Roman Reigns Says WrestleMania Match Against The Rock Is Money

Roman Reigns recently spoke with UK Mirror. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Beating John Cena at No Mercy: It was a huge honor. You don’t really get to face people like John Cena often. He’s definitely a rare breed, we had a lot of heavy things to say to each other building into the match, but I think at the end of the day we both came out of it with a lot of respect for each other, not only for what we do in the ring, but what we do for the company and all the various responsibilities that come with this role. I’m proud to say that I was able to beat an athlete and a competitor, a superstar and a role model like John Cena, especially in hindsight, someone who has been on top of the mountain for 15 years. He said it, it’s not just like he was wrestling at a certain level, he was at the elite level. I don’t think anybody else is going to have a career like John Cena, to be able to hold the fort down for 15 years, it seems superhuman. I’m just really glad I was able to display my skill and my talent in the ring and we had a really great match and I’m very proud of it.

What Did He Learn From Feuding With Cena?: I think I learned that I’m up for any challenge. That was one of the biggest challenges for me and that’s what great competitors do. If I had to lower myself to compete with John Cena, then there’s no point in competing with John Cena. But what he did, like any great competitor, any great superstar, he forced me to step up. As he said, ‘you either step up or you step aside’. I’m very proud to show that I’m able to do these different things. For a long time my strength has always been in the ring and I haven’t had these barn burner promos that everybody talks about the next day. But, I know inside that I’m able to step up. I know what I have ability wise and talent wise and I think that’s all that John was trying to do, he wanted to bring out the best in me and I think he did that and I’m very grateful for that. I think that’s my job, that’s the most important thing about being the top guy, that you lift everybody up, that you bring everybody up to that standard. It can’t be the other way around because if that’s the case, then the whole structure is off. I think he did a great job of lighting a fire under my ass and I think I did a great job of stepping up to the occasion and we made great TV for it.

 Goals For WrestleMania: You know with the history I have with WrestleMania, I’ve been in the main event three years in a row, the only thing I think about is how am I going to be in the main event again. It’s been Godsent, but at the same time it can be stressful, because there really is nowhere but down to go. For me I want everything to be as meaningful and impactful as possible. Really the only way to do that now is to maintain that level of success and maintain that main event level, to go out there in front of the biggest crowd of the year and maintain that main event energy that I show week in, week out, 52 weeks of the year there is no off-season. Anything less than a main event, wouldn’t be a disappointment, because I’m always proud to be part of the biggest live event in the world, WrestleMania, that’s always going to be a great opportunity and a successful day. But when you’ve main evented three WrestleManias in a row, you don’t want to chase anything else but the main event.

Dream Matches, & Possibly Facing The Rock at WrestleMania: Yeah I mean, when I first heard about the match with Cena, I immediately was thinking ‘man, let’s save this, let’s do this at WrestleMania’. But when the time is right, the time is right. But in the same light, I can only see me and Rock going at WrestleMania. Not only because of his schedule, but just the level of that match and the level of superstar that he is and you know, where I’m trying to get. But we also have a deep family tie. We represent the same family tree and having the opportunity to represent our culture, there would obviously have to be a sit down and we would have to express how we feel and the light we want to do this in… because there’s a lot of people we represent watching. The last thing I want to do is make it confusing or anything like that. But at the end of the day, I know it’s a money match. And I’m the guy who is still in the ring, so if someone who isn’t in the ring every single night wants to come back in the ring, we now call it my yard, so he is going to have to come to me and then we’ll go from there. It won’t go down anywhere other than a WWE ring, that’s all I’m saying. If he wants to get it, then I’m not stepping back for anybody.