Why we may see a Reigns heel turn at WrestleMania

Roman Reigns has been the recipient of a strong backlash from the WWE fans who feel he is being shoved down their throats and positioned as the new babyface of the company, taking the mantle from John Cena.

Winning the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia certainly didn’t do the former Shield member, any favours.

After the eliminations of Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose and others, the crowd fully let the WWE hierarchy know their feelings as to the booking of the 30-man contest.

After overcoming Big Show and Kane in the closing stages to win the Rumble itself, it was more evident than ever that the fans clearly aren’t taking to Reigns – had the company let him grow organically and have him headline WrestleMania next year then in all likelihood, it would have been a different story.

Even an appearance from The Rock couldn’t help the sound of Reigns being booed out of the building – a situation ‘The Great One’ was rumoured to be less than happy to be put in.

Reigns has made some very disparaging comments regarding the fans’ negative reaction towards him claiming: “The majority of critics, I would say, are people who have no clue what they’re talking about and have never been in a wrestling ring. They’ve never been a public speaker. They wouldn’t even know how to lock up with me if I allowed them to.”

These are certainly unbecoming comments from the man the WWE hopes to take over from John Cena as the face of the company – and quite disrespectful to the fans who pay their money and are free to boo and cheer whomever they wish.

Cena knowingly realises the fans are critical of his character, both in the ring and on the microphone. But he doesn’t belittle the fans in such a way – he fully acknowledges that the fans are entitled to do what they want once they’re through the door.

Reigns is good in the ring, he has come on a lot since his days with The Shield, although his promo skills are still severely lacking.

Had the WWE booked him as a silent but violent babyface – in a Goldberg-like way, then there may not be such resentment. His inability to cut a great promo are certainly hindering him, which begs the question, what if he were to gain a mouthpiece in the form of a manager?

Step forward, Paul Heyman.

Heyman is the greatest talker in the WWE right now and his pairing with Brock Lesnar, who, like Reigns isn’t the greatest on the microphone, has been an entertaining double act for over ten years now.

So what if at WrestleMania, Heyman turns on Lesnar and aligns himself with the younger Reigns?

Brock is verging on babyface territory now and has been since SummerSlam and his unbelievable beating of Cena and the fans rallied behind him in the build-up to the Royal Rumble and in the WWE Championship match itself at that very event.

During the Raw special from WWE headquarters, Heyman was very effusive about Reigns and his family, almost trying to butter him up. It could play into the story that Heyman admires the lineage of Reigns and sees him as ‘THE’ superstar, able to dominate for the next decade as Brock has, both in the WWE and UFC.

This would allow several things to happen.

Pressure would be alleviated on Reigns to cut lengthy promos, he is more than capable of doing what Brock currently does, stand behind Heyman and look menacing.

Brock can be turned, or at least become a tweener which is what the fans are crying out for, regardless of whether he stays with WWE or not, it’s what the fans want.

And it will also turn Seth Rollins, who the fans are also rallying behind, and are beginning to accept as a future WWE Champion.

Although a confident heel, Rollins’ money is as a babyface. He just has that look – the way he carries himself and the way he bumps around just scream ‘good-guy’.

These turns will create the path for a future spring/summer series for the WWE Championship in which Rollins should finally cash in his money in the bank contract and possibly lose.

The money is in the babyface chasing the gold, and Reigns will need at least a 3 month run as champion to solidify himself as a major player and give him the confidence to be at the top. You could add Ambrose to the mix and have The Shield members battle it out for the WWE Championship – a match that all three men will surely want, such is their obvious closeness despite their on-screen battles.

So Roman Reigns may be the man to take over from John Cena as the face of the company, but it may not be for another year at least. He certainly needs more time, and an alliance with Heyman will give him that and the fans will have more time to accept it.

Daniel Bryan never lost the WWE Championship, therefore it should be Bryan Vs Lesnar at Mania

After winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 30, Daniel Bryan was expected to have a title reign which lasted to SummerSlam before he would eventually be stopped by ‘The Conqueror’ Brock Lesnar, who was hot off the heels from ending the Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak.

