Roman Reigns was Chris Jericho’s guest on the latest edition of Talk of Jericho and, of course, the two got down to talking about the notion of a heel turn for the Big Dog.
Neither guy is a fan of the idea, but Reigns’ reason why he’s against it raises a some interesting discussion points:
The thing is if I turn heel what am I, am I just gonna, like, become a chicken... Just like everything that's been done? Why not just be me? No one has ever been like me. This is uncharted territory, it can be anything I want it to be. So why put myself on one side of it? Why not just dabble? Why not have the full range, do whatever I want, THE Guy, you know what I mean? That's how I feel. I'm the one writing this at this point now. We're in a position, we can do anything we want as long as they make noise. As long as they're coming, as long as they're making noise, have fun, man. Boo the shit out of me. As long as... if you and... if it's making you cooler with this dude and that dude next to you and y'all are having a great night, please, say all you want to me, I'm a grown man, you're not going to hurt my feelings. My wife is not going to think any differently than me.
Roman expressing he’s okay with fans reacting however they want isn’t new - and inviting the audience to boo him will probably take the fun out of it for some folks, while encouraging others - but the idea he’s deliberately “dabbling” in shades of gray is intriguing. And Reigns claiming he’s the one with creative control over his character, at least once he steps out on the stage, is a pretty big bombshell.
It’s not terribly surprising. Getting a bigger say in how you’re presented has always been a luxury afforded to the top stars, but owning it takes some brass. It meshes perfectly with his “The Guy” character, though.
And it will probably leave some who think he’s being given privileges he doesn’t deserve even more reason to hate him.
But as he says, bring it on.