Paul Heyman explains why WWE and Vince McMahon wouldn’t turn Roman Reigns heel until now
For years, WWE fans pleaded with Vince McMahon to turn Roman Reigns heel.
After the WWE chairman gave The Big Dog the super push coming out of The Shield, fans resented how he was being forced down their throats and rejected him as their top babyface.
That didn't deter McMahon, though.
Reigns was continued to be positioned as the company's number one babyface with four WrestleMania main events on the spin and they involved victories over the likes of The Undertaker and Triple H.
When Reigns, 35, returned from a near-five month hiatus at SummerSlam this year, he finally turned heel for the first time since his initial run with The Shield.
As The Tribal Chief character, Reigns has become the top star in the industry and is the hottest act WWE has to offer right now.
That's a spot he always deserved to be in, but many felt he was simply miscast.
So why wasn't he switched sooner? His 'Special Counsel' explained the reason on Sports Illustrated's Media Podcast.
"I wanted it to happen for a long time, Roman Reigns wanted it to happen for a long time, and Vince McMahon wanted it to happen for a long time," said Paul Heyman.
"But the timing was never right.
"Roman Reigns could not pull off this portrayal of the top star in the industry even a year ago.
"He wasn’t weathered enough, he wasn’t seasoned enough, and he wasn’t experienced enough.
"He still looked too young. But now, you look at his face, you see some seasoning and some weathering.
"He was beating the crap out of his cousin inside Hell in a Cell and he says 'I did this to you when we were kids', and here we are 35 years old doing this, and he looks 35. He looks like a badass 35, but he still looks 35.
"Before he still looked like late 20s or early 30s, and he still looked too young. He wasn’t grizzled, he didn’t have any scars.
"Now, you see the wars on his face. Now, you see the pressure and the obligation and the responsibility and the accountability and the sheer burden.
"I think that’s the core word when it comes to the characterisation of the top star in WWE – the burden and the weight of that burden and what it has done to Roman Reigns."
