One of the most intriguing incidents in the modern generation of the WWE was the heel-turn of Roman Reigns. It was a bold step on WWE’s part since he was the poster boy of the company for such a long time while carrying the baton from John Cena. Eventually, the decision to make him a villain changed the landscape of the WWE.
Roman Reigns turned heel in August 2020 at Summerslam of that year during his return from a hiatus for the first time since 2014. According to Brian “Road Dogg” James, the former producer within the WWE, the turn could have happened a couple of years earlier because almost everyone agreed to the notion except for the ultimate decision-maker in the WWE – Vince McMahon.
Road Dogg mentioned an incident about Roman Reigns from 2018
Speaking on the “Oh You Didn’t Know” podcast, James remembered the time when Roman Reigns defeated Samoa Joe in the main event at WWE Backlash on May 6, 2018, in Newark, New Jersey. Throughout that match, fans were raucous. But a portion of the people also started leaving the arena before the contest ended as WWE attempted to force fans to cheer for the match-winner.
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Upon getting asked whether this was a perfect time, James let us know that everyone, backstage, thought Roman Reigns should turn heel, James revealed that everyone was on board with a positive response except for Vince McMahon,
“Probably everybody, everybody but Vince because Vince’s timing is more on point than everybody else’s.”
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Vince McMahon had this perfect Roman Reigns heel-turn execution
Since Roman Reigns was the flag-bearer of the WWE for such a long time, Vince McMahon had his own reasons to keep him a babyface figure, at the time. But being a producer, James believed that the change in character for the then Big Dog could have happened earlier.
Now that the heel turn has happened, there’s been a significant shift in on how the WWE Universe views Roman Reigns under their Tribal Chief moniker. Per James, McMahon had that perfect timing for that heel turn which was perfectly executed and it was also bettered with time,
“The minute you start feeling like ‘Oh, he’s a heel,’ it’s like ‘No, wait a second. Wait, it’ll heat up worse.’”
Many believed that Roman Reigns should have turned into a villain soon after defeating The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33 as the WWE Universe booed him out of the buildings during each of his appearances. Ultimately, McMahon held back the decision and found a perfect slot to make the best out of the character transition.
