Roman Reigns talks WrestleMania 32, reactions from the crowd and more

Ahead of one of the biggest nights of his career, Roman Reigns sat down to talk WrestleMania 32 and a few other topics

This Sunday night WWE WrestleMania 32 will be taking place, and for the second year in a row, the man in the spotlight of it all is Roman Reigns. Once again, Reigns will be stepping into the ring on the grandest stage of them all to challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, a task that he was unable to accomplish last year thanks for former Shield mate Seth Rollins, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to close the show.

Last year Roman was in the main event for the first time in his life, something that had to be highly difficult to prepare for. But with this being his second go-around being in the spotlight of the title match, is his demeanor in dealing with it all a little different?

“It’s been a little more calm this year,” Reigns said. “Last year I had a lot on my plate, I was filming and doing a lot of different appearances all the way until two weeks before we got to San Francisco. So this year, it hasn’t been quite as much. My schedule’s been a little more wide open, and I’ve had a lot more time to just relax and focus and mentally prepare for Sunday.”

Roman had quite the opponent last year for his first WrestleMania main event in the imposing, hard-hitting Brock Lesnar. This year, however, he’s been working a program and will be stepping into the ring with one of the savviest ring veterans on the planet right now, Triple H. Two very different opponents like that mean two very different experiences from one year to the next.

“It’s been a great learning experience,” Reigns noted. “Anytime you’re in that top tier fighting for that WWE title, there’s always something to learn, there’s always different things that we experience. We’re on live TV, so there’s always something that you can learn and hold onto for the next time. For me, it’s been a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t want to be in any other program in the world.”

When it comes to Reigns, you can talk about the excitement of working the WrestleMania main event and his dance partner inside the squared circle, but you also can’t ignore that his crowd reactions on a weekly basis are split, to say the least. He doesn’t get the solid reactions of a traditional babyface in the pro wrestling world. So, how does he take that all in stride?

“As long as they’re loud,” Reigns said. “And that’s one thing that I can typically say is when I go out there, whether it’s good, or bad, or mixed, it’s still very loud. So as a performer and someone who’s performed all over the world now, I know I have fans, I know I have supporters. I’ve seen them, they’ve traveled worldwide to come see me and watch my matches.”

Reigns then channeled his past athletic accomplishments, comparing the crowd reactions to those that football teams get home or on the road.

“I’m a former football player as well, so I’ve played home games and I’ve played away games and that’s how I look at it. On a Monday you might hear loud boos but on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it’s very loud cheers. You gotta take what you get and hope for the best.”

While the former Shield enforcer has a big job to get ready for on Sunday, he’s still a fan of the business overall and seems pretty excited about other matches on the card as well, aside from his own with Triple H.

“I’m looking forward to a bunch of them [matches],” Reigns said. “I mean, I have family in the Usos, they’re taking on the Dudleyz. So I’m really looking forward to that; I’m super proud of those guys to be on the main show at WrestleMania, competing.”

Of course, it’s no secret that he’s very interested in what his best friend Dean Ambrose is doing as well.

“I’m really looking forward to Dean Ambrose’s match with Brock Lesnar and their Street Fight. That’s gonna be brutal and you’re not gonna wanna take your eyes off that one. You really don’t know what to expect, this thing [WrestleMania] gets bigger and bigger every year.”

One person who will be in attendance on Sunday night for the amazing festivities in Dallas is The Rock, the cousin of Reigns. With no one really knowing at the moment what he’ll be doing on the card, is there a chance that he’ll be out there in AT&T Stadium with his family?

“He’s gonna be there, I know that for sure because Rock hasn’t missed a WrestleMania in a few years now,” Reigns said. “But I’m not gonna say he’s there with me. But he will be there.”

When Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose made their debut back in 2012 as the Shield, one of the aspects that made it seem like a big deal was the fact that these were three guys from NXT who were being shot right to the top of the card. However, since their debut together, NXT has grown from being just a “developmental” system to pretty much a third brand for the company and one of the hottest things in all of wrestling. Is there anyone from NXT right now that catches the eye of the man who very well could be WWE World Heavyweight Champion after Sunday? Maybe someone he’d like to work with specifically?

“You know, I think all those guys,” Reigns said. “I know a lot of those guys, and I was in developmental when a lot of those guys were down there. But I think you always have to start at the top, and you gotta go at the champion. Whoever the champ down there is –and I believe it’s Finn Balor– they’re gonna be the most prepared, they’re gonna be the most well-rounded superstar, so they’re gonna be the one ready for the jump first.”

Eventually, though, Reigns will more than likely have no choice but to face off with the plethora of talent that’s down in NXT right now.

“At the same time, in 5-6 years, the whole roster is gonna be made up of former NXT guys,” Reigns added. “So I think that’s something that the company and my opponent Triple H can be very proud of.”

Really, though, no one can deny that the success of The Shield so early in their main roster careers gave the company a lot of faith in how the developmental system actually works.

“We had a nice build-up of talent, and you’ve seen it over the past two years now, and I think maybe we gave the higher-ups a little more faith in what was going on down in developmental. We came in and made such a large impact and just kept running with it, and I think that opened up some opportunities to put some faith in the youth of our locker room.”

Outside of all the hectic aspects of the wrestling business, it’s well-known that Reigns has a family that he adores very much, especially his young daughter. So, how does she handle Daddy being the big star that he is?

“You know, it’s funny because she doesn’t really put it over that much,” Reigns said. “I’m just her Dad you know, and she just wants to talk to me, that’s the only thing she cares about is if I pay attention to every little word she’s telling me about. She’s a crazy little girl so it’s dolls, and she’s like the mother of all these little Barbies. You go into her room and there’s these Barbie fantasy dream houses, all kinds of things. But she loves it and that’s the hardest part, as she gets older she’s starting to understand the time that I’m gone. Now that she’s on her own schedule being eight, going to school and everything, she understands like the week now a lot better. Now it’s not ‘Oh, Daddy will be home Wednesday,’ now she knows there’s all the different days I’m not there.”

WWE WrestleMania 32 begins Sunday night with the pre-show at 6:00 p.m. ET on USA Network and the main show, where Reigns will face Triple H for the ultimate prize, will get kicked off at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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