BRIAN FRITZ: Roman, hows the hair today?
ROMAN REIGNS: (laughs) Nobody usually asks that right off the bat. The hair is good. Just looking to get it wet and get to work tonight.
BF: Thats the important thing the look and the hair really stands out. Anytime I bring up your name around women, they go crazy. They talk about hair, they talk about a lot of things when it comes to you.
RR: Yeah, common mistake. Just a bunch of smoke and mirrors Ive got going on here. Ive got a bunch of magical hair conditioner and baby oil. Its the whole supporting cast and crew around me. Its what happens backstage that prepares me for camera.
BF: Do you find that its the younger women that are really attracted to you or is it middle aged women? I tend to think its the cougars.
RR: Eh, I think a little bit of both. Definitely probably the older grown women, I think. Im not a young looking man. I like to think Im a young, spry man but Im 30 now. Ive got a couple of grays in my beard and maybe a little salt and pepper in my hair. If I let my hair down and go through it, youd see a good bit of grays. Maybe from the stress of the road and the crazy business Im in. Yeah, I think that may be a fair assumption. I like to think .. Im not an old man now. Im not losing my touch with, you know, the youth, the hipsters these days. Im not an old man yet. 30 aint bad.
BF: Youre not old at all. What has the adjustment been like for you now having a family? I know you got married not too long ago but you had been with your wife for years before that and you have a daughter. Weve all heard how taxing the wrestling business is, especially when you have a family.
RR: Yeah its tough. Thats the real work, being away from my loved ones, my family, my household. Theres nothing thats hurt any more than being away from my little girl and missing days but Im lucky. This generation is lucky. My father and a bunch of my cousins and uncles, they didnt have the opportunity to use FaceTime or Skype, all these different technologies and advancements that we have. Thats really helped out to kind of close that gap. At the same time, theres nothing like being there in person and real time and experiencing the things you love with your loved one. Its all a part of the process. Im so fortunate that I have such a supportive family and people who understand what Im going through and what Im trying to do for us and they know that its for our family and for our future. Im very grateful for that.
BF: You talk about social media and how much it can help with our lifestyles but it also gives the audience more of an opportunity to be closer to celebrities like yourself and also have their voice be heard. What was it like earlier this year when the crowd response was what it was and some people were coming down hard on you?
RR: It was kind of rough to be honest. Someone my age, we didnt go through the Internet like how it is now. When I was a kid, I was outside sweating and running around. Me and the Usos were tearing up the yard or doing yard work for that matter. We didnt have all these video games and these social media outlets. There werent cameras on every single device that you could think of. So its a little bit different. As an adult, Ive always tried to be a good person my whole life so Ive made good friends and Ive always built great relationships and been friendly with people. I always think what you do to others will come to you so thats how I treat people. When you deal with an Internet situation where all these people are attacking you for no real reason at all. Youre just going out there trying to entertain them, trying to give them something to get outside of their life, to get outside their reality and suspend belief for them. And then for them to attack you for no real reason. Its not like I was trying to hurt anybody. I was just trying to do my thing, make my art the way I want it and have a good time and hopefully it reflects that. Its just one of those things that once its opened up its eye-opening. Its shocking, its hurtful but its just a part of the world. Just like anything else, any other form of bullying that the worlds dealt with, were going to get past it. Strong people are strong for a reason they can hold that weight. God gave me broad shoulders because I can carry that load. It was a shock and awe factor at first but its a lot easier now for sure.
BF: Why do you think it was so vocal? What it simply because youre not Daniel Bryan? What do you think it was?
RR: I think, you know, it has a lot to do with how over Bryan is. To this day hes just a phenomenal performer. I think everybody whos ever been in an arena you dont even have to be in the ring with them you have an appreciation for them. Even if youre not into him, you still have to appreciate him and it was just the fact of what was happening is he was the most over guy we had. He was drawing people and they loved him. And the whole YES movement was on fire. But at the same time, as a company, you have to continue to build other stars and build a future. Im not a believer in that its just one guy. I believe in the team. I believe in having a great cast of good people and strong men around us to maximize the product. It just cant be one person. I think it was a combination of me not being Bryan and just the Internet thing, like all the cool kids were banning against the jock. I dont know. It was weird. But I think it just became a cool thing to boo me and it still happens a little to this day. It blows my mind but Im still going to keep grinding and getting better. Anybody that says I have progressed and gotten 1000% better, youre lying. Youre a bold faced liar.
BF: When it came to WrestleMania, I think a lot of people thought you were going to leave that show as the World Heavyweight Champion. Was it a disappointment that it didnt happen? What was your reaction after that show?
