Roman Reigns Talks Fans Turning On Seth Rollins
It's been seven years since Roman Reigns made his main roster debut and he's now considered a locker room leader with his experience. He talked about what that means to him and how he leads when he joined After The Bell podcast.
"For me, I just lead by example and that goes for everything such as the way you carry yourself. You know the deal ? don't sweat the little stuff. You sell in the ring but not outside of it, especially the backstage stuff," said Reigns. "I just try to make everything look easy so everyone's like, 'Yeah man, Uce [Roman] is doing it. Uce is knocking it out. This is a rough travel day but Uce is sitting over there with his shades on chilling and listening to his music.'
"Keeping a level head when times get tough? There's a few different things you can do through your experience and through your example."
For years Reigns has been one of the most polarizing figures in all of pro wrestling as fans either love him or hate him. His former Shield-mate Seth Rollins has now entered that territory and Rollins talked about why some Superstars elicit these reactions from fans.
"We've talked very briefly but just the way with our travel, it's really separated us. We're both out to conquer but we have to hold it down for our respective sides. With Seth, he knows what to do. He knows what to do in the ring and how to carry himself. It's just a matter of riding it out," stated Reigns.
"This is a situation where sometimes it's, 'What have you done for me lately?' You just have to go out the next night and kill it and continue to kill it. That's all that matters ? just bust your ass and work hard. The cream always rises to the top and that's something Cena told me a long time ago. Don't go out there and stink it up. Have a good match and at the end of the day our fans are passionate but they have respect for what we do?
"Seth is a pro wrestling guy and he's never going to go anywhere. He's always had the dream of WWE and a little bit of a roller coaster isn't gonna scare him away."
Reigns added that whether a good or bad reaction, any polarizing reaction is exactly what you are looking for.
As a Grand Slam Champion, and someone that's achieved just about everything there is to achieve in WWE, Reigns talked about what his focus is on now.
"If me and Seth ever have a big match and there will be a point where we hit a big double down late in the match – we're both laid out and selling and you can feel the energy. Those are the moments you chase," said Reigns. "We both hear this amazing response and it makes it all so worth it. The addiction to the reaction is where I'm at now and just continuing to pay back the locker room and the company that's done so much for me.
"If there's a way to help out younger talent or bring anybody up, we should always be doing that. Just being able to create new Superstars and push this product even further and show different sides what we do within our genre of entertainment. And continue to blow things up with FOX ? that's where I'm at nowadays. Just help out wherever I can."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit After The Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.