“I’ve always wanted to turn heel” – Roman Reigns on his character development

Roman Reigns made an unexpected return to WWE at SummerSlam last August as a heel. According to the current Universal Champion, he has always wanted to be a heel in WWE but the higher-ups were against it.

The Tribal Chief pulled out of his Universal Championship match with Golberg at WrestleMania 36 due to concerns over his health surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. At the Biggest Party of the Summer, Roman Reigns made his comeback after being absent from TV for several months and turned heel by attacking Braun Strowman and The Fiend. The Head of the Table then cemented his heel turn by allying himself with Paul Heyman on WWE SmackDown.

During a recent interaction with Ryan Satin of FOX Sports, Roman Reigns spoke about his character development and he revealed that he always preferred to play a bad guy in WWE.

“I’ve always wanted to turn heel. I didn’t feel like I should have been the babyface out of the Shield group. We all agreed, we thought it should have been Seth, and then keep me as a bad guy. But, you know, it just happens the way it happens, the numbers lined up the way they did. Things were starting to work as a good guy for me. Then, obviously, it took a toll here and there,” said Reigns.

Roman Reigns’ heel run as The Tribal Chief has been praised by many fans and critics. His promos, matches, and charisma have been spectacular, and when he turns back into a babyface in the future he could continue to be a massive fan favorite.

Roman Reigns revealed his idea to alter his character was turned down in the past

During his babyface run, Roman Reigns was consistently booed by fans, but WWE refused to turn him heel, despite getting many chances to do so. Reigns, however, stated that he wanted to tap into a different level of character work, but that he wasn’t allowed to do so.

“So, it was one of those things where it was like, “Man, I want to do this because I know I can tap into a different level of character work. I know I can create so many more layers as a performer if they allow me to do this” but the numbers just wouldn’t let me. When the opportunity came I jumped on it. It was kind of a team discussion. Obviously, you gotta have the big man involved and gotta have the blessing from him. But, it just all seemed to work out with perfect timing,” said Reigns. 

Roman Reigns is currently scheduled to defend his Universal Championship against ‘The Prizefighter’ Kevin Owens at WWE Royal Rumble in a Last Man Standing match. 

Published 22 Jan 2021, 23:52 IST