WWE News: Vince Russo Pitches Idea For Roman Reigns, Says Reigns Needs To Be Turned Heel
WWE’s plan for Roman Reigns to be the company’s new top guy hasn’t exactly worked out thus far. When it became apparent to the WWE fans that Reigns would be getting, what they thought, was Daniel Bryan’s spot in the main-event of WrestleMania 31 against Brock Lesnar, they immediately turned on him, and he became one of the most hated men in WWE.
It’s been nearly seven months since WrestleMania 31, and, while the hatred in most cities has died down, there are still some cities, as we saw on Monday night, who won’t cheer for Roman Reigns, no matter what he does.
This past Monday’s RAW took place in Chicago, Illinois, which is a notoriously boisterous, and heel-loving crowd. So, what was WWE’s big idea for Reigns in front of what they had to know was going to be a hostile crowd? Well, their idea was for him to talk, and talk for a long time. To the point where the fans in attendance were chanting “WHAT?!” and “BORING!” during his long speech.
Reigns ended up addressing the crowd, but he did it in a way that didn’t do him any favors with the live crowd, or the audience viewing from home. You can watch the segment here.
Ex-WWE writer Vince Russo is one of the most controversial figures in all of professional wrestling. He was WWE’s lead writer during the beloved “Attitude Era,” and he was responsible, with the help of Vince McMahon, for writing some of the most memorable storylines during that time. But, after his WWE departure in 1999, when he left to become the head of creative at the now-defunct WCW, his work didn’t live up to his reputation, as he had sold himself as the man behind WWE’s success.
While Russo, without Vince McMahon overseeing him, is, for the most part, considered as an atrocious writer by mostly everybody in the business, he’s always been able to land a writing gig, most notably in TNA, where he was one of the lead writers for the majority of the company’s existence.
Russo has a strong presence online, and he’s constantly picking apart WWE’s product and presenting ideas that he would have for the wrestling fans to read. His latest idea was one that nearly everybody in the business agrees with: the WWE needs to turn Roman Reigns heel.
On the Wrestling Inc podcast following this past Monday’s RAW, Vince Russo talked about the Roman Reigns promo segment, and he revealed what he would have instructed Reigns to do in that situation on Monday night.
“I would have him go out there, cut a promo just like he was going to cut tonight [on Monday Night RAW] and tell him, ‘Roman, if the crowd starts getting hostile, tell them how you really feel.’ Don’t script him, just let him go and immediately you got the guy over as a heel. Now you got [Dean] Ambrose confronting him, ‘what the hell are you doing? What’s going on?’ and then Reigns saying, ‘I’m sick of it! I’m sick of going out there every week and listening to these people.”
For now, Vince McMahon is dead set on Roman Reigns being a babyface, and he has no plans to turn him heel. McMahon still wants Reigns to be the face of the company, and he’s hoping that the fans will begin supporting Reigns, because the plan is, as reported by the Wrestling Observer, for Roman Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32.
But, it’s been evident over the last two years that the WrestleMania main-event plans are very much subject to change. So, if the fans don’t get behind Reigns by the time of the Royal Rumble in January, WWE may be forced to change their plans for the third year in a row.
[Images via WWE]
