Roman Reigns is scheduled to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 34. It’s the second time Reigns headlines a WrestleMania alongside Lesnar, and “The Big Dog” was recently a guest on Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg to discuss his opponent.
In an effort to generate a positive fan reaction, Reigns has been doing shoot-promos on RAW where he calls out Lesnar’s performance schedule, his work ethic and his status and Vince McMahon’s “boy.” With Lesnar not appearing on RAW multiple times despite being advertised as part of the show, the promos have generally received good responses from audiences. Reigns commented on Lesnar’s current standing with the fans.
“It’s a little bit different for him, right now, especially where we are at and the stuff I am bringing to light about him and his character and work ethic, I think some of the fans are taking it negatively,” Reigns said. “For the most part, Brock Lesnar is a cool dude, you can’t deny the fact that he is a big, jacked up brother who comes in and throws people on their necks.”
In addition to their main event at WrestleMania 31, Reigns and Lesnar have worked together many times in the past. Reigns said over time they have developed a chemistry in the ring, but they’re not close with each other beyond that.
“I’ve had interactions with him, I’ve had history with him. We had our main event match at WrestleMania 31 and we had a few different Four-Ways and Triple-Threat matches like that where other characters are involved. It’s a different dynamic,” Reigns said. “Every time you are in a situation like that you do get to spend a little more time with somebody. Yeah, on his own time he seems like a cool dude, I don’t know him that well, but we’re not friends or anything.”
Whenever he works with Lesnar, Reigns knows he’s in for a very physical match. At the Royal Rumble in January, Lesnar legitimately punched Braun Strowman in the face after Strowman connected with a stiff knee. Reigns said he never backs down from Lesnar’s aggressiveness because it’s nothing he can’t handle. He said his upbringing and his past as a college football player prepared his to match Lesnar’s physicality should Lesnar decide to shoot on him.
“If he throws two at me I’m throwing three back. My dad was a big man. One of the easiest things about wrestling Brock Lesnar is that there isn’t much thinking about it. It’s just all physical stuff, and I’ve been doing physical stuff since I was seven years old. I played Division-One Football at Georgia Tech, so I’ve seen and been around some of the best athletes in the world,” he said. “What we do is a different form of entertainment and athleticism, but you still have to be an athlete in order to do what we do all year round, you have to keep yourself in that shape so, I’m never scared to be able to push that button, let’s go, if I have to protect myself, I’m more than capable, no doubt.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg
