Roman Reigns Talks Making Fun Of Wrestlers' Moves With Dean Ambrose, His Favorite Wrestler, Movies
The Wizard World Comic Con recently conducted a Q&A session with Roman Reigns in San Jose, CA. Among other things, Reigns discussed the Superman Punch, other wrestlers naming their moves, superhero movies, and his Bret 'Hitman' Hart fandom.
When asked what his favorite move is, Reigns said the Superman Punch is a very fun move to execute, but went on to say that any time he gets to pick up the Wyatts and slam them to the mat is his favorite move.
"I enjoy picking those big boys up and slamming them on their head. It doesn't matter how you pick them up. There are many different maneuvers and techniques to pick up a man, but when one man picks up another man above his head and throws him down, it [has] got to be effective, so that's what I like to do. I like to pick up the Wyatts and throw them around, all around the ring."
On the subject of the Superman Punch, Reigns stated that he started doing the move because no one else was doing it and it is just something that ended up working out well. According to Reigns, he did not develop the theatrics of punching the ground at first. Backstage, this setup for the Superman Punch is called ThunderCat.
"I didn't really develop the whole theatrics, the setup for it, when I ThunderCat down on the ground [in developmental]. That's what we call it, actually, so you all know. I don't know why we call it ThunderCat, but that's what we call it".
When asked whether the name, Superman Punch, would be better suited for John Cena, Reigns stated that he did not name the move himself.
"I'm not one of those nerds that names his moves. It was called a Spear before I did it, so I'm going to continue to call it a Spear. It was called a Superman Punch before I did it, so I call it a Superman Punch."
Reigns claimed that he and Dean Ambrose make fun of wrestlers who name their moves and gave the example of Sheamus' moves referencing his Irish heritage.
"If you wrestle Sheamus, it's always like, 'you got to look out for that Irish Curse [backbreaker], the Irish hand grenade, the Irish this, the Irish tailwhip, the Irish leg tie, the Irish fist punch'. Like, we get it, dude! You're Irish!"
On the topic of wrestlers in superhero films, Reigns mistook the Rock's upcoming Shazam film with former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal's film, Kazaam.
"Hold on. Shazam? Like the one Shaq did? That was a test."
Reigns indicated that he would love to be a part of any comic book movie and mentioned that a lot of his moves and mannerisms in WWE were inspired by comic book movies and other action films such as 300 and Gladiator.
Reigns said that of all of the comic book characters he would like to portray in a film, he would like to play Thor, though he is not willing to dye his hair blonde.
"I think Thor might be a good fit," Reigns continued, "like I said, brother, the hair don't change. This is final cut right here. It ain't going nowhere."
Reigns stated that Bret 'Hitman' Hart is his all time favorite professional wrestler.
"[Hart] is the best. Do you know what I mean? Being there every single day, wrestled for 30 minutes every single night, unbelievable technician," Reigns added, "I believed in everything he did and said. And, to this day, he's a great mentor and an unbelievable conversation guy. If you ever get to meet him, he's a really nice guy and he loves his fans, he loves the WWE Universe, and he was always a guy that just got it."