As soon as The Shield first separated, it was clear WWE wanted Roman Reigns to become the next face of the company. Throughout his face run, he often faced negative reaction from live crowds and on social media. Since his return at SummerSlam 2020 and heel turn, however, the narrative has shifted. Reigns has been extremely successful as a heel, and there’s no end in sight for his momentum or his reign as WWE Champion. So, the question now emerges, might Reign emerge as the greatest top heel WWE has ever had?
Roman Has The Heat
One of the biggest determinants of a heel’s success is the reaction he provokes from fans. Roman Reigns had nuclear heat at times when he was playing the face. He has parlayed those reactions into becoming a villain fans are all too ready to hate.
Reigns has earned additional heat through his actions. From becoming a Paul Heyman guy, to overt arrogance on the mic, to bullying Jey Uso, to beating back everyman heroes like Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan, Reigns has only gathered steam. Moreover, the fact that just about all of his victories since Payback 2020 has involved outside interference or other shenanigans make it easy to boo the guy.
The Matches Have Been Great
The heel turn for Roman Reigns coincided with him having most fully come into his own as a singles wrestler. Indeed, part of why fans rejected him as a face early on was that his main event push was so dramatically out of proportion to his still-developing in-ring skills. Now, Reigns has the chops to more than hold his own with anyone on the WWE roster.
There’s a real case to be made that Reigns’s style and physicality make him much better suited to a heel role, too. With the exception of monsters like Braun Strowman, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar, Reigns is bigger than the competition. His size, and his repertoire focused on power moves and brawling lend themselves well to playing the punishing heel against a game babyface.
Jimmy Uso Will Factor Into His Story
No one could have predicted just how vital Jey Uso would have been in getting Roman Reigns over as a villain. That’s exactly what happened, though, this past fall in one of WWE's greatest family rivalries. Reigns made no bones about brutal beating his overmatched little cousin. From there, Uso became an important part of The Head of the Table’s act for physically interfering on his behalf.
There’s some intrigue left to play out in terms of what will happen when Jimmy Uso returns from injury. The other Uso could present a similar story to his brother's, standing up to Reigns and trying to bring Jey back to the light. On the flip side, if Jimmy makes his return joins the heel team, that could make Reigns all the more unstoppable, similar to what the Horsemen did for Ric Flair, or the backing of the nWo did for Hollywood Hogan.
The Rock Showdown
The prospect of Roman Reigns battling The Rock has been one of the most tantalizing dream matches in WWE history. Rock is both a successful enough actor and now old enough that a full-time wrestling schedule is out of the question. He still looks like a million bucks, though, and has the cache with wrestling fans to be a main event draw anytime. Between Reigns and Rock being relatives, their respective stardom, and the intergenerational storyline, this showdown has WrestleMania main event written all over it.
Indeed, Rock may do for Reigns what he did for Steve Austin and John Cena alike—offering someone with the star power to legitimately compete with them, and help push them to the next level. The difference here is that Reigns would undeniably be the clear-cut heel and in the prime of his career—ready to capitalize on a milestone match that could position him as the greatest heel champion WWE has ever had.
Considering The Competition
When considering if Reigns could be WWE's best ever heel champ, it’s only fair to consider who is competing with him for the crown. The list is deceptively short. After all, traditionally speaking, WWE has been a company built on strong babyface champions like Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and John Cena, in contrast to other companies built more around faces chasing a great heel champion, like Ric Flair, Harley Race, Big Van Vader, and Hollywood Hogan were for the bulk of their NWA or WCW World Heavyweight Championship reigns.
Triple H is the first name that comes to mind as WWE’s greatest heel champ. Most of his combined 1,200-plus days as a world champion were spent as a heel, spread across fourteen reigns. They include success in the ultra-competitive Attitude Era and largely dominating the World Heavyweight Championship scene during the Ruthless Aggression era.
Brock Lesnar has to be in the conversation for WWE’s greatest heel champions. That’s on account of his awesome monster heel aura, match quality when he was at his best, and the sheer amount of time (a combined over 1,400 days as WWE or Universal Champion). However, Lesnar’s longevity as champ is subject to some scrutiny given the part-time status he enjoyed for most of his time on top, including several month stretches without defending his title.
Other top contenders include Randy Orton, CM Punk, Yokozuna, and Edge. Reigns is toward the front of this pack, but probably not yet at Triple H or Lesnar’s level. The Head of the Table has nothing but time, though. He’s still in his mid-thirties and, if he can stay healthy, his current reign as Universal Champion has no end in sight. It’s entirely possible he’ll remain champion until WWE can realize its dream scenario of booking him against The Rock at WrestleMania 38 or 39, and even then, it’s far from a guarantee The People’s Champion would take the title off Reigns.
In the end, the question of who is the greatest heel champion in WWE history is subjective, and we’ll never have a definitive answer. Roman Reigns is, however, presenting an unusual case of a heel who is the top star in WWE, and who doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. History may be very kind to the Head of the Table.