Roman Reigns is a hot babyface act. That hasn't been the case since well before he won the Royal Rumble at the start of the year and it's pretty much entirely thanks to the angle that closed TLC on Sunday. Reigns was incensed after the League of Nations thwarted his attempt to win the WWE Championship and went on a violent rampage with a steel chair. The Authority made their way to the ring to calm Reigns down, but Triple H soon found himself becoming the victim of Reigns' ire. The boss took a series of brutal chair shots before being slammed on to the announce table and taking a ferocious spear on the floor. Reigns wasn't a jokey babyface in the John Cena mould at TLC. The already infamous "tater tots" promo from the go-home Raw was forgotten as Reigns became a silent destroyer driven by rage, completely dismantling one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. This was the most compelling Reigns has been in a long time, winning over the crowd by embracing the darker side of his character that made him perhaps the biggest star of The Shield. WWE was wise to move away from the "new Cena" aspect of Reigns' character at TLC and the crowd response proved that idea to be a good one. They need to consolidate that moving forward, positioning Reigns as a dangerous anti-Authority figure on the way to his probable WrestleMania clash with Triple H. This is the best opportunity yet to get Reigns over, so WWE must take it.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
