Paul Heyman Reveals Why Roman Reigns Didn’t Turn Heel Earlier In His Career

Roman Reigns has been one of WWE’s top stars for some time now, and for years fans have been calling for The Big Dog to turn heel. A few months ago WWE finally pulled the trigger when Reigns aligned himself with Paul Heyman and won the Universal Championship.

The Tribal Chief spent months feuding with his cousin Jey Uso before Jey ultimately joined him, and so far the heel turn has been well received by the wrestling world.

Paul Heyman recently spoke the the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, and he explained why he doesn’t feel that the timing was right for Roman to turn heel in the past.

“I wanted it to happen for a long time, Roman Reigns wanted it to happen for a long time, and Vince McMahon wanted it to happen for a long time. But the timing was never right. Roman Reigns could not pull off this portrayal of the top star in the industry even a year ago. He wasn’t weathered enough, he wasn’t seasoned enough, and he wasn’t experienced enough. He still looked too young. But now, you look at his face, you see some seasoning and some weathering. He was beating the crap out of his cousin inside Hell in a Cell and he says I did this to you when we were kids, and here we are 35 years old doing this, and he looks 35. He looks like a badass 35, but he still looks 35. Before he still looked like late 20s or early 30s, and he still looked too young. He wasn’t grizzled, he didn’t have any scars. Now, you see the wars on his face. Now, you see the pressure and the obligation and the responsibility and the accountability and the sheer burden – I think that’s the core word when it comes to the characterization of the top star in WWE – the burden and the weight of that burden and what it has done to Roman Reigns.”

Are you enjoying Roman’s heel run so far? Sound off in the comments below.

H/T 411Mania.com