Roman Reigns On If He Will Close WrestleMania 31, If He Deserves His Spot, Scripted Promos, Critics

Roman Reigns called into Elvis Duran and the Morning Show‘s The Josh Podcast and discussed his WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match at Wrestlemania 31, his critics, scripted promos, keeping ‘The Shield’s’ entrance and more. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

On the WWE Championship going on last at WrestleMania:

“I haven’t talked much about that. My assumption is the championship match should always be last, that’s what we’re fighting for, that’s the biggest prize, as awesome as rivalries are. The WWE Championship, if you have that around your waist you are the man, you are on top of the mountain, you’re receiving the biggest paychecks, you’re going to have the best life, you’re going to create the best future for you and your family. So for me, I think the ultimate prize being the WWE Championship, it should always be on last, not just cause I’m fighting for it.”

On butting heads with hardcore fans:

“I don’t think I’m head butting with them, I feel like they are head butting me. I don’t do anything but go out there and bust my ass every single week … even when I was with the Shield, I’ve always had the critics and I think a lot of it goes with the background of me not having that independent experience, especially being paired up with guys like Seth and Dean because those guys are journeymen. The things they had to do are second to none.”

On “deserving” his spot:

“We have a very strong hardcore fan base and they go in a bit deeper than just what the storyline is. One thing that kind of confuses me is that it is a performance, it is a show, there is a storyline. When people start doing the “He deserves this, He deserves that”, really did Brad Pitt deserved to be Achilles in Troy? It’s a weird world that we live in; it’s very real but very scripted at the same time. It’s a fine line and in my opinion that’s what makes it so neat.”

On scripted promos handcuffing talent:

“I don’t think handcuffing is the right term. I look at it as a challenge. Obviously as a performer, I would love to go out there and go off of impulse, just go off into the arena and feel what’s going, but it is a show, it is a performance, and there is a lot that goes into this machine … For me, I know for a fact I haven’t told my full story. There is still so much more about me that I want to show the world.”

On keeping The Shield’s stairway entrance:

“The entrance itself it’s just such a unique thing, somebody had to keep that because it’s part of the show now and I get Tweets and all kinds of social media stuff, “what area are you coming down.” People want those seats now. It’s upped the value of that seating almost to where it’s like a front row situation. Those fans that are on that stairwell that I’m coming down are right on top of me, you get to see me, you can smell me, and people are touching me. You get a very good feel of what I’m like up close and personal. I think that was one thing WWE wanted to do was keep that moment for the crowd.”

To listen to the interview, click here.