WWE Legend Says Roman Reigns Push Will Never Work Unless Changes Are Made
Roman Reigns has been working at the top of the WWE as a babyface ever since The Shield broke up in 2014. However, through the last three years, the fans booing Roman have been getting louder, and it seems like only women and kids stayed in the corner of Reigns. In his most recent podcast The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette said that Roman Reigns push will never work in the WWE unless changes are made.
Cornette and his co-host Brian Last did talk about how the reaction to Roman Reigns and the fan reaction to John Cena in the WWE is similar. However, both men also spoke about how the booing for Roman Reigns seems louder and less playful than that for Cena.
Instead, Jim Cornette compared the booing of Roman Reigns by WWE fans to that of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson when he started out his career as the Blue Chip athlete Rocky Maivia. The fans hated Rocky and the most popular chant at that time was “Die Rocky Die.”
Cornette said the WWE knew that The Rock would be a huge star in the company but the fans wanted nothing to do with him. As a result, the WWE turned Rocky heel, had him join the Nation of Domination, gave him time cutting heel promos, and suddenly fans had a real reason to boo him for all the right reasons.
Jim Cornette said that the biggest babyfaces are ones who were heels first. While Roman Reigns was a heel in The Shield, the fans seemed to love the group and cheered them, turning them face at the end when they feuded with Evolution and Triple H. However, out of the three, Roman Reigns was not who many fans wanted to see come out of the split-up as the “Face of the WWE.”
However, in Vince McMahon’s eyes, Roman Reigns is the new face of the WWE, and even John Cena said this weekend that the WWE has already replaced him as the face of the company without needing him to “pass the torch.” It sounds like Cena was talking about Roman Reigns.
What brought this conversation up was when Jim Cornette appeared on Table for 3 with Eric Bischoff and Michael P.S. Hayes. The three started talking about what the main event of WrestleMania 34 in the WWE should be next year, and both Cornette and Bischoff said what they would book, with Cornette liking a Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar match.
That Cornette dream match will happen at Great Balls of Fire, the next Monday Night Raw pay-per-view event in July. The next thing they talked about on the podcast was Michael Hayes idea of a match next year between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
Hayes then towed the company line by saying that women and children cheer Roman Reigns and it is just louder men who boo him. Cornette then admitted that he and Bischoff gave dream match ideas, but Michael Hayes works for the WWE and knows what is happening and that fans will almost surely see Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 next year.
Jim Cornette said he likes Roman Reigns and feels he is really good. However, he said the WWE had ruined Roman Reigns by pushing him down the fan’s throats so much. Cornette then said that it is time to give younger guys a chance to prove themselves and use Brock Lesnar to put one of them over the top.
When asked about Roman Reigns being the heir-apparent to John Cena, Cornette spoke as a former booker and said that the WWE needs to turn Roman Reigns heel if they want the fans to finally embrace Roman Reigns as the top face they want him to be.
Jim Cornette said that the WWE had no idea that John Cena would be “the guy” and it just happened. However, Cornette then talked about how guys like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were heels before they became the biggest faces in the WWE. Cornette said this might be how Roman Reigns can finally reach the point the WWE wants him at.
[Featured Image by WWE]
