Here’s How Roman Reigns Turned Heel At the Royal Rumble

Boy, the Royal Rumble sure was something, huh? Great brawl for the Universal Championship, awesome match for the WWE Championship, and a pretty terrific battle royal main event–until, of course, the last ten minutes or so.

We’d spent the match without any major surprises–at least none who could realistically win the Rumble. Fans had hoped for a name as big as a returning Kurt Angle, or even a major debut from New Japan’s Kenny Omega, despite the fact that neither of them people were going to show up.

Still, people held out hope that Finn Balor would return from injury ahead of schedule, or that Samoa Joe would finally come up from NXT–though he did shortly after. When Undertaker came out at number 29, it seemed assured that that the one huge surprise we wanted would turn up at number 30. It did not.

Instead, Roman Reigns came out in that final spot, killing any hope of a big surprise, and giving every fan in the building a sinking feeling that the Rumble would turn out just as it had for the past two years–a vehicle for the continued push of Reigns. Roman eliminated the beloved Undertaker. He was the last one in the ring, giving the winner–Randy Orton–a massive pop in his victory.

It’s almost like WWE was trying to get Roman booed, huh?

If the current plans stand, Roman Reigns is set to take on the Undertaker at WrestleMania. That’s a match that Roman has no hope of being cheered in. So it’s almost hard not to see the way the Rumble played out as the seeds of a subtle heel turn. Roman did literally every single thing the fans hated, and even did it with an attitude that commentary acknowledged. As Roman stared into Jericho’s eyes, screaming at him, Cole said “Something happened to him tonight.”

The funny thing about a Reigns heel turn is that if he does it the traditional way–a sudden snap leading to a beatdown with a steel chair–he’s going to get massive cheers that would ultimately make the turn pointless. If WWE is going to turn Roman and keep him getting booed, they have to slowly, subtly play into the existing fan biases against him.

If that’s why the Rumble went the way it did, it’s brilliant. If not… well, I look forward the the “boycott WWE” hashtags and us all watching WrestleMania anyway.

Think there’s anything to this idea? Let us know in the comments below, or on Facebook!