RR: Of course. To not leave WWE World Heavyweight Champion was an absolute disappointment. Yes. But in that same vein, it was the greatest opportunity Gods ever given me. I cant explain to you how grateful and thankful I am to be favored like that. I come from a wrestling family. When Im with my family, Im with workers, people who know this business and have been on the road. To be able to say I main-evented WrestleMania. Within our family tree, to be able to say that at the table, thats big boy stuff. I thank God every single day. Every day I look at my daughter and my wife and the house that we live in and the opportunities weve been afforded. It was the best day of my life but at the same time, thats how important the WWE Championship is. To have the best day happen and still have pain for not winning that, I think it speaks volumes.
BF: Go back to this past weekend at the incident that happened at a show in British Columbia (Canada). You got hit in the head by a Money in the Bank briefcase by a fan (during a match with Bray Wyatt). Did you know exactly what had happened when you got hit with it?
RR: No. To be honest, I thought Bray hit me in the head with the kendo stick. I was about to fire up pretty good and then I saw that briefcase go down. I dont want to bring light to this situation or play it down because it was absolutely wrong. Theres no place for that
but it didnt hurt. If you see the video, once I realized what had happened, you can see I clearly stand up and Im taken out of the moment because Im furious for being disrespected in that manner. It was a plastic replica briefcase. It didnt hurt. The show went on and I think thats the most important thing was to continue doing what we were doing. Myself and Bray set out to entertain Victoria that night and thats what we continued to do. At the same time, the only thing I have to say about that is theres just no room for that. You ruined the show for everybody and when it comes down to it, the dude was 31 years old. Im just going to say he was 31 years old.
BF: I think he got off really light because he didnt even get prosecuted.
RR: I didnt press charges. Our security guy
I was to take this opportunity to thank all of our WWE security. They are world class. This is what its all about. This is right on topic They answered the call. These are the type of people we work with. Were allowed and given such great opportunities to build relationships with former police officers and military and service men. Im just so grateful that I had our security team there and they help me out so much because I go through the crowd, I go through the concourse. For them to have my back like that, I want to thank them for that. Our guy was there. He was there immediately. He neutralized the situation. He was outnumbered for a while but he didnt back down and protected us and I cant think him enough. But theres no point. I didnt get hurt. The guy, I think he learned his lesson. I think he at least got taken in for a night or so. I didnt bleed. It could have been serious. If they guy would have hit me in my eye .. he hits my eye, takes my eye out. If it affects my career at all, the only thing Im asking in a situation like that is to also remember I am an entertainer but I am a provider to a seven year-old little girl, to a wife and the rest of my family, my father, my mother. If you take that away from me, then youre taking that away from me for such a stupid thing.
BF: You mentioned the online auction where people can go to CharityBuzz.com in support of Answer the Call to help the families of fallen New York City heroes. Tell me a little more about it and your direct involvement.
RR: This is just another great opportunity. WWE this is what its all about. This is what the platform should be used for are these types of benefits. Its so unique, its a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Answer The Call. Its all about the New York Police and Fire widows and the children benefit fund. Our servicemen and the people who protect us in our country, they put their lives on the line. They really put their lives on the line. Not for entertainment but for security, for freedom, for piece of mind. We lose people, we lose heroes every single day and they leave people behind. If theres anything we can do to help, to put a smile on anyones face and make someones day better, thats what were here to do. For me, I would love to have the highest bid for this auction. Come and hang out with me backstage at Monday Night Raw, meet a bunch of other superstars. Ill even buy you lunch.
BF: Thats a good deal there. People can check it out online at CharityBuzz.com/WWE, all the various auctions with WWE superstars, some Hollywood celebrities and other professional athletes and you can bid on those auctions. Two other things SummerSlam is right around the corner. Youre going to be teaming with your buddy Dean Ambrose against Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Whats it like being back in the ring with Dean?
RR: Its great man. It amps up the fun. When you have a buddy out there to experience the atmosphere
Dont get me wrong, its great doing singles and controlling the crowd and just milking it up for 30, 35 minutes. But theres just something about team chemistry and team fights and tag team matches. People dont realize it sometimes but the tag team story, in my opinion, thats the best type of match. Its the best story we can tell because people get that. Not everybody knows what its like to get hit by a stick or a chair or go through a table but people know what its like, for the most part, to have a team and want to help somebody. Thats the most exciting thing and to be able to go out there and tell a crazy, hardcore, wild story with Ambrose and the Wyatts, its gonna be an absolute privilege.
BF: Last thing what was it like being backstage a few weeks ago when Seth Rollins smashed John Cenas nose? Were you watching at that point?
RR: I was actually at home taking a few days off. I wasnt at Raw that week but it was funny because Im sitting down on my couch, flipping through the channels and I was like oh, the main event is on, Ill check that out. Literally two minutes after I put the match on, Seth just whacked him in the face with that knee. As soon as I saw it, I was like thats a finish right there. All you have to do is show a replay and thats as devastating a move as any other ones. He definitely has a new weapon in play but if he tries to throw that knee in my face, Ill break his knee with my forearm.
