WWE Payback: How important was the heel turn of Roman Reigns?

 

It was just about one week after Summerslam that they organized WWE Payback 2020. Contrary to the expectations of the people, this event went on to become a huge success and almost all the matches delivered big time. The biggest highlight of the show was Roman Reigns winning over the universal championship from "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a controversial manner. The match also consisted of former champion Braun Strowman, the one to get pinned at the end of the match too.

Payback 2020 was almost the confirmation of the fact that Roman Reigns has shown a much different side to his persona on screen. The guy has always played the good dude over the years, despite getting booed out of the building. Here are a couple of reasons why the heel turn was much needed for the big dog as well as the entire company in general:- 

Shock value 

This past Friday night on Smackdown, Roman Reigns was seen aligning with Paul Heyman much to the shock of everyone. Paul Heyman is someone who has ALWAYS managed heel characters on screen. Although there wasn't any interaction amongst them, the sources had confirmed a heel turn for Roman Reigns based on that one incident and it was confirmed at Payback 2020 when he won the title in a very controversial and unfair manner. It is much different win for the juggernaut in comparison to all his victories in the past which indicates the obvious. 

This heel turn came out of the blues, it happened at a time when it was least expected. Roman Reigns was going to compete with two heels as he was the obvious baby-face leading into the match. It is one of those rare times when a triple threat main event match of a pay per view has consisted of three heels and the story was told extremely well. You gotta give it to the writers for putting on a clever story! 

One-dimensional character 

Roman Reigns has to be the most backed WWE superstar in the past decade. The dude has not only defeated almost all of his contemporaries, but he has also gone on to defeat legends like The Undertaker and John Cena clean as a whistle. Since he was getting handed over the wins, the crowd showed their dismay to his characterization by booing him out of the building each time he appeared inside the ring. It had a lot to do with the fact that he had to play a good guy who doesn't have layers to him and it had kind of become stale by now.

The heel turn would commemorate the run Dwayne Johnson had as The Rock. He had to face the same sort of problem himself. The Rock was a baby-face who people didn't like and creatives turned him heel and ever since, he didn't look back and went on to become one of the greatest. Roman Reigns might have the same sort of run himself as he has a chance to fully dethrone the perceptions people have made about him. He has been called boring and one-note more often than not and he has the opportunity to prove his haters wrong.

Smackdown's turning point? 

Ever since moving to Fox and Friday night, Smackdown has become really average as a show. Back in 2016 when the brand split took place, Smackdown was on a roll as things were really interesting around. AJ Styles as the top heel with Miz doing his job himself, there were John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and a lot of other guys were making it the "A" show of the industry. Fast forward to 2020 and there's no renowned heel except Bray Wyatt and literally no top tier baby-face. With the heel turn of Roman Reigns, there's a great possibility that guys like Styles and Bray Wyatt may turn faces. 

Imagine feuds between Heel Reigns and Face Wyatt. If Paul Heyman becomes the mouthpiece for Reigns, just think about the promo battles between two of the finest promo workers of the industry. I personally believe that the result of the main event at Payback 2020 has led to amazing possibilities of the future rivalries on Smackdown. It indeed might become the turning point for Smackdown as fresh feuds can be expected for WWE universal championship. 

Most shocking heel turn since Steve Austin? 

Stone cold Steve Austin shook the entire wrestling world when he aligned with Vince McMahon to defeat The Rock at Wrestlemania 17. They were considered to be the biggest rivals in the industry and them coming together was definitely something that no one really expected. Although there is no real comparison between the two incidents, Roman Reigns becoming a Paul Heyman guy was almost on the same line too. Both of the guys have always been the polar opposite. While Paul Heyman has been a despicable heel manager for Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns is the superhero to the kids, not anymore tho. 

I would personally rate it over Rollins' heel turn in 2014 when he turned his back on The Shield. It was always expected that one of the Shield members was going to part ways and Dean Ambrose was the hot favourite for the job. But you could still predict Rollins' heel turn in some ways. There was zero build up to the sudden change in characterization of Roman Reigns as he had just come back. That's what makes it so special and shocking in this day and age when we can expect spoilers for everything out there. 

What's your opinion about the heel turn of Roman Reigns? Let me know in the comments below!