5 gimmicks WWE should copy from elsewhere

2. Roman Reigns as the Naito-like smug antihero

The parallels between these two men are astonishing

Roman Reigns has been a lightning rod for controversy for several years now, and this is due to the extent to which WWE are trying to convert him into a John-Cena like white meat superhero. This is even though large swaths of the audience continue to show either apathy or hostility towards him and cheer for anyone else besides him (including supposed heel Braun Strowman).

To fix this problem, WWE should look at what NJPW did with Naito, who was in Reigns’ exact position four years ago.

At that time, he was being pushed as the next top ultra-babyface to replace Tanahashi as the ace of NJPW. However, the NJPW audience rejected the good guy Naito outright, as seen with them voting him out of the main event of Wrestle Kingdom VIII. After an excursion to Mexico, Naito returned as a heel and became the head of his own stable, Los Ignobernables de Japon.

With this new stable, Naito became a cocky, apathetic jerk that doesn’t give a damn about the fans or about NJPW’s traditions, choosing instead to do things on his own time. His continued mockery of his opponents and detached and apathetic demeanor made him an easy target for boos at first.

But over the past year or so, Naito and LiJ have risen to the top of NJPW in terms of popularity and merchandise sales. It has reached the point that Naito and LiJ have become fan favorites, with crowds cheering for Naito more than ever before.

This is something that WWE should consider for Reigns. Reigns could easily play the role of that smug guy who thinks he’s better than you and doesn’t give care about what you think. If WWE were to perhaps give Reigns the opportunity to at least be more of an apathetic and neutral character, instead of shoe-horning him into the role of a generic babyface, maybe he’d get a better reaction out of the audience as a whole.