets booed more than anyone because of smarks who boo him because they don't like the fact that Vince has strapped a rocket to his back. He's not getting booed for kayfabe reasons.

I refer to him as a tweener because has such a lack of depth to his character that I don't think you can say definitively WHAT he is. But if you had to put him one category, you'd have to say he is a babyface still.

 

[Gallops77]

What heel turn?.. He already turned heel, you must have missed it.. He just didn't have some huge heel turn people were expecting.

He acts like a heel.
He went up against the biggest babyface in WWE at WrestleMania.
He ended Undertaker's career and defeated him in his last match.
He gets booed more than anyone

Give 1 reason how Reigns is a babyface?.. I'd bet every cent that i have you can't come up with 1 solid reason. He doesn't even pander to the crowd or crack corny jokes anymore.. Sorry, but to anyone who thinks he's still a face is a moron.

And by your logic...

Shawn Michaels was a heel when he faced Ric Flair.

Undertaker was a heel when he faced Shawn Michaels the second time and ended his career... He even REQUESTED that HBK put his career on the line.

Cena was heel in his matches with The Rock.

Two faces can have feuds. It happens because the end result is usually a championship or it's something about respect.

Reigns NEVER trashed The Undertaker. He just responded to Taker confronting him. Remember, Taker CHOSE to confront Reigns, not the other way around.

Reigns may get booed, but he doesn't act like a heel. He isn't BOOKED like a heel. Wanna see a heel? Kevin Owens. And he gets CHEERED at points. Triple H is a heel. Heels act like assholes. Reigns hasn't.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

WWE should just accept the hate and start by having Reigns go up against babyfaces, without changing anything in his character. Keep him doing what he already does, but against babyfaces.

Him facing heels right now doesn't help anybody. The heel can't get heat and Reigns is hated even more the more he's pushed as a babyface. At least use Reigns to help the babyfaces get over.

 

[Franchize1990]

It could've been a test to see if he could do it and if Monday was any indication, I'd be all for a heel run. I believe this was more along the lines of the higher-ups saying "If you though the fans weren't on your side before, wait until the RAW after Mania crowd gets a hold of him AFTER beating Taker at Mania. So go out there, let the fans get their hate on and then sting them with the 'This is my yard' line and walk off." I think Reigns and the WWE played this very well and if reactions continue to get THAT bad, they should continue displaying his swagger/arrogance in this manner.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Sadly, many here won't believe he's the bad guy until he does something over-the-top villainous. Fans are so used to seeing basic heels that when a subtle heel comes along, it completely goes over our heads. We think a bad guy must fit into an exact attitude, with an exact look and an exact way of doing things. So when Roman Reigns comes out and gloats with his one line of dialogue, we shrug it off because it wasn't like he completely disrespected Taker's legacy when he said that (even though that's exactly what he did) or the commentary didn't go on and on about how Roman was the bad guy now (even though Michael Cole later kept bringing up how he changed). We have to see the villainy point-blank, clear, square in our faces in order to believe it's happening.

I don't necessarily blame people's hesitancy in calling what we saw a heel turn. WWE has done a lot of bait-and-switching that I'm sure most of us here expect Roman's next fight to be against a heel, so her der der he must still be the good guy, because heels never fight other heels or so we lie to ourselves.

There's definitely something building with his character right now, and it doesn't give the nuance of a hero, babyface character at all. He didn't come out and try to do damage control (something Cena did ALL THE TIME). There was nothing about respecting the man he most likely retired. Nothing humble from his encounter with the deadman. He didn't play to the crowd, there was nothing in his demeanor to suggest how he hated doing what he did like what HBK showed when he retired Flair. There was nothing but that one line.

That's not how the good guy acts, and that's definitely not something the good guy says. Maybe he'll be the hero with edge. Fans would continue to shit on him, though. But I completely believe something is up with him that wasn't all those other times he was booed. He at least tried to get them on his side those moments. This one was devoid of that desire. Roman Reigns simply doesn't care about our feelings. It is his yard now.

 

[closet_fan]

And by your logic...

Shawn Michaels was a heel when he faced Ric Flair.

