Former World Champion says Roman Reigns' rival has never recovered from botched heel turn in 2018 (Exclusive)
A lot has changed for Roman Reigns in the last two-and-a-half years alone. His run as The Tribal Chief has been one for the history books, while much of his 2015-2018 run was forgettable. Former Impact World Champion EC3 thinks Reigns' former rival hasn't fully recovered from a botched heel turn.
The superstar in question is Braun Strowman, who had an incredible rivalry with Roman Reigns. In 2018, Braun Strowman won the Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed in to get a Hell in a Cell match against Reigns, who was the then Universal Champion. The match had a no-contest finish, leaving fans underwhelmed. The heel turn itself didn't work out too well, and Strowman had to quietly turn face shortly after.
On the latest episode of The Wrestling Outlaws, EC3 stated that Braun Strowman was organically getting over as a babyface in his feud with Roman Reigns before WWE turned him heel and took his momentum away:
"Once the cat's out of the bag in a way too, you can't get it back in. There was a time when Braun [Strowman] was organically getting over to super high levels. It was working with Roman [Reigns] and when they kind of pulled a heel turn on him when he was naturally getting over. It just seemed like he was [Hulk] Hogan in those blue trunks, ready to become Hulkamania. Instead of running with it and making that change, they brought him down." (7:20-7:50)
While EC3 admitted that there was the possibility of Strowman being immature and inexperienced at the time, he believes that The Monster of all Monsters hasn't reached the same peak since:
"Maybe it was his fault. Maybe it was immaturity, his inexperience at the time if he wasn't ready in somebody's mind...at the same time the organic get-over was so prevalent and hot, and once it's pulled, everything else is an ok version of it." (7:50-8:05)
You can watch the full video below:
Should WWE have pulled the trigger on Braun Strowman instead of Roman Reigns in early 2018?
In case it wasn't clear... @BraunStrowman ISN'T FINISHED WITH YOU, @WWERomanReigns!!!!!!! #WWEChamber https://t.co/4yU0okP0SQ
Perhaps the defining moment of how hot Braun Strowman got was at Elimination Chamber 2018. He gained incredible momentum throughout 2017, and despite losing to Brock Lesnar in an underwhelming main event at No Mercy, he was able to connect with fans.
Everybody enjoyed watching his path of destruction, and that culminated at the Elimination Chamber PPV in 2018 - when he took out five of his six opponents - including John Cena, Seth Rollins, and Finn Balor.
With only him and Roman Reigns left, fans were rooting for him over Reigns, similar to how fans wanted to see Dean Ambrose succeed over Reigns in 2016. Unfortunately, as expected, WWE chose to sacrifice his momentum in Roman's favor, who would go on to lose at WrestleMania 34 anyway.
What do you think? Did WWE make the wrong decision in 2018? Voice your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!
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