Roman Reigns lost his WWE World Heavyweight championship to Seth Rollins on Sunday, June 19 at "Money in the Bank." According to the latest rumors, Reigns dropped the title because he was not drawing enough people as champion. Is it time for WWE to turn him heel?
Many fans were surprised that Reigns lost cleanly to Rollins after a second Pedigree. It should be noted that Dean Ambrose, who the Money in the Bank Ladder Match earlier in the pay-per-view, cashed in the MITB briefcase and defeated Rollins to become the new WWE champion.
According to Cageside Seats, one of the possible reasons why the WWE removed the title on Reigns is his weak drawing power for the past several months. Live event attendance for May 2016 had a 30 percent decline from 5,600 tickets sold last year to 3,900 last month.
The low numbers can be attributed to a number of reasons like John Cena's absence due to his shoulder injury. However, the WWE always had two tours for their live events with one headlined by Reigns and they are usually held in larger cities.
On the other hand, the second show's main draw is Ambrose but his figures are reportedly identical with Reigns. It should be noted that the live events featuring Ambrose are held in smaller cities compared to the former WWE champion.
Low house show attendance is surely not the only reason the WWE decided to end the Roman Empire prematurely. Other factors such as the declining ratings of Monday Night Raw and the fact that Reigns has not been over the WWE universe are also possible reasons.
If the WWE indeed removed the title on Reigns due to those reasons, they are out of ideas on how to make him the next face of the company. Cena, who has been the face of the WWE for the past decade, proved that he is a massive draw even though fan reactions are split towards him.
According to Wrestling Inc, the WWE may also be swerving the fans and they are just doing this to get Reigns more over. However, they have not done something significant to completely make his character more compelling, turning him heel.
Unlike Ambrose and Rollins, Reigns has not found his real character in the WWE. Ambrose became The Lunatic while Rollins was The Architect. They both ditched their old Shield attire and become new characters.
On the other hand, Reigns still wears a tactical vest and his entrance music resembles their old Shield theme. He needs to turn heel to show his versatility while the WWE needs to let him be himself and not give him crappy lines. He constantly gets booed as a babyface so a heel turn may lead to fans cheering for him.
Check out the video below some of Reigns' worst promos ever.