Arn Anderson, who is currently working in AEW as Cody’s head coach, recently gave his two cents on why Roman Reigns is still booed by the WWE universe to a degree (it has gotten a lot better in the last year since he returned from his recent battle with leukemia. It’s obviously not a problem right now because he is still on hiatus due to concerns over the current pandemic – which I fully support by the way). Arn feels that the WWE universe is confused because Roman is climbing in the on-screen role of a tweener character that is not fully heal or face, so the audience just boos him as a default because his character doesn’t feel authentic. Anderson also claims Roman has a movie-star look which insights at least a hint of jealousy.
AA’s suggestion would be for WWE to book Reigns as either a pure babyface or a pure ass-kicking heel. The latter of these two was the way Stone Cold Steve Austin was booked in 1996. The only reason he became a face as time went on is that the audience could sense that the character was right in line with Steve’s personality and was uniquely authentic to him. Maybe WWE could consider trying this same gimmick with Roman Reigns upon his return to WWE.
The reason why this suggestion could possibly be considered is that Anderson has almost 40 years of experience working in professional wrestling – and nearly 20 years working as a producer for WWE. However, one reason why it might not be considered is that maybe this tweener character walking the tight rope between face and heal is what is most authentic to Roman, and if so (which is very possible since he has done this for about six years since The Shield broke up) it has to be admired that he has talked to the integrity of his character so vehemently. I admire him greatly for his level-headed mindset and never being bothered that much by criticism – at least he doesn’t show it. As a fan, I am just missing the presence of Roman Reigns and am excited for him to return to WWE programming – whether that’s in a couple months or in six weeks. I don’t really care how he is presented to the WWE universe upon his return, just throwing out suggestions and thinking out loud.