Eric Bischoff took to his 83 Weeks podcast recently and revealed why he feels sorry for Roman Reigns . As quoted by Sportskeeda , the former executive director of Friday Night SmackDown is a fan of the WWE Universal Champion’s recent heel turn, but he feels the timing was unfortunate.
According to Bischoff, Reigns’ heel turn was needed in order to create fresh storyline possibilities for “The Big Dog.” However, he also said that it would have been more effective if the superstar’s shocking change in behavior happened before a live audience.
“I’m not saying it was an option. But it’s unfortunate that it had to happen now instead of last fall or last spring or last winter, when you would’ve had the magnitude of power, probably 3-4 times the energy that you’ve got of watching people on digital. It would’ve been helpful for the heel turn, probably provided a much stronger foundation.”
Bischoff went on to say that he’s enjoying the partnership of Reigns and Paul Heyman as well. While he iterated that Reigns has never had difficulty cutting a promo, he feels that Heyman serving as Reigns’ advocate is a “great thing overall.” However, he also stated that it would have also been better if it happened live.
The alliance appears to have benefited Reigns behind the scenes as well. As The Inquisitr documented, Heyman is reportedly hands-on with the current Universal Champion’s booking and storyline progression.
The report highlighted that the former ECW booker came up with the idea for Reigns’ new personality, and he was responsible for the ending at the Payback pay-per-view in August that got the angle in full gear.
Reigns’ new persona has been praised by fans and pundits for the most part, but Bischoff also encouraged people to give it more time. According to the former executive director, the storyline needs room to breathe before fans can comment on it with an informed opinion.
The company reportedly has big plans for Reigns moving forward. Even though he attacked his cousin Jey Uso on this week’s Friday Night SmackDown , it is believed that they’ll be a prominent faction for months to come.
Jimmy Uso is expected to join the group when he returns from injury. As the report highlighted, the trio could also hold most of the blue brand’s titles among them.
Reigns is currently feuding with Kevin Owens, and he’ll defend his prize against him at the upcoming TLC pay-per-view.