Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles Needs True Heel to Emerge to Elevate WWE's Top Feud

Roman Reigns and AJ Styles have developed WWE's hottest feud over the last month. The duo has tremendous chemistry in the ring, evident both during WWE Payback and last night on Raw. 

With proper storytelling and character treatment, Reigns and Styles could become a top-level feud for a long time. Alexander N. Miller and Bleacher Report's Mike Chiari are optimistic: 

"

This feud between Roman & Co. and the Bullet Club has gotten better and better in the past weeks...This is more than heated! #6ManTag #RAW

— Alexander The Great (@dontbackdownANM) May 3, 2016"

So far, WWE Creative's got the storytelling down. Now it needs to work on the second part of that equation and create a compelling character for each. That means someone's got to turn heel. The problem is, it doesn't seem that WWE wants to commit to making either Superstar the bad guy.

Not doing so will only hurt this feud and make it less compelling as WWE tries to continue to tell a story. 

Reigns, Styles both competing to be babyfaces

It's understandable why WWE is hesitant to turn either Superstar. In Reigns' case, the company has placed so much emphasis on him becoming the next big thing. He's become the de facto face of WWE in both marketing and promotion—the heir apparent to John Cena in that regard. 

The company's top Superstars have all been faces: Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Cena. While each has had runs as a heel, all of them were cemented as fan favorites during their time as the company's top Superstar. 

For two years Vince McMahon and company have been pushing Reigns down that path, and it's difficult to see them changing course, even if the entire hardcore fanbase is calling for it to happen. Those fans aren't the ones buying Roman Reigns merchandise, which is behind only Cena, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar in the food chain, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Brad Davis of SEScoops).

Styles presents his own problems. First, he's an Internet Wrestling Community darling who burst onto the scene since debuting at the Royal Rumble. 

Crowd reaction for Styles has been phenomenal (no pun intended). On F4WOnline’s Wrestling Observer Radio show, Dave Meltzer noted "AJ Styles has gotten a better reaction than Dean Ambrose; than Roman Reigns; than anyone" on the road (h/t Rob Leigh of TalkSport).

Second, he's played the hero since entering the company only a short time ago. Feuds and interactions with the likes of Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and The Miz have illustrated Styles' good-guy persona, something the company should be leery of casting aside so soon into his WWE run. 

Guilt by association: Heels through their friends' actions

If WWE is going to make either man a heel, it's likely to come through a third-party affiliation. On Monday, The Usos, along with Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, were those conduits, causing both Reigns and Styles to inch closer to dark territory. Kyle Lewis and SiriusXM Busted Open commented on Styles situation:

Both men moved the needle toward heel behavior—Styles with chair shots to the Usos and Reigns with a powerbomb through the announce table. Of course, WWE had its cake and ate it too: Reigns wasn't aware Styles declined an open-chair shot to the champion. He only saw the attack on the Usos. Family is family, after all. 

It's been the same story since Gallows and Anderson attacked Reigns on Raw two weeks prior to WWE Payback. Styles intervenes on the champion's behalf, although the champ doesn't see the good deed. That opens up Reigns to viciousness, which is mistaken by some fans as a heel turn. WWE Universe described what happened to Styles following his attack on the Usos, which Reigns described as basically a no-brainer situation resulting from an attack on "The Family":

Some fans applaud this from Reigns, thinking it's the start of something more. 

Don't be fooled. In WWE Creative's eyes, every move Reigns makes is justified, therefore he isn't a heel. Every Fabulous Forearm Styles delivers to Reigns is a defensive move, since Reigns attacks first. Eventually someone's going to have to strike first, and it's a decision WWE is afraid to make.

Every great feud has a protagonist and antagonist. The current Reigns-Styles feud is missing that one crucial element: a leading character. 

Without it, their feud can't move forward. It remains stuck in neutral. Sure, there can be conflict resulting in good matches, maybe even great ones. But even Ryback and Kalisto had a great match at WWE Payback— one that won't be remembered because there was no story behind it. 

Without someone to root for, WWE risks losing control of the very powerful narrative it's created. To delay a decision past Extreme Rules—more than two months past this feud's genesis—is to admit neither Reigns nor Styles is as bad, or as good, as WWE needs each wrestler to be.