Roman Reigns has turned heel. There, I said it. After attempting to straight up murder Braun Strowman in the back of an ambulance at WWE Great Balls Of Fire, I accept no other explanation. Yet, despite his dastardly actions, most of the WWE Universe is still waking up today afraid to say it out loud.
Why? Because we simply don’t trust that WWE has the great balls to follow through with completely turning the Big Dog to the dark side. Not a one of us would be surprised if Roman showed up at Raw tonight cutting the same tired promo claiming the yard to be his while Michael Cole puts over his tenacity.
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If someone knew nothing about either wrestler’s past and tuned in to last night’s semi-main event (sorry Curt Hawkins/Heath Slater), Reigns would clearly be viewed as the villain. But even knowing WWE’s ridiculous preference for characters living in shades of gray, we can make a pretty good case for last night being Roman’s final turning point. Let’s look at the evidence.
Reigns looked every part the heel throughout the match. As expected, Braun got the louder pop upon entering the ring. The finish came when Reigns cartoonishly slid into the ambulance after Strowman side stepped him as if he were Wile E Coyote running towards a cliff.
After the match ended, Reigns attacked Strowman again, hitting him repeatedly with the door and spearing him down to the concrete. These were the actions of a sore loser; not a noble hero.
The look.
Before Roman threw the ambulance in reverse there was a very intentional moment where the WWE cameras closed in on Roman looking into the car mirror. This was no longer a guy getting caught up in the moment. This was deliberate. WWE wanted us to see Roman questioning his actions before he made them. This was the point of no return.
And finally the actual matter of attempted vehicular manslaughter. Good guys have a pretty long leash when it comes to what they can get away with, yet if you look back at all of wrestling history, trying to kill someone with a car is always a heel move.
Eddie Gilbert ran down Jerry Lawler in Memphis in full view of cameras. Rikishi ran down Stone Cold in a limousine and the NWO smashed an ambulance with The Rock inside. This is something only heels do!
Despite the assumption that Roman is not a good guy or a bad guy, when The Guy attempts to murder his opponent, it should be sold to the WWE Universe as a villainous act. Last night, the announcers did a great job of doing just that. While they didn’t fully admonish Reigns for his actions, they did go into somber wrestling announcer voice to discuss the fact they’d never seen something so horrendous.
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The final proof in the pudding of Roman’s turn was that he made a hero out of Strowman. Only a few months ago, The Monster Among Men was the one rolling Roman off the ramp in a gurney and flipping him over in an ambulance. Last night, he was the victim. This assumption was reinforced when Kurt Angle and all the backstage WWE employees stood by the crumpled up ambulance shouting screams of concern for the big man.
To put a final bow on the segment, Roman cowardly walked away from the scene of the crime, not willing to answer for what he had just done. In turn, Strowman refused medical attention and limped off into the Dallas night like a noble, wounded sasquatch.
Reliving these events in my mind, it seems comical to even question whether or not Roman Reigns is a heel. Of course he is!
The only question now is will WWE admit it?
