During the build to his WrestleMania 34 main event match against WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns has pulled no punches in his verbal assaults of Lesnar. Reigns was recently a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and discussed his approach to promoting his match against Lesnar.
Reigns has been doing shoot-promos on RAW where he calls out Lesnar’s performance schedule, his work ethic and more. Reigns’ promos have dug deep at times, and they’ve generated mostly positive reactions from fans. Reigns was asked whether he thinks Lesnar takes his verbal attacks personally and he said he believes it’s just a part of professional wrestling. Reigns said Lesnar knows one of the most important aspects of the buildup to a high-profile match is the storytelling because it increases the anticipation for the physical confrontation.
“I think it is all part of storytelling. It’s like the scene in Braveheart where they are all lined up for battle, wearing the blue face paint, but eventually they send out the nobles to talk, and then William Wallace is prancing around in his horse and then he takes off and says that he is going to go pick a fight. That is the cool part of what we do; we can build up this story through verbal confrontation, but at the end of the day it has to come down to physical performance,” Reigns said. “I have been in a few different matches with Brock in different capacities, and then I have had the singles match at WrestleMania 31 in Santa Clara, California, but that is kind of what is cool about this. A lot of times what we do is very cerebral; but this one is very simple, get ready to hurt and get ready to get hit right back.”
Since this is the second time Reigns will be headlining a WrestleMania opposite Lesnar, many are wondering if they will approach things differently this time. With Lesnar not appearing on RAW until last week, Reigns mostly has had to promote the match on his own. Reigns said fans know what to expect when he and Lesnar face each other and he hopes to exceed their expectations.
“The match is the match. It’s one thing when you speak about it with four weeks, five weeks out, but if you saw what we did three years ago, you will have a general idea of how we go at it. I don’t see us giving you apples and changing the apples to give you a different fruit. We will do what works for us; we are both physical and both brawlers, and both not afraid to bang,” he said. “So, hopefully with the physicality, and hopefully a great story, which is important to grasp that, to completely immerse themselves in it and get lost it in. I think what people will be able to take from it of whether or not someone is knocked out, and stretch the imagination and make people guess, whether it is professional wrestling or fighting. I think if we are blurring the lines, we are doing our job.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast
