Much like John Cena in his prime, fans have been dying for Roman Reigns to give them a full heel turn for the past three years. And much like with John Cena in his prime, it looks like that just isn’t going to ever happen. Reigns was a recent guest on ESPN’ Cheap Heat podcast and during the interview, Reigns was asked his feelings about a potential heel turn. Not only did Reigns acknowledge the
“You know when you win and your whipping a lot of a**, you’re not that angry. I have been successful. Whatever we have been doing, it seems to be working. It seems to continue to have loud reactions. Nobody has been to more wrestling shows than me and the other guys on the roster. We are at every show, I watch every show and I understand reactions. You can be as informed within the wrestling community and the internet as you want. There is one thing I know and it is listening to what kind of reactions are happening”
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Reigns is not wrong. Anyone who has seen him at a non-televised house show knows the reactions are a far cry from what he gets on RAW. But the former WWE Champion said the bigger problem with turning heel is that he would only be looking for boos instead of letting the audience use their natural emotions to compete to see which side can drown the other out.
“When I am out there, there is all kind of noise, there are all kind of chants. It’s pandemonium. I like a mixed reaction, I like people competing, as far as whose reaction is going to be louder: the boos or the cheers. I just want to bring out the most in our the fans and give them an opportunity to rage”
He makes a good point. In this day and age, is there a need for clearly defined heel and face roles? Older fans always seem to cheer for the bad guys who do such a good job at being villains while they boo the good guys because they feel their characters are too stale. This is the post-Soprano, post-Walter White world we’re living in. Just as in pop culture, wrestling fans like their heroes to be flawed.
When it comes to Roman’s upcoming WrestleMania match with The Undertaker, the WWE is under no confusion as to who will be the crowd favorite in Orlando. Vince has reportedly wanted this match to be a passing of the torch from Taker to Reigns – so much so that he even scrapped a Taker Cena match in favor of Reigns. Considering how Taker looked in his Rumble performance, it’s very possible this Mania could be his last.
As Roman stated on RAW this past week, he’s looking to “retire The Undertaker”, which would certainly draw even more heel heat than he’s already getting. However, there are currently rumors that WWE is planning next year’s ‘Mania main event to feature Roman Reigns taking on The Beast Brock Lesnar, which would most likely mean nothing is changing for The Big Dog over the next 12 months.
You can listen to Roman’s entire interview here.
As for the rest of this year’s WrestleMania card, you can find the fully announced card below, as well as more images in the gallery.
United States Champion Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens
RAW’s Women’s Champion Bayley vs Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks
Universal Champion Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton
RAW Tag Team Champions The Club vs Enzo and Cass vs Cesaro and Sheamus
Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose vs Baron Corbin
Smackdown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs All Smackdown Women
2017 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal featuring Big Show, Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler
John Cena and Nikki Bella Tag Match vs The Miz and Maryse
Shane McMahon vs AJ Styles, and a rumored Triple H vs Seth Rollins confrontation.
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Why Roman Reigns Should Retire The Undertaker
