As seen on this past edition of SmackDown, Roman Reigns returned on WWE weekly TV during the end of Payback go-home edition on FOX. It was a massive shocker as he has aligned himself with Paul Heyman who reviewed the contract for the PPV title match and denied putting his signature on it but promised to be present on the show. Later, The Big Dog went on to become the new Universal Champion at Payback.
Update: Roman Reigns To Be The Biggest Heel On WWE Smackdown
In an update to the happening, PWInsider reports that Roman Reigns, as the newest “Paul Heyman Guy,” will now be booked as the top heel on SmackDown, moving forward. A villainous turn for the sake of the Big Dog’s character was rumored for a long time. WWE finally made it happen and thus turned the biggest poster boy of their company into a heel character for the first time since their Shield days.
It was also confirmed during the note that the current plans for Braun Strowman, moving forward as a heel, isn’t permanent. The Monster Among Men has previously switched characters on several occasions and he won’t be having any problems doing so. Plus, this could also avoid the repetitive program between him and Roman Reigns.
Brock Lesnar’s Contract Expires; Update On WWE Career
The important part is that with Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman working as heels, the idea is that WWE will use the Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt as a babyface. He will thus become the top babyface for the SmackDown brand, perhaps for a long time. This is also an interesting booking where the demonic character and all the other versions of Wyatt will switch character for the first time in his career.
Regarding Paul Heyman’s involvement with Roman Reigns, Ringside News reports “that was a complete surprise” for all the superstars within the WWE. It was told by a member of the creative team with close knowledge of the situation that Heyman’s return “caught all of us off guard in the best possible way.”
No backstage update was available on either Reigns or Heyman’s return. It’s unknown if the advocate will have anything to do with creative planning. He was fired as Executive Director of Raw in June as both the writing teams were put together under Bruce Prichard.
Even before Heyman was in that position, he used to have a lot of creative influence with Brock Lesnar’s storylines. So we can assume he would be in the same position, this time, too.