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WWE Rumors: Roman Reigns Turns Heel As Kevin Owens Retains Universal Title, What’s Next For Former Champ?

By Bernadette Giacomazzo
Published on: 01:19 PST, Jan 30, 2017

In what had to be the most shocking result of the Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns did not win the Universal title as promised, and Kevin Owens retained the Universal title. However, the latest WWE rumors focus on Roman Reigns’ heel turn — which, for the record, was much needed — and what’s next for the former champion.

First, according to the latest WWE rumors from The Sun, Kevin Owens — of course — didn’t keep his Universal title against Reigns fairly and honestly. Even though Jericho couldn’t jump out and fight for him — as he often would — he dropped a set of brass knuckles from atop his steel cage.

This not only gave Owens the chance to pummel the life out of Reigns, but it gave Braun Strowman a chance to sneak attack and finish off Roman Reigns in the ring for Owens. Of course, this — when combined with Reigns’ previous clobbering of The Undertaker — led to the perfect storm of Reigns turning heel. And while that may be good for Reigns in the short term — after all, it seems as though wrestling fans like him better as a heel than as a face — the question still remains, what happens for him in the long term, especially as how it relates to the company?

According to Rolling Stone’s latest round of WWE rumors, WWE — as a company — has pretty much all but confirmed what’s going to happen at WrestleMania with Roman Reigns. Ultimately, the Royal Rumble is little more than a promotion for the biggest stage in wrestling, and the fact that Reigns could not win the Universal title — despite all predictions to the contrary — has people wondering if this, too, is a set-up for a bigger move for Reigns in the long run.

On the other hand, says Rolling Stone, this could also just be a move to make sure people root for “Anyone But Roman,” which is, in and of itself, promotion for Reigns. Love him or hate him, he still gets paid, and he still brings ratings to Raw.

“The biggest surprise in terms of Mania set-up was actually Reigns, who went toe-to-toe with The Undertaker, including a post-elimination staredown. Who knows why WWE would do that with Reigns when they want him cheered, but at least Undertaker isn’t getting stuck in a match with Strowman, as was rumored. Overall, it was a utilitarian Rumble match that advanced plotlines and solidified characters (while giving Luke Harper a great face turn against his former mentor/cult leader, Bray Wyatt), but after the frankly excellent matches that came before it, one can only be let down by Orton winning the whole thing. Once the high of Anyone But Roman winning wears off, we’re back to the reality that only a few men can actually win the Rumble.”

Finally, the latest WWE rumors from Cageside Seats suggests that there are other things to notice about this year’s Royal Rumble that were noteworthy besides Roman Reigns’ heel turn. For example, this is the first time that Kane missed the Royal Rumble in nearly 20 years. Second, the main event for WrestleMania is all but predetermined to be John Cena vs. Randy Orton, given the outcome of the matches.

But there’s one thing that Cageside Seats has said about Roman Reigns that’s the perfect summary for all that’s gone on.

“He ALWAYS comes through with great matches against a variety of opponents in huge spots despite the fact that he gets so much criticism from all sides. He makes people feel something, anything, on either side, and that’s a perfect trait for someone in this line of work.”

What do you think of this latest round of WWE rumors? Leave your thoughts about the latest WWE rumors in the comments below.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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