Roman Reigns Is The Best Comic Book Character The WWE Has Ever Given Us. That’s A Good Thing.
“This is my yard now.”
You would have to think, niggling in the back of their minds, all the fans at the Amway Center in Orlando wanted Roman Reigns to tell them off. The anticipation that he would finally embrace his darker side on Raw was palpable. The crowd all but tried to taunt him into it. Become the heel we've always wanted you to be. The din was deafening.
“This is my yard now.”
It was one of the best promos in a long time. Reigns spoke only five words in two minutes but it was all we wanted. The WWE couldn’t pay for that kind of heat.
Though, despite the scene, Reigns is not a heel. The character is far too complex for that. Complex may not be the term most fans would use, but the relationship fans have with Reigns’ character certainly is. That complexity finds its DNA in a character from another era. Reigns is this generations' Stone Cold Steve Austin. You got that right.
More accurately, Reigns is Stone Cold's mirror image. Stone Cold was beloved despite going against the prototypical babyface archetype. Reigns is despised in spite of being the typical babyface archetype.
But Steve Austin didn’t become beloved over night, nor has Reigns become despised overnight.
Stone Cold was beloved by the fans because he was an anti-authority figure. But that didn’t begin until his feud with Vince McMahon. Prior to that, Austin was a consummate heel. He taunted babyface Brett Hart and feuded with him for the better part of a year, at one point costing him the WWF title.
Austin’s growing stardom was unique. Fans were beginning to wise up and become marks, thus appreciating more than ever before the ability of a heel played well. When Austin lost to Hart at Wrestlmania 13, the complex relationship fans had developed to him crystallized. His rise to anti-hero status was secured. Austin had become that rare kind of superhero: the morally ambivalent one. Austin would then go on to feud with McMahon, taking on the establishment at every turn. Austin's enduring appeal was that he played by nobody's rules but his own.
Austin’s origin story thus parallels Reigns. Every superhero – even the anti-hero type - has an origin that inspires their motives. And so does every super villain.
“This is my yard now.”
Reign’s character has always been rooted in not taking shit from anybody. As a member of The Shield, Reigns filled the role of the bruising enforcer, the no-nonsense muscle. When shit needed doing, Reigns would come in and lay waste to the field. As soon as he split off from that stable, he was left searching for a new motive. What does an enforcer do with no one to back up? The WWE immediately pushed him towards main event and title contention, artificially creating a motive that Reigns was an enforcer fighting for himself. The WWE brass had always eyed Reign’s as main event material, but Reigns character had not naturally developed into that yet. He had not developed into anything yet - he wasn’t the hero yet nor was he the villain. He was a block of wood, not yet a carving.
Much like with Stone Cold, the power brokers at WWE stepping in was the flint that lit the flame. This time, it wasn't fiction. The rest of the story you can recall - every booking of Reigns, every title match, every main event spot The WWE's obvious push set Reigns on a path to villainy. How he has evolved to not only become one, but a super villain, is a fascinating story.
Reign is despised not because he’s an authority figure, but because he was created by one - just like a super villain. Reigns is not the opposite to the hero but the mirror image. Superman doesn’t follow anyone’s rules but his own – just like Lex Luthor. Batman doesn’t take orders from Commissioner Gordon – and neither does the Joker. Stone Cold was booked to never take orders and Reigns has been booked the same way. And we hate him for it.
“This is my yard now.”
With those five words, Reigns became who he’s always meant to be.
Rhys Dowbiggin @Rdowb
Rhys has worked six years in the public relations industry rubbing shoulders with movie stars (who ignored him) to athletes (who tolerated him). He likes tiki-taka football, jelly beans, and arguing with Bruce about everything.