Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship victory at Payback was a huge win for WWE. Not only did The Big Dog position himself as the face of SmackDown, but he’s also set to become the biggest heel in the promotion.
WrestlingNews reports that Vince McMahon is all in with Reign’s second (current) Universal Title reign. The Chairman of Board has planned a lengthy title reign for The Big Dog and wants him to be on the level of 16-time World Champion John Cena.
“Vince is not playing around. He wants Roman to hold onto that belt until WrestleMania at least.”
“Everyone knows the fans will cheer him and we all expect him to be a babyface sooner than later but the games with the silly verbiage in promos are done with. Roman will have more input this time with his promos.”
Things are about to get a whole lot more interesting with Paul Heyman managing Reigns from here on. Both men have worked together in the past, specifically during Roman’s last Universal Title feud with Brock Lesnar.
Reigns holding onto the Universal Championship at least until WrestleMania 37 opens up a ton of possibilities for WWE – not only will the title reign allow the company to establish “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt as the biggest babyface in the promotion, it will also allow other Superstars to build themselves as legitimate title contenders for the near future.
Further reports suggest that WWE is throwing around the idea of Reigns getting new gear, or wrestling without a top.
It won’t be the first time that The Big Dog works his matches without a shirt. When WWE rebranded FCW to NXT in 2012, Anoaʻi, with the new ring name of Roman Reigns and a villain character, debuted in a winning effort against CJ Parker.
Reigns will obviously turn face once again, but for now, The Powerhouse is all set to wreck everyone in his heel avatar.
