Opinion: Roman Reigns should not turn heel at SummerSlam
Roman Reigns will be facing Brock Lesnar again at SummerSlam for the WWE Universal Championship. Reigns and Lesnar will face each other one-on-one for the 4th time this Sunday.
They have previously met at WrestleMania 31, WrestleMania 34 and at The Greatest Royal Rumble. Their WrestleMania 31 encounter is considered to be one of the best matches in WrestleMania history.
Reigns has been headlining WrestleMania every year since WrestleMania 31, however, still hasn't been able to get the kind of reception he deserves considering that he is a babyface and not a heel yet. The majority of fans as well as some critics feel that it is high time for Reigns to turn heel in order to get over with the WWE Universe.
Additionally, Lesnar's WWE future is in doubt, and Paul Heyman is likely to stay in the WWE for a while--which means he is likely looking for a new Paul Heyman guy to replace Lesnar. Last week on RAW, Heyman offered Reigns to be the new Paul Heyman guy, but Reigns refused; and we later realized it was a trap to blindside Reigns so Lesnar could take full advantage of that situation and destroy Reigns.
Nevertheless, there is still the odd possibility of Heyman betraying Lesnar and joining Reigns at SummerSlam. Will Reigns finally turn heel and become the new Paul Heyman guy and win the WWE Universal Championship? Perhaps...
Regardless, this writer feels that Reigns should not turn heel yet!
Roman Reigns is a 3-time WWE Champion, however, none of his reigns thus far have been memorable or long enough to solidify him as a credible champion. The WWE management as well as several fans and supporters of The Big Dog want Reigns to be the number one babyface of the company. In fact, that has been the plan for a while now and turning him heel at this point makes little sense.
Furthermore, currently there are not many faces on the RAW brand to replace Reigns as the number one babyface if he does turn heel at SummerSlam. One person who is an option is Braun Strowman, however, the dynamics of his recent feud with Kevin Owens have confused everyone as to whether he is a face or a heel at the moment.
The best case scenario over here is that a babyface Reigns should win the WWE Universal Championship clean and begin his reign as a full-time WWE Universal Champion by defending his title at every pay-per-view which will help him gain credibility with the fans and the critics. Reigns is a hard working wrestler who has been a part of some memorable matches in the last few years.
Roman Reigns is the only man to beat both Triple H and The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Besides, we have already seen Reigns as a heel when he was part of 'The Shield'.
As far as the next Paul Heyman guy is concerned, Kevin Owens would most definitely be a top pick to replace Lesnar whenever that happens. The next few hours are all set to answer several burning questions.
Here's hoping we get to see Reigns win the Universal Championship, and standing tall after the match as SummerSlam comes to a close--with WWE ensuring that they don't turn him heel.
Speaking of which, perhaps one of the more intriguing storylines which could commence at SummerSlam is the aforementioned dawn of The Big Dog's era in the WWE. Roman Reigns needs to win the Universal title, and he needs to do so clean--defeating Brock Lesnar without any outside interference or controversy in the finish.
Plain and simple--The Big Dog shall slay The Beast Incarnate at "The Biggest Party Of The Summer".
On that note, the very fact that Reigns is yet to go over Lesnar clean, at times, baffles fans such as yours truly. Reigns is the company guy--a great athlete who speaks with excellent poise and possesses unshakable confidence. However, in order to have The Big Dog go over as a true mega-star in the WWE--or rather as the most dominant force in the organization--Reigns has to annihilate Brock Lesnar come SummerSlam.
When that bell rings and the referee instructs both Superstars to start wrestling, Reigns has to pull out all the stops in his bid to out-fight his demons. Let's face it, Lesnar has indeed been a demon for Reigns--a gigantic roadblock in Reigns' path toward WWE glory.
The WWE would be remiss if they miss out on the opportunity of having Reigns go over Lesnar--clean, at that--and take away that aura of dominance from The Beast. In simple terms, Reigns' booking in the WWE Universal title match should be so very strong that when it's all said and done, the most dominant alpha in the WWE Universe ought to be none other than Roman Reigns.
It's a new day, yes it is! The Roman Empire shall rise again!