Roman Reigns on His Friendship with Daniel Bryan, Paul Heyman Praise, WWE Fanbase and Respect

– Roman Reigns recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso to promote WWE’s new “Answer the Call” charity auction. The full interview is at this link. Below are highlights:

Respect and the WWE fanbase:

“Our fanbase is so hardcore and smart, and knows the history. It’s almost like the underground in rap music. There is always the underground rapper people enjoy, and you want to see him come up. That’s kind of how it is in wrestling. There’s a lot of guys on the indies with the tight following from those hardcore fans, and this is that time for me to build to that respect and let people know I’m here to win, I’m here to kill it every single night.”

His friendship with Daniel Bryan:

“Bryan is the best. “If anybody says any different, they’re an idiot. You can learn anything from him. I got to work a lot with him with the Shield–that was like the band with those six man matches [against Bryan, Kane, and Ryback], we were doing those every night. So I had plenty of chemistry and experience with Bryan. He is such a journeyman with so much experience, and that’s a key ingredient to what we do–just logging in those man-hours. Bryan is a journeyman, and he’s one of the few that we have, with Seth and Dean also in that category. He’s just so smart. He has a great take on everything, and he doesn’t just think about his product. He thinks of the grand scheme of things in the WWE world, and he’s a privilege to be around, not only in the ring but also as a person. The last European tour was a great tour, sitting on the back of the bus with Bryan in a conversation for an hour-and-a-half covering everything under the sun–we talked about from evolution to lotions to how to treat swelling. He has so much knowledge on life. I feel very blessed to made a friend with Daniel Bryan.”

What separates Paul Heyman from just about everyone else in wrestling:

“It’s his knowledge, a lot of wisdom, and he’s got some cowboy to him, too. You can’t replace experience, and the time he’s logged in this business is irreplaceable. He’s seen damn near everything under the sun with what he’s done in front of and behind the camera. There’s so many different facets to this business–it’s not just hip tosses and body slams. This is chess, and in no way is it checkers, and I think that’s what sets him apart.”

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