Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns recently spoke with the Sports Illustrated Media podcast for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, Reigns was asked about the details of his new contract with WWE, how many years it was for, and working a lighter schedule.
He said:
“I don’t really like to get into the specifics especially like, there’s timelines. There’s different ways to play with these things.”
“I think the main thing is, when you’ve been on the road for almost 10 years straight, and someone who has been at the highest level, the main event level, I ran a full schedule for a long time. Even before we went to Fox, it changed to where it was Smackdown on Friday, then we did two live events Saturday, Sunday. Then there was the occasional Monday Night Raw. So that’s a four night schedule, which still isn’t as bad as what it used to be. I mean, we used to do Friday, Saturday, Sunday, live events, Monday Night Raw, then we would tape Smackdown on Tuesday. So we were only getting a day and a half because we flew out, and this is before private travel, buses, and all that stuff. So we would fly out Wednesday morning, get home, so you get half of Wednesday, you get home and you’re beat, you’re tired. You got half of that Wednesday. Then you have your Thursday to just try to handle personal life and family and everything that comes with that, and then you’re back out on Friday.”
“So for me, it was really just trying to balance everything, and someone who has five children, we’re in a very critical portion of their lives where they’re so young. This is where we build these relationships and these bonds, and they get to know who their dad is. So for me, it was extremely important that I can build my fatherhood as the priority and the number one hat that I wear in WWE. Vince and everybody was really good about accommodating and making sure to keep me in the WWE family.”
“So the main thing is, no, we’re not going to be on every single pay-per-view. But anything that I am on, which will be of course all the major ones, and then a couple of the other ones that fall in between, the big four and the Saudis, I’ll always support those with TVs to build the story and the rivalry going forward. Compared to what I did, I guess technically you could say compared to a full-time on everything, you only get a day and a half a week, yeah, I guess it’s part-time compared to what I’ve usually run. But I mean, I’m an annual character on the WWE television.”
Reigns gave his thoughts on Vince McMahon retiring:
“You know, it was just hard to believe because I think, along with anyone who’s followed this business or been in this business, Vince is gonna be running this. I’m going to be long gone and I’ll be 20 years retired and Vince is still running the show. So I think that was just, ‘Okay, we’ll see in six months or something like that’, was kind of the mindset that I initially took. Then we received the talent relations text message, and then obviously a personal message from him and we talked a little bit.”
His thoughts on the job Triple H has done so far:
“I think he’s done excellent. I think he’s like a professional wrestling babyface right now in the industry. He’s like a babyface for the industry right now and there’s like this honeymoon situation going. There’s a lot of excitement. But I mean, if you look at the grand scheme of it and just break it down of what he stepped into just dealing with this controversy. I mean, dealing with the craziness of the impossible happened. Vince McMahon stepped down, like just dealing, wrapping your brain around that and then being the guy to be next. I thought following Cena was tough enough. Imagine having to follow Vince McMahon. I think he’s done great. I really do.”
Reigns was also asked if there is any update to The Rock wrestling him at WrestleMania:
“Dwayne’s dropping it within his own project, so it’s got to be pretty good. It’s got to be pretty special. I think that just goes to show the clamoring, the buzz for it, the chatter for it, the wishful thinking, is something that he definitely played into within “Young Rock “, which as you know, with him, everything’s highly strategical. A lot of synergy with everything that he does with the projects that he’s guiding and has in mind. So yeah, I would say just based off that alone, it looks even better than it did last time we spoke.”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
