Roman Reigns Talks Shield, Being Heel, Football, and More

One half of the current WWE Tag Team Champions and one-third of the powerhouse stable The Shield, Roman Reigns, recently spoke with Chris O’Eary of the Edmonton Journal about his football and wrestling careers. During the interview, Reigns (real name Joseph Anoa’i), discusses being a heel in the business, his transition from football to wrestling, and much more. Some highlights from the interview are listed below.

On his days as in the Canadian Football League as an Edmonton Eskimo: “They were relatively short. (It was) pretty much one season. I started off signed to the practice squad and then every once in a while I’d get activated for a few games. I was kind of going back and forth between practice squad and then, if someone got hurt or they needed an extra D-tackle to rotate in, they’d pull me up and I’d play that week or travel that week.”

On being a heel: “If people want to boo me, that’s great. As long as they’re making noise and they’re into it … when I’m out there, I want people to show if they’re mad, they’re happy, just some kind of emotion. They paid money to come out and cut loose a little bit, so that’s what I intend on doing. I come out and cut loose and I let it all hang out. If I can elicit some kind of a response, that makes me happy, I know that. It doesn’t bother me at all to have people boo me.”

On pursuing a wrestling career after football: “When I was a kid, that’s all we ever talked about, that’s all everyone around me did. Once things slowed down with football and I finished up in Canada, I figured out that the passion to wrestle and be a WWE superstar was still there, so it kind of summed things up for me, really focused me on getting into the business and learning how to wrestle. I’ve always been a physical athlete, so getting in the ring and being, in a sense, in-character is not me. It’s always been an extension of myself. Being a part of The Shield, it’s right up my alley to be an enforcer, to be the muscle of the group, almost like the D-linemen. A lot of times, that’s how it looks. I’m the D-lineman and (Shield members) Seth (Rollins) and Dean (Ambrose) are like linebackers running free. I can free them up to do whatever they want and back up anything they feel or say, so it’s a good feeling to be a part of the team again.”

You can read the entire interview here.

 

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