The Polarizing Dilemma With Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has always been a polarizing figure but even more so over the last five years or so. Roman Reigns entered the WWE as a member of a three-man group called The Shield with Seth Rollins and Deam Ambrose at Survivor Series 2012. The Shield broke up in 2014, prematurely in my opinion, with the goal of establishing Roma Reigns as a top babyface. He was a top babyface but never gained the reaction or recognition that WWE wanted during the Six years he was running around as The Big Dog. When Roman Reigns took a sabbatical right before WrestleMania 36 in 2020 due to the Pandemic, It gave Roman a chance to recharge and hopefully revamp a character that just a short time before he left was getting dog food dumped on his head by Baron Corbin. Roman returning at Summer Slam 2020 and turning heel set off a chain of events that would change WWE as we knew it from that point on.

Say what you want about him but The Bloodline story is the major reason for WWE’s resurgence in late 2021 and into 2022. Of course, Cody Rhodes picked up the ball and ran with it after WrestleMania 38, but Roman Reigns is the biggest star in the business since John Cena without question. The Bloodline story has unequivocally made bigger stars out of Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes, and Jacob Fatu. Even now, just being in the same ring with Roman has made Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed feel the most important they’ve ever felt inside a wrestling ring.

Of course, much like other great angles such as the NOW, The Bloodline had a shelf life where it needed to evolve or end. That’s when Roman lost the title, albeit probably a year later than he should have, Jey Uso went out on his own, Solo  took over the Bloodline, and Roman Reigns became a beloved babyface. The reactions Roman is getting now are the reactions WWE wanted him to get all along. If he was getting these kind of reactions in 2015-2016, we’d be talking about Roman being on Austin’s level as far as the biggest star of all time. I still think Roman is in the conversation but he’s not in that top 3 or 4 range which is where he would have been if certain creative decisions were made earlier.

Roman needed to turn heel in 2020. He knew it, the company knew it, and with no fans present due to the pandemic, they could try out these new ideas and putting him with Paul Heyman was genius. Nobody on a full-time wrestling roster has moved business the way Roman Reigns has since then. Around WrestleMania 38, Roman signed a new WWE contract. In that contract was a reduced number of dates that he would work. From then on, Roman’s schedule became greatly reduced and WWE’s business didn’t really suffer for it, mostly because Triple H took over creative that summer, which reinvigorated the product. People online have pointed out Roman’s reduced schedule as a detriment without considering that he was full time for 10 years in WWE before that, including coming back from Leukemia. That’s a longer full time run than The Rock had. That’s longer than Steve Austin’s entire tenure in WWE until his retirement in 2003. Roman wanted to spend more time with his wife and five kids so I can understand, and it just makes me enjoy him more when he’s around then if he was there every week.

Roman Reigns turning babyface after WrestleMania 40 was a natural progression. Roman was always going to turn back once the Bloodline story had run its course and with Cody Rhodes firmly atop the WWE mountain now, the need for Roman to be that guy was no longer there. Unfortunately, with that turn came some unfortunate challenges with the character. One constant question that seems to arise every time Roman is on screen is “Why hasn’t he apologized for everything he has done?” He’s apparently not a true babyface unless he apologizes for all the pain he caused. A notion I have constantly pushed back at since he first returned at Summer Slam 2024. Do I want this segment where Roman just says he’s sorry for what he did to Jey and says he’s proud of him and Jey says “Yeet” and we live happily ever after? Sure, but that is not who Roman Reigns is. Roman Reigns said during one of his first promos back as a babyface that “Things change, but not me”. He told you who he was.

Did people ask The Undertaker to apologize when he turned babyface after spending previous years trying to sacrifice people on live television? Did Kane have to apologize after helping his brother, the Undertaker, after previously lighting a casket on fire with him in it? Did The Rock apologize to Mick Foley for treating him like garbage, even as The Rock was a babyface, in Rock n Sock? Did Steve Austin have to apologize to the fans the night after Survivor Series 2001 when he turned babyface after spending months trying to put the WWF out of business? I could go on, but I think you get the point. So why now, does Roman Reigns have to apologize? Anybody who has a brother or siblings, know that no matter how much you fight, you will always be there for your family. It’s human nature. Yes, Roman Reigns did some things as a heel that he has to make amends for. That amends does not need to be in the form of an apology. That amends is when he told the crowd to acknowledge Jimmy Uso on his first promo after Jimmy returned at Bad Blood 2024. That amends came from treating Sami and Jey as equals rather than servants that were there to do Roman’s bidding. That amends came with Roman treating Jey as somebody who was on his level now as opposed to somebody he could “handle”.

Of course, people point to Roman’s promo with Paul Heyman where he essentially blamed Heyman for the fall of the Bloodline. Sure, there was some definite gaslighting going on there but if you think, in story, that Paul had nothing to do with it, then you must’ve missed most of the Smackdowns where Paul was manipulating The Usos, gaslighting Sami, and advising Roman. Roman Reigns has definitely manipulated his cousins but the one thing Roman has never done in his career was turn his back on somebody. Seth Rollins drove that chair into his back. Sami Zayn drove a chair into Roman’s back. The Usos separately kicked Roman in the face. So yes, while Roman deserved a lot of what he got as a heel, he never betrayed anybody. So when you ask yourself “Why hasn’t he apologized?”, I ask you “Why should he?” The Bloodline was on the top of the world. Usos and Roman had title reigns that broke records, Sami was the most relevant he had ever been.

Do I want some kind of segment where Roman at least acknowledges Jey’s rise and says he’s proud of him? Of course I do. Do I think Roman needs to go on this apology tour? No I do not because I feel that would not be authentic just like it wouldn’t have been authentic if Austin, Rock, or Undertaker apologized either. What Roman can do is continue to treat his family as equals and not servants. That is what will cement him as a babyface, not any kind of apology. There’s no telling how long Roman Reigns has left in this business so enjoy him while he’s here because there will never be another one like him.