Undertaker was a heel when he faced Shawn Michaels the second time and ended his career... He even REQUESTED that HBK put his career on the line.

Cena was heel in his matches with The Rock.

Two faces can have feuds. It happens because the end result is usually a championship or it's something about respect.

Reigns NEVER trashed The Undertaker. He just responded to Taker confronting him. Remember, Taker CHOSE to confront Reigns, not the other way around.

Reigns may get booed, but he doesn't act like a heel. He isn't BOOKED like a heel. Wanna see a heel? Kevin Owens. And he gets CHEERED at points. Triple H is a heel. Heels act like assholes. Reigns hasn't.

This right there is exactly why he won't turn heel. Kids are still going to love him just like they loved Cena and Cena teased heel turns to the point he made fun of the idea.

Reigns gets a reaction. That's all the WWE needs in order to keep him the way he is.

 

[ISkye]

***Sadly, many here won't believe he's the bad guy until he does something over-the-top villainous. Fans are so used to seeing basic heels that when a subtle heel comes along, it completely goes over our heads. We think a bad guy must fit into an exact attitude, with an exact look and an exact way of doing things***

This really hit the nail on the head right off the back. There is an example literally in the same thread you just posted this in.

First posting in this thread: "He is feuding with a heel then by logic he is a face." "He needs to destroy a MAJOR FACE on Raw or something."

Second post by the *same guy*: "Two faces can have feuds"

There is always the people talking about "WWE insults their fans intelligence" or whatever, but it's worked for a solid 10+ years now. It's not really an insult if they have influenced people's entire thought processes even if it being inadvertently. At this point a major alternative would be great just in the respects that it breaks the cycle and people exit the pseudo-reality that the WWE has written. It's their biggest crutch, but it certainly has proven to be a double edge sword as it has crippled them trying to progress onto these new ventures and markets.

Shawn trying to warn Roman in a friendly / respectful way. Reigns says "No offense, but he's the one who retired you" *Boo Pause* "And I'm going to be the one that retires him".

Triple HHH Pre-Mania: "Isn't he already a heel? 70% of the crowd boo's him. We just present him in a different way"

Comes out after retiring The Undertaker and doesn't even mention him. Let's the crowd boo as he just stands looking angry in the ring. Doesn't acknowledge them like he has in the past or even tries to be friendly. Basically says one like that means he proved his point, and kept his word. That's all that matters, and he doesn't care about your opinion.

He also doesn't exactly wrestle like a face whether you believe it or not. If you'd like a pure face vs pure heel styled booking feud go back and watch NXT's great feud of Zayn vs Neville for the NXT title. Even if you'd like to call him a tweener or a guy who blurs the lines he still leans towards a heel in basic and deeper thinking in regards to his booking. If you're being critical of how it is executed just remember you're watching WWE and not NJPW.

In the internet era of pro-wrestling it is nearly impossible to achieve being a universally hated heel. There is a level of transparency that hurts the industry and overall business that doesn't quite have a solution from either the side of the promoters and wrestlers or the fans. Some things on twitter being the equivalent of a guy trash talking with his buddies after work at a restaurant now are treated like a publicity statement. A large portion of that audience for that publicity statement is ready to make this loud and over hype this even before it even happens. We are in an Era of humanity where we have become more aware of our existence than ever and how minuscule we are in the space and reach of the overall picture.

That era of humanity is a crippler for an industry that lived off of it's hidden underside and the secrets that had been kept for decades prior. It may have kept up or continuously evolved, but we still haven't found this new platform to go off it. The mass over exposure of WWE has kept them strong, but even when they book something even remotely off their typical bubble it doesn't get the reaction we want or they want. It is a compromise that happens to cater to one or the other parties, and it hurts the business overall. The art is in the hands of the businessmen who lack the passion, and the ones supposedly on the other side continue to feed them or fail to reach a level to even threaten the guys and their yes men on top.

