For those of you wondering why Roman Reigns was slotted in as the 30th entrant in the Royal Rumble match, it was done with a specific plan in mind. The company knew that fans would react negatively to Reigns and they knew that Randy Orton would get a big pop for eliminating him. Yes, Orton is a heel right now but he will eventually turn babyface by the time WrestleMania rolls around so they were thinking long-term when they booked the Rumble match.
Also, in the eyes of the fans, Reigns is going to be the default heel in his feud with The Undertaker so there is no reason to go against the grain until the feud is over. Also, for those of you who have asked about a potential Reigns heel turn, don’t hold your breath on that because Reigns is still pegged to be the long-term babyface for the company. While Reigns is booed at the pay-per-views and TV tapings, he is still cheered at the live events. The live events consist of families taking their kids out and they are still buying his merchandise. It’s one of the main reason why WWE has been reluctant to turn John Cena. He gets a reaction from everyone (positive and negative) and that’s what they are looking for and his merchandise sales are hard to deny.
For spoiler news on the WrestleMania card (including one name rumored to be retiring at the show), click here.
News from The Wrestling Observer website was used in this post. For more on this story please visit WrestlingObserver.com. Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez’ WrestlingObserver.com is the leading source for professional wrestling news. Click here for subscription information. Members get exclusive access to insider news from Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez, daily audio shows, breaking news audio, the Wrestling Observer newsletter, newsletter archives, thousands of hours of archived radio shows, and much more.
