Roman Reigns on if He Considers Himself a Babyface, a Possible Shield Reunion

Roman Reigns was interviewed by ESPN where he talked about improving in the ring, if he considers himself a babyface and potentially reuniting with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

Reigns was recently on ‘Sportscenter’ where he spoke about his grueling match against Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar at ‘SummerSlam‘ a few weeks back. This is a very interesting interview with Reigns’ explanation of his positioning in the match and we do highly recommend just giving it a watch to hear what he has to say.

Roman Reigns recalls WWE SummerSlam 2017 | SportsCenter | ESPN

On having to face such big men:

“I hate to say it’s the norm, but it feels that way. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I’ve been kind of used to running into these big redwood trees.”

On if he is a babyface:

“To me, I’m neither. If I’m totally off here, then I’m totally off, but I’m the first of my type. I’m the first true gray area guy … just being what he was born to be.”

“I don’t go out there and act crazy and flail around and be a heel. I don’t come out there smiling and kissing babies, telling each town it’s my favorite town at the end of the night. I keep it real. Sometimes I’m in a good mood. Sometimes I’m in a bad one. I want my character to be as human as possible, but not just a regular human that you see every single day.”

On his versatility:

“It’s just one of those things that helps me work with everybody. It’s not about, ‘Well, we can’t tell this story because it’s two bad guys going against each other, or it’s two good guys.’ I can adjust to any way [we want to do it]. I can wrestle any way I want. Sometimes you fight pissed off. Sometimes you fight smart with technique. It just depends.”

On the reaction of the audience:

“I get excited no matter what, because it’s a different crowd every time for me. Now that I’ve been able to make my rounds a few years now and be to each market several times, I have a better understanding. That’s what makes a performer smarter … the experience of knowing each region, knowing the fan base that’s at the actual show, knowing how they sound. If you just sit back and listen to each reaction, you can really tell what’s out there. You can hear the kids. You can hear the women. You can hear the grown men.”

On The Shield debuting at the Barclays Center in December of 2012:

“That’s where my career started, essentially. Our first match ever, when we broke in as The Shield, was in the Barclays in a TLC match against Team Hell No and Ryback.”

On potentially reuniting with Ambrose and Rollins:

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll be able to see it play out. But the main thing right now is I’ve been in the title picture for the Raw brand, so I can firmly say neither of those guys would leave [that opportunity] to rejoin The Shield [and] rekindle that flame.”

“Maybe I’m a third wheel at this point. It just really depends. I feel like the next few weeks are really going to play out some important things for me. Obviously, I need to transition coming out of this big feud between the four monsters.”

On being able to face people of all size and ability such as Strowman and AJ Styles:

“For me, it’s just a learning experience. I like it different, because I feel like that’s what really made me progress in such a short amount of time. I mean, I think I’ve been on the road now for five years coming up, about three of them in a singles capacity. When you get thrown in the fire like that, considering I’ve only been wrestling since 2010 — granted, I’m from a wrestling family and I’ve been around it — it’s a whole other beast being in the ring.”

On his evolution since debuting:

“Early in my career, I looked towards veteran wrestlers or people before me and tried to tap into that. Not necessarily their mannerisms or how they carried themselves, but just the way they conducted their matches and the psychology and why they were doing stuff. Why they would take their times here, why they would flurry here, why they would pander to the crowd here. There’s just different little things that I needed to look at.”

“At this point in my career, it’s hard for me to watch some of my stuff. It kind of always has been. Early on, I would watch my stuff and I would learn from it, treat it like football tape. Watch my footwork, watch my mannerisms, looking at my shoulders and how I was carrying myself.”

On how he picks up nuances for how his character should be:

“I just try and tap into other things, like real life mannerisms. I get them from my kids, different emotions. Sometimes when you’re playing with your kids and they get pissed, you can see a true anger emotion that’s not convoluted with any other reasoning. They’re just mad. They know they’re mad and they’re going to show you they’re mad.”

About opportunities for up-and-coming wrestlers:

“Guys like Big Cass… like Baron Corbin, different guys that are new. “Jinder [Mahal] is another one. They’re getting these opportunities, and it’s important that they run with the ball and they don’t look back, because you drop that ball you may never get it again.”

“For me, learning every single night by being thrown in the fire, sink or swim — that’s what made me the performer I am today.”

With H/T to ESPN for quotes.

Editor’s Note:

I am a massive fan of Reigns. I love how humble the man is, regardless of what people think of him. All the power to him and what he does in the business.

What did you think of Reigns’ comments? Do you agree with what he said? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page or Twitter account. Additionally, you can find me on Twitter at @SOSNH1995. We also want to remind you that we have a Newsletter you can sign up to. This will allow us to send you the best news in one place via an email. We also have the Wrestling Rumors app that we encourage you all to download to get updates faster than they release on our various pages. It is available on Android and iOS devices.