Arn Anderson reveals why Roman Reigns should've been a heel after The Shield broke up
Roman Reigns shocked the WWE Universe when he turned heel at SummerSlam, following his return to the company after a hiatus. Reigns, who now calls himself The Tribal Chief, has shown a different side of himself as a heel and is perhaps the best thing on WWE television currently.
WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson, who was formerly with WWE as a backstage executive and is now with AEW, recently spoke about Roman Reigns on his ARN podcast. He said that WWE should have kept Roman Reigns as a heel after The Shield and that it was a mistake to turn him babyface.
Arn Anderson on mistakes WWE made with Roman Reigns and his character
Anderson said that Roman Reigns is a special talent and that it was clear to everyone that Reigns was going to be a star.
"When you have somebody special like that, you have to have a goal and a game plan for him. He should have stayed a heel from the days of The Shield when they were first brought aboard as heels. You could have turned the other two guys. You should have singled Roman out as a heel. He could have stayed a heel all this time and had one turn at the proper time that mattered. When you flip flop your personality and your characters and your heel or babyface, good guy or bad guy so many times back and forth, people can’t trust you." (H/T WrestlingNews)
He said Roman Reigns should've stayed a heel in WWE and should've had one babyface turn. Anderson said a Reigns babyface turn after a strong heel run could have been comparable to Hulk Hogan's heel turn, which created ripples in the pro wrestling industry.
Following The Shield's split, Roman Reigns turned babyface. The other two Shield members, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose had heel runs, but Reigns remained a babyface and was destined to replace John Cena as The Guy of WWE.
But, after his brief hiatus earlier this year, Reigns returned as a heel, attacking The Fiend and Strowman, and then aligning with Paul Heyman. He quickly won the Universal Championship before beginning a feud with his cousin, Jey Uso.