WWE Fastlane 2017: 3 Reasons Braun Strowman Should Defeat Roman Reigns
By Tim Sherry
WWE.com
3. The Reigns Experiment is Over
This has been undoubtedly one of the longest and most head scratching WWE experiments of all time. We all know Reigns’ history but let’s just do a quick recap here. Really cool, dangerous, quiet member of The Shield, gets increasingly less cool as singles star, specifically any time he opens his mouth, goes on to win 3 WWE Championships as Vince’s new golden boy while 95 percent of the company’s viewership gags, falls from main event scene after an exhausting 2 and a half years at the top, and here we are with his upcoming match with Strowman. Seems like it’s time for a change, no?
Now it’s not a definite that Reigns’ career is dead and buried. This whole thing can still be salvaged. He’s only 31. He’s good looking. Great physique. And he’s actually pretty good in the ring despite what many WWE crowd chants believe. It’s time to allow Reigns to step away from the spotlight for a little while. Heck, keep him out of Wrestlemania altogether and bring him back as a heel. The company tried every way possible to get him over as a babyface. They tried the tough guy angle, the funny guy gag, the thumb your nose at authority thing, they even played the sympathy card when Triple H rearranged his face on an episode of RAW. Get the hint guys, it doesn’t work.
A Reigns heel turn is really the only way to turn things around for him but would the WWE have the stones to do it? Heck, people have been screaming for a John Cena heel turn for well over a decade to no avail. But at least Cena comes off as a baby face, Reigns comes off like a jerk. And that baby face jerk angle can work at times but it’s much more difficult to pull that off in the PG era as opposed to when guys like Steve Austin and The Rock did it. Reigns behaves like a heel. It’s time to embrace it.