It's not that deep and a mass majority of the problems that will keep arising will stem from this. Just like the reach of tabloids and incidents like the "Summer of The Shark" in mainstream media has contributed to these issues in every other industry. We've just reached a point in time where that is easier to do, and the payout if easier to obtain and observe the reaction from afar. Everyone from Jim Cornette to the entire McMahon family to Will Osprey to the fans, and everyone and between can be pinned for the collapse and rebuild of the pro-wrestling landscape. It's harder than ever to realize you may not have an opinion that is educated to any degree, and everyone is different and the things that are subjective aren't taken how they would have been even 20 years ago. It's better in a lot of ways, but negative in a lot of times seemingly equal. Even a dynamic as simple as good guy / bad guy in pro-wrestling has become misconstrued, and you know it's nothing that's in immediate worth of fixing. This is why at the end of the day this vast portion of fans not only in the WWE bubble, but overall Pro-wrestling world are in the stands even after all the trouble and not in the back.

The things that we should care about have been getting more attention in a lot of places they almost received none before due to this transparency. At the same time the sword pokes into things that weren't exactly an issue before and derails the train of ideas running through a fans head off the rails before it even reaches the 1st stop. Being open minded and exploration is seemingly the only way to combat it, and if anything is apparent it is the obvious lack of being either of those things in the typical WWE fan.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

What heel turn?.. He already turned heel, you must have missed it.. He just didn't have some huge heel turn people were expecting.

He acts like a heel.
He went up against the biggest babyface in WWE at WrestleMania.
He ended Undertaker's career and defeated him in his last match.
He gets booed more than anyone

Give 1 reason how Reigns is a babyface?.. I'd bet every cent that i have you can't come up with 1 solid reason. He doesn't even pander to the crowd or crack corny jokes anymore.. Sorry, but to anyone who thinks he's still a face is a moron.

The way Roman was just booked on RAW, you know, doing a gracious/diplomatic sit-down w/ Cole to then be totally decimated by Strowman (textbook "garner sympathy" booking) really proves your point that he is a heel.

 

[Glacier]

I cant even tell what he is.

It is almost like people boo because they think he is boring, but
WWE does not recognize this so they have him play to the boos.

Makes it seem worse.

 

[ShinChan]

I don't know what they're trying to do with Roman Reigns.

The segment with Braun Strowman could only be done to garner heel heat for Strowman and some sympathy for Roman Reigns. That signifies that WWE still wants crowd to cheer Roman Reigns. I don't think that the segment was performed to have boos for Roman Reigns. The coming weeks will clear it but as of now, that's all.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I don't know what they're trying to do with Roman Reigns.

The segment with Braun Strowman could only be done to garner heel heat for Strowman and some sympathy for Roman Reigns. That signifies that WWE still wants crowd to cheer Roman Reigns. I don't think that the segment was performed to have boos for Roman Reigns. The coming weeks will clear it but as of now, that's all.

This. If Roman was turning heel, he wouldn't have shown remorse for retiring Taker. The "it's my yard now" mic drop, would have followed with gloating about retiring Taker.

The Strowman attack was supposed to garner sympathy for Roman (I think) though if anything it made Braun the biggest babyface on Raw. Those pops were huge for an attack where most kids would be quietly crying in the corner "stop, he's dead."

What are they doing? I want to say they're being smart - let the men cheer Braun and the kids cheer Reigns. Cena had a mixed reaction though, whereas when is the last time Roman got a pop?

Last time I heard Roman get a pop on a live show was when he beat the crap out of Triple H and the League of Nations, but that was only the first time. It slowly switched.

If they're making money, they're doing things right so far as their investors and board of directors are concerned. I wish we had all the facts, such as how much revenue is tied directly to Reigns so we could have a fully informed discussion. But we don't so we can't, and here we are puzzled.

I remember when Michaels retired Flair in 2009, a lot of people thought Shawn would turn. Jericho turned instead. A lot of us adult male fans are probably looking for Roman to turn heel, but instead it's going to be Braun re-upping his game.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Reigns is not heel and never will be.

That should be very clear to everyone. Reigns is going to be the top guys for the next 5 years or so.

He said it was his yard. So? Cena said 'the champ is here' countless times. It's the same thing.

Reigns is booed, but crowd reaction doesn't tell you anything. If so, Strowman is the biggest face in the company.

Simply put, Reigns is not a heel and never will be.