Roman Reigns would go on to main event WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar, and despite rumors that he would be crowned champion that night, his Shield mate Seth Rollins would cash in his Money in the Bank contract and end the night as WWE Champion. If WWE needed more proof that Reigns was disliked by fans, they need look no further than the massive pop Seth Rollins, who was working heel at the time, got when he pinned Reigns to be crowned champion. The negative fan reaction and loss at WrestleMania did little to slow down Reigns’ push. WWE continued to book him as a top babyface and continued to give him clean wins over other up and coming talents and established superstars. The boos would only continue to grow, but WWE never considered a heel turn or a character change for him. The way WWE was booking Reigns was starting to remind people of the way they booked John Cena. One of the main complaints fans had about Cena was WWE’s reluctance to turn him heel. Those feelings of frustration from fans carried over to Reigns. It really is a bit of a head scratcher considering that a change in character can sometime jump start a struggling superstar’s career, whether turning heel or face. WWE made subtle tweaks to Stone Cold Steve Austin‘s character which took him from heel to the highest drawing babyface in company history. They completely changed course during The Rock‘s build up, taking him from a corny babyface who was struggling to connect with the fans, to a trash talking heel who eventually became the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. Even WCW had enough courage to change up the most iconic gimmick in wrestling history, transforming the immortal Hulk Hogan into “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, the cocky heel leader of the NWO. So with so much proven success behind character changes, why hasn’t WWE pulled the trigger on a Roman Reigns heel turn? Their reluctance to do so could prevent Reigns from ever getting over with fans.
