In light of the recent terrorist attacks around the world, the WWE may be looking to change former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns’ attire, according to All Wrestling News.
Ever since debuting with the WWE in late 2012, Reigns has competed in a bulletproof vest. Throughout his time both in the now disbanded group The Shield and as a singles competitor, Reigns’ attire has not changed — outside of logos being added. But with the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and San Bernardino, California, that may all change.
The report states that the company initially thought of changing Reigns’ gear right after the November 13 attacks in Paris that left over 130 people dead and several hundreds of other people injured. Those discussions never led to any changes and Reigns continued to wrestle in his trademark vest. However, just a few weeks after the Paris attacks, tragedy struck once again, this time in San Bernardino.
A married couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik carried out an “Islamic extremism-inspired terrorist attack” at the Inland Regional Center . Their actions resulted in the death of 14 people and left 22 others injured . The couple fled the scene, but hours later, they were both killed in a shootout with the police.
All Wrestling News’report adds that certain people within the company feel that “if there continues to be terrorist attacks, the idea of one of its wrestlers wearing tactical gear and emerging from crowd would not be a good image, especially for a top babyface.” As the WWE seems to be thinking of current events in relation to their superstars, the company recently had to deal with a terrorist threat against them, too.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the terrorist group ISIS were reportedly targeting Survivor Series to strike. WWE increased security presence at the event and the show went on as scheduled without incident.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is reportedly the person who decided to keep Reigns’ look and attire intact. The 70-year-old McMahon thinks that changing Reigns’ gear would be a “knee-jerk reaction,” especially since the company is looking to “cement” Reigns as one of the WWE’s top good guys. The report also mentions that the company is taking a “wait and see” approach with the situation. The reason being that many fans likely do not even associate Reigns’ attire with what is going on in the world.
Potentially having to face a change in attire, Reigns has also been a forefront of the WWE fans’ restlessness and overall disappointment with WWE in recent months. With several of the WWE’s top performers out with injuries or other commitments, ratings have slipped to record low numbers — including a 2.15 rating of this past week’s Monday Night Raw , via WhatCulture.
Reigns and his opponent at WWE TLC tomorrow night, Sheamus, were involved in the main event segment on the show. Fans were reportedly leaving the arena before the segment began, showing their general disinterest with the main storyline on television.
Fans were not the only ones showing their displeasure as professional wrestling journalist Wade Keller tweeted during last weeks’ show that “Vince McMahon and co. are going to go forward out of stubborn pride to prove they are right until there are no viewers left.”
Reinforcements such as Brock Lesnar and John Cena are coming back soon, but the question is, is it too late?
[Images via WWE]
