Is Roman Reigns Going to Turn Heel Any Time Soon? (Probably Not)

WWE is apparently not planning on turning Roman Reigns heel in the immediate future, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, noting that they’ve “heard nothing about a Reigns turn.” Reigns apparently gets cheered at house shows and the thought amongst WWE is that it’s only a vocal minority that boos him. Reigns also is the biggest merchandise seller at live events, which has apparently helped WWE to not “overreact” to the loud negative reactions Reigns gets on television. WWE is also somewhat used to it with John Cena playing a similar role (more so in the past), being booed heavily while still selling tons of merch and being popular with “the kids.”

Roman Reigns was interviewed on the ESPN “Cheap Heat” podcast and was asked how he feels about being booed, and if he thinks eventually turning heel would help him reach the next level in his character development.

Reigns had this to say:

When you win and you’re whooping a lot of ass, you’re not that angry. I’ve been successful. And whatever we’ve been doing, it seems to be working. It seems to continue to have loud reactions and nobody’s been to more wrestling shows than me and the other guys on the roster. We are at every show. I watch every show. I understand reactions and that’s one thing you can be as informed within the wrestling community and internet as you want, but there’s one thing that I know, and that’s listening to what kind of reactions are happening. Who’s in the crowd? Are they kids? Are they women? Are they men? Are they my age? Men older than me, younger than me? So there’s a lot of different things that are happening there.

One thing I like about my situation and I think if I commit to one… “I’m a bad guy now. I’m pissed and I’m just gonna try to take everybody out.” Then it’s only just like one “boo” but I’m when I’m out there, there’s all kinds of boos. There’s all kinds of chants. It’s pandemonium. I like it. I like a mixed reaction. I like people competing as far as whose reaction is gonna be louder, the boos or the cheers. I just want to bring out the most in our fans and give them an opportunity to rage or just fill themselves with joy and get everything out of this that they’re trying. They’ve spent their hard earned money, I want them to have a phenomenal experience.

(When asked how being “showered with boos” for his 2015 Royal Rumble win affected him as a performer:)

You know, I think it just pushed me. Any time as a performer and you’re in a live situation, and you’re dealing with that sort of backlash, it’s gonna trigger emotions. But I think like anybody who is dedicated and wants to get better at their craft and wants to be the very best in the business, they’re gonna use that as motivation. And that’s what I did. I took that moment as – some people would look at it as a negative, but not me. At the end of the day, x amount of thousands of people are screaming, booing at the top of their lungs and I’m at the center of attention, so I must be doing something right.