Reigns is a babyface. The fans don't accept him as that, and his character is a jerk, but Cole still pumps his tires so he's automatically a babyface. The only time they blurred that was when Reigns tried to murder Braun Strowman.
Although, like I said, he's probably a heel in the sense that people will pay money to see him get his ass kicked. I mentioned it before but it was something a former creative writer talked to me about but regarding Cena. He's a heel (this was in 2012 or something) in the sense that people will pay money to see him get his ass kicked. The moment he actually turned heel in regards to his character, those same people would start cheering him and not pay to see him get his ass kicked.
In that sense, Roman Reigns is 100% a heel and with his shifting character -- which is also working tremendously, by the way -- people will continue to pay to see him get his ass kicked weekly. So in that sense, he's a heel. Younger fans and females who just see a good looking guy with long hair will keep cheering him and buying his merchandise, though. Not as much as they did John Cena, but a decent enough amount to make him a top-3 merch mover (I think #1 among full-time guys).
He's not the first of his kind at all. He literally just has to look across the ring from him in his current program and see a guy who was in the same spot for a decade until Reigns started getting his push and people started appreciating John more.
Although, like I said, he's probably a heel in the sense that people will pay money to see him get his ass kicked. I mentioned it before but it was something a former creative writer talked to me about but regarding Cena. He's a heel (this was in 2012 or something) in the sense that people will pay money to see him get his ass kicked. The moment he actually turned heel in regards to his character, those same people would start cheering him and not pay to see him get his ass kicked.
In that sense, Roman Reigns is 100% a heel and with his shifting character -- which is also working tremendously, by the way -- people will continue to pay to see him get his ass kicked weekly. So in that sense, he's a heel. Younger fans and females who just see a good looking guy with long hair will keep cheering him and buying his merchandise, though. Not as much as they did John Cena, but a decent enough amount to make him a top-3 merch mover (I think #1 among full-time guys).
He's not the first of his kind at all. He literally just has to look across the ring from him in his current program and see a guy who was in the same spot for a decade until Reigns started getting his push and people started appreciating John more.