7. Roman Reigns Turns Heel, Joins With Paul Heyman
The biggest problem WWE has faced heading into WrestleMania XXXI is a lack of fan interest in the challenger to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Roman Reigns. To make matters worse, Reigns isn't seen as a temporary champion like Daniel Bryan was last year. WWE plans to make him the number one man in the company - in shorthand, the new John Cena. At this point, it seems almost impossible. WWE may realize that Reigns isn't ready to be the hero they want him to be. The creative team (and behind them all, Vince McMahon) may believe that in order for Reigns to flourish as a babyface later, he may need to turn heel now. Given that he's feuding with Brock Lesnar, and by proxy, Paul Heyman, the easiest way to accomplish this is with a WrestleMania screwjob, wherein Heyman turns on his valiantly-fighting client to help the new kid on the block claim championship gold. To be fair, such a tactic could work. It could also be a huge miscalculation, though. Reigns is still routinely cheered at house shows around the country, even if television crowds are harsher. Heyman has been a fixture of WWE television for three years, and as great as he is, fans could see an alliance with Reigns as more of the same. WWE's decision-makers must think very carefully before they make any rash decisions.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
