WWE Raw Buy Or Sell: Roman Reigns Is Currently A Heel

In a recent interview Roman Reigns plants the seed that he is already a heel with WWE despite not being booked as one.  Let’s take a further look at this statement and see if there is validity to his comment before we blindly agree with The Big Dog.

In every major wrestling city inside and outside of the United States, Roman Reigns has been the most booed superstar in the WWE.  At face value this would make Reigns the biggest heel in the company.

In some sense every member of the WWE Universe determines who is their favorites and who are their least favorites.  So technically each fan has their own list of heels and faces, right?

Not so fast.  What made cities like New York City and Chicago so famous (or infamous) over the years, was their tendency to cheer heels.  Just because Chicago or New York cheered a heel, did that automatically make that heel a babyface?

And right there is the main question that needs to be answered to determine whether Reigns is actually a heel.  Is a crowd reaction the only indication of whether a superstar is a babyface or heel?

If you ask some members of the WWE Universe it isn’t.  Getting the opposite reaction of what is clearly intended could even be considered a failure.

Any weekly WWE televised event can hold between 12,000-21,000 fans in attendance.  If WWE SmackDown Live and WWE Raw usually have anywhere between 2-3.5 million viewers, then the fans in attendance for the event maybe make up 1% of the viewers for that week.

So what am I getting at?  Well, as great as it is to be there live and determine who is cheered and who is booed, the majority of fans who are viewing from home are having a much different picture painted for them.

When the story revolves around Reigns being a superstar who never quits, finds a way to win against insurmountable odds, and never backs down, these characteristics get exaggerated through commentary.  The WWE Universe that is watching from home is not deaf and can hear the crowd reactions, but every ten seconds are being sold on how tough and admirable Reigns is.

Then there is the booking of Reigns.  At what point does Reigns display heel tactics?  He is always calling other superstars out to a fight, and in this past week of Raw even marched to the back to start a brawl with Jinder Mahal because The Big Dog was itching for a fight that bad.

Reigns doesn’t even play the “tough guy” heel role, similar to Triple H in the Attitude Era.  At least Triple H would initiate the use of a weapon like a sledgehammer in an attempt to draw heat.

Reigns is so admirable, that he only uses a weapon when the situation justifies it or he is provoked by an opponent attempting to use a weapon on him first.  In no way is Reigns’ current character being smart, cunning, or attempting to provoke boos from live crowds.

When you go through the wrestling heel checklist, Reigns only really checks the box for getting booed.  Every other box is left empty, and that is why I am SELLING the idea that Reigns is currently a heel.

We have heard members of WWE management or superstars in the past claim that any character getting booed is a heel.  To me this is a lazy mindset, that is capped off by lazy booking.

At this rate, every ten years expect WWE to continue to try to replicate John Cena, and use the fans as the excuse why that superstar can’t get over.  Then use our favorite term, “polarizing” to describe the top superstar and use that word as a justification for that same superstar staying on top as a babyface.

Next: Bobby Lashley Needs A Change Fast

A babyface or heel is determined by the way a wrestling company presents those characters, it is an important component to how a story is told.  And in this story, Roman Reigns is a babyface, a babyface that has not gotten over with the majority of the WWE Universe.