But that match never happened as injury cruelly robbed Bryan of not only the match that he craved, but a fairly decent championship reign, certainly by today’s standards.

But now is the time to put all that right.

Only this time with the roles reversed, with Lesnar as the unstoppable champion and Bryan the heroic challenger.

After winning the Royal Rumble, he has the chance to regain the title he was never defeated for and we can have a bout to see who the undisputed champion is.

The story writes itself.

Bryan wants his championship back, but he has to beat Lesnar to get it. The David Vs Goliath story is one of the oldest ever used in pro-wrestling and it is also one of the most effective, and the fans unwavering support for Bryan can make this a memorable encounter.

The match can be built up perfectly by Paul Heyman who can talk down to Bryan and really question whether he can defeat the ‘reigning, defending, WWE World Heavyweight Champion’ with his recent injury problems doubled with Brock’s dominance. He can really tap into the element of Bryan being in serious danger if he competes at WrestleMania.

In terms of match quality, it should deliver.

Bryan has fantastic chemistry with virtually everybody on the roster, while Lesnar can also work effectively with smaller wrestlers, look at his match with CM Punk from SummerSlam 2013, or go way back to 2002 and his excellent matches with Rob Van Dam and Edge.

Lesnar is known as a brutal mat-wrestler with unmitigated strength, while Bryan has vicious strikes from his legs and is a submission specialist. The brutality and hard-hitting match style should be compelling and something you don’t get very often on WWE television.

WWE missed out on the opportunity to book the match at SummerSlam due to Bryan’s uncertain future. But now, with everything in place, they would be foolish to not capitalise on Bryan’s popularity as the returning babyface and reclaim his crown on the grandest stage of them all.

It should be Dolph Ziggler, not Sting, who wrestles Triple H at WrestleMania

Since Sting made his much anticipated debut at Survivor Series and cost The Authority the match after attacking the COO, it has been expected that the two will square off at WrestleMania, thus depriving the fans of the Sting Vs Undertaker match.

Another viable option for ‘The Game’ at WrestleMania is to take on Dolph Ziggler, the man who he has recently fired and the man that the company have belittled for over a year now.

 

Ziggler is a great babyface, the fans get behind him because he genuinely is a show-stealer but always gets pushed down the card, and he also doesn’t endear himself to management with his outspoken comments on the same guys being ‘on top’.

 

Although these elements are the perfect recipe for a killer storyline which could culminate at WrestleMania and be one of the headline matches and really put Ziggler over.

 

There can be no denying that Ziggler has found himself in a more favourable position in the last few months, winning the match for Team Cena at Survivor Series, and winning the Intercontinental Championship, although he has since lost that title to Bad News Barrett.

 

It seems as though he has battled through the dog-house which is a technique Vince McMahon commonly uses to test the mettle of all WWE Superstars – he even did it with Triple H back in 1996 after the infamous ‘Curtain Call’.

 

There can be no denying that Ziggler, pushed correctly can be a huge star, look at the reactions to his feud with Chris Jericho and John Cena in late 2012, and the reaction when he won the world Heavyweight Championship the night after WrestleMania 29 – and a win against Triple H can put him back on the march to the top of the card.

 

You can play-off real-life tensions with Ziggler commenting on Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena and others, and use that as a focal point of the story. You also have a similar dynamic to that of Triple H and Daniel Bryan from last year, Ziggler is very similar in stature to Bryan, and ‘The Game’ is so good at talking down to talent who he feels are not in his league – probably playing off his real life views.

 

Given the opportunity, the two could have a great match and tell a compelling story, of-course the issue will be whether Triple H feels Ziggler is a big enough name for him to wrestle, considering he only has a few matches left, but he should see the bigger picture and see that he can help rebuild a superstar who was on the cusp of super-stardom two years ago, but has tragically not been handled correctly.

 

That way you could free up Sting to wrestle The Undertaker, and while it may not rival a potential Sting Vs Triple H bout in terms of quality, in terms of a spectacle it would blow a Sting/Triple H match out of the water.

 

You don’t need ‘The Streak’ to do the match – you simply bill it as a retirement match for both men, and that will hook the fans in as they know, win, lose or draw, this is it for two wrestling icons.