WWE News: WWE is Done Pushing Roman Reigns As a Top Guy ‘For The Time Being’

Roman Reigns is in a fragile position on WWE programming right now. Before WWE Money in the Bank, Reigns was the reigning and defending WWE Champion. Many people thought that title reign would last until WWE Summerslam at the earliest. That was before he violated WWE’s Wellness Policy, which took him out of the game for thirty days during a crucial time for WWE.

Reigns dropped the WWE Championship, served his suspension, and has taken his lashings from the WWE Universe. There was some debate over the month he was gone about what his role would be on WWE television once he returned, but it became a lot clearer at WWE Battleground and became crystal clear during the main event of Raw this week.

At WWE Battleground, the result of the triple threat match for the WWE title between Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Reigns was Ambrose pinning Reigns to retain the title, which is a result not everyone was expecting. On Raw, the entire show was built up to a match between Finn Balor and Reigns, with the winner moving on to a match against Raw’s No. 1 Draft Pick Seth Rollins to determine the first WWE Universal Champion at WWE Summerslam.

In a surprising result, Balor defeated Reigns, which was a clear statement about what WWE has planned for Roman Reigns going forward on WWE programming. Roman has now taken the loss by pinfall in three straight big match situations, which is a lot for a WWE superstar who was booked so strongly for his entire WWE career. But there is a specific reason for it.

Recently, it was reported that Vince McMahon was no longer as high on Roman Reigns as he had been in the past. The rumors were claiming that Reigns would be taking part in a redemption storyline, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that WWE is booking Roman to lose and put over Rollins, Ambrose, and Balor in a short span of time. However, it is likely to continue for awhile.

According to CageSideSeats.com, WWE officials are said to be moving away from pushing Roman Reigns as a top guy “for the time being.” It seems Roman’s punishment didn’t end after the thirty-day suspension expired. If he’s no longer going to be ” a top guy,” that means he’ll be featured in big matches, but he’s not going to be winning most of them. It could mean he will be kept away from the WWE Universal title picture for the foreseeable future, which makes putting over Balor a huge move.

WWE Summerslam was rumored to be the rematch between Reigns and Rollins, but that has been changed due to WWE’s refusal to push Roman in a top spot for the foreseeable future. In one night, Balor emerged as a fresh face, and his victory over Roman Reigns on Raw was essentially him taking Roman’s spot at the top of the WWE ladder and on Monday Night Raw.

Now, the question becomes about what is next storyline wise for Roman Reigns, because the WWE Universal Championship isn’t a possibility through at least WWE Summerslam. It’s unlikely that he’ll lose every match that he is a part of, but it seems like WWE officials are going to keep booking him to lose until they feel it is the right time for Roman’s redemption.

This entire situation would be different if Roman Reigns were a fan favorite. He’s been booked as a fan favorite, but the reaction from the WWE Universe has made it very easy for WWE to book him to lose, because that is what the majority of the fans want to see. There is still the possibility for a heel turn, but the Roman Reigns experiment appears to be over for the time being.

[Image via WWE.com]