WWE: What Lies Ahead for Roman Reigns in 2017?

Roman Reigns is currently in the middle of a feud with Braun Strowman. Here is a look at what could potentially await him in the months ahead.

Roman Reigns is a polarizing figure in the world of professional wrestling. He is one of the few hand-picked talents by the WWE. The ‘Guy’ in the WWE who would often be protected and promoted like no other superstar in the past. Needless to say, it often evokes negative crowd reactions and relentless boos. Despite all that, creative would continue to present Reigns as one of the pillars of the new era.

One of the reasons for the same would be his innate ability to generate a reaction from the crowd. Much like John Cena before Reigns, he could always evoke a reaction from the crowd, be it loud cheers or a chorus of boos. Unlike Cena, Reigns is yet to gain the respect of the WWE universe. A very vocal portion of the crowd would often feel he has not earned things in this business. But rather, things were handed to him, for being the hand-picked guy.

Despite all the negative crowd reaction, a lot of veterans would support Reigns. Many do feel that he had been pushed to the top too fast. Kurt Angle recently went on to comment about the whole situation with Reigns during an interview with ‘The Statement Show’ podcast which was featured on Wrestling Inc.

"Roman Reigns is talented. I don’t care what anyone says. You can’t deny that the kid knows how to work. I believe what happened to him was that they didn’t have him go through the wringer. They didn’t have him win the European title, or I should say, the Intercontinental title, U.S. title, King Of The Ring [tournament]. They just threw him up there right away and the fans don’t like that, they want you to earn your keep. If any wrestler has ever done that, I don’t know of one. It seemed like they were really trying to push Roman faster than he should have been pushed. I think he will earn the respect of fans, but it’s going to take a little bit more time."

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Angle would make some valid comments and point out issues with Reigns’ booking ever since he went solo. The Big Dig is presently in the middle of a feud with Braun Strowman. The two would collide at Fastlane a few weeks from now. However, Roman Reigns could potentially be on a collision course with the Phenom at the show of shows. The dead man would remain as one of the pivotal figures during the build to the Rumble. Despite that, Reigns would eliminate him clearly and cleanly. This would result in a staredown between them. Perhaps creative was teasing the idea of a Taker vs Reigns feud later. There is no better place than Wrestlemania for that.

The story writes itself as we noted in an earlier article. Moreover, our own Rob Wolkenbrod thinks this could be one of the most intriguing matches during this year’s Wrestlemania. Whether you like it or not, Roman Reigns facing the Undertaker is a money match. Contrary to something like Sting vs Taker, Reigns can carry the major load of the match. The only match that could top this would be Cena vs Taker. However, we have reasons to believe Cena will not be featured in a marquee match this year.

If Reigns does indeed face the Phenom, what lies ahead for him is still a mystery. We don’t know yet when he would be back in the Universal title picture. Though, one thing is for sure – he should not be handed a mid-card title. Reigns’ run with the US title did nothing to elevate him or the championship. It would be referred to as a failed experiment in the future. Also, creative cannot keep him away from Universal title scene for more than six months.

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Of course, the crowd will attack any attempt at bringing Reigns back into title contention. That would essentially leave the WWE with either of the two options. Firstly, they could go with the flow and give the crowd a storyline reasons to boo him. This would be more like WWE exploiting the crowd’s hatred for his character. Simply put, creative could turn Reigns heel. He could go about by attacking a babyface like Sami Zayn or even the Undertaker to build towards Wrestlemania. But we all know that creative is adamant about turning him heel for the time being.

WWE’s other option; and I feel this plan is already in the works, would be to establish him as a grey character. If one would remember, Strowman was being heavily cheered on during the title match against Owens. Enter Reigns. He would arrive, kick ass and would then proceed to leave without any painful promos or irritating hand gestures that don’t suit his character. While we know that Roman Reigns is still not a heel, his actions couldn’t be described as what a face would do.

Moreover, of late, we would see a much more vulnerable version of Reigns. First, Owens would put him through a table a few weeks back. Then last week, Strowman literally obliterated the big dog. WWE would have to present more such scenes to convince the audience that Reigns is not a case of superman booking.

Regardless of whether Reigns faces or even beats the Undertaker eventually at Wrestlemania, he should not go back to chasing the Universal title at least until SummerSlam. Reigns would rather benefit from mixing it up with more mid-carders and gaining momentum. He would also be able to add more matches to the list of great PPV matches he has had.

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A rivalry infused feud with WWE’s latest Samoan bad ass would be another great way to redesign Reigns. Samoa Joe is a world-class wrestler. Much like Reigns’ battles with AJ Styles, Joe would bring out the best in him. Reigns and Joe could continue to mix it up in a personal rivalry and in the title picture for the years to come.

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