Jim Ross shoots on Roman Reigns' recent WWE heel turn
Roman Reigns has been the talk of the professional wrestling business ever since he made his WWE return at SummerSlam last month.
After spending several months off television due to concerns about competing during the current COVID-19 pandemic, The Big Dog has returned with a new, heel attitude in WWE.
This heel turn was cemented when it was revealed on SmackDown several weeks ago that Roman Reigns has joined forces with the villainous Paul Heyman, becoming the latest "Paul Heyman Guy". Since then, Roman Reigns has gone on to capture the WWE Universal Championship for the second time in his career.
During a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, WWE Hall of Famer, and current AEW commentator, Jim Ross was asked about his thoughts on Roman Reigns' recent heel turn in WWE.
JR stated that he likes the new attitude of Reigns and is glad that fans finally know if The Big Dog is a good guy or a bad guy:
"It seems like it's a fit, at least now they have a fighting chance to get Roman over as a viable something. It's not, 'Is he a tweener? Is he a fan favourite? Is he a villain?' We know pretty much what he's going to be with Heyman." (h/t Wrestling INC)
JR shoots on the "Invasion" storyline in WWE
During this episode of Grilling JR, the topic of discussion moved to the "invasion" storyline that played out on WWE television in 2001.
After WWE legitimately purchased WCW and ECW in 2001, the promotion would run a storyline whereby Shane McMahon, as the owner of WCW, and Stephanie McMahon, as the owner of ECW, would lead an invasion of WCW and ECW wrestlers into WWE to put their father, Vince McMahon, out of business.
However, the storyline was seen by many to be a failure as many iconic names associated with WCW, such as Hulk Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, were not used in the "invasion" as they were not available at the time.
JR revealed that the WWE Chairman wanted to get the storyline finished as soon as possible after it underperformed to everyone's lofty expectations:
"That whole invasion thing sucked pond water, It so under achieved and could've been so much bigger, but it wasn't. Vince lost his patience on it. He didn't give the newcomers that we acquired from WCW the chance to get over. I don't think Vince would put any time into anything that he would think is going to suck or be the sh**s and embarrass the company. If it had a remote chance of working, he would try things like that." (h/t Wrestling INC)
What are your memories of the WCW & ECW invasion angle in WWE?