Whose Idea Was Roman Reigns' WWE Heel Turn?
Here's where the Universal Champion's villainous turn came from.
Roman Reigns' WWE heel turn reportedly came from the Universal Champion himself.
This is according to Dave Meltzer, who writes in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Reigns specifically requested turning to the darkside after electing to sit close to six months out at the onset of the global health crisis. The promotion clearly agreed: fans are now getting the heel run many have been waiting years for, with Roman scooping the Universal Title from Bray Wyatt's clutches at Payback 2020 last week.
As far as the alliance with Paul Heyman goes, there's currently no word on who decided to put the two together - though it made sense from both a creative and economic standpoint. As Meltzer writes, WWE were already paying Heyman a handsome figure to effectively sit at home and do nothing after his removal as Raw Executive Director, so they elected to use him as an onscreen talent, with the pieces falling into place perfectly.
Per the official WWE.com copy, Reigns will properly "address the WWE Universe" for the first time since returning on tonight's episode of SmackDown. "The Big Dog took back the Universal Title, and now he's ready to rule over his yard," they say.