WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns appeared this week on Sports Illustrated media podcast with Jimmy Traina and responded to Undertaker’s recent claim that today’s stars are “a little soft”.
“I think the product is a little soft,” said Undertaker (aka Mark Callaway) on Joe Rogan Podcast. “Obviously, there are guys here and there who have an advantage over them, but there’s a lot [and] there is not enough substance, I think now. “
“Back then, the guys were also men,” he continued. “You go to a dressing room today and it is very different.
“I remember going into my first real dressing room, and all I saw were some rude men. Half of them had guns and knives in their bags. S — was treated at that time. Now that you enter, there are guys playing video games and —— making sure they look good. It’s evolution, I think. I don’t know what it is, but I like those times, man. I liked it when men were men. “
Earlier this week in After The Bell With Corey Graves, Bill Goldberg supported the Undertaker’s position. When asked SI Media Podcast what he thought of the older fighters’ small talk, Reigns couldn’t help himself.
“We do the same job,” said Reigns. “It’s not like the bumps have gotten worse or better.”
Reigns continued: “You always hear ‘a drop kick was an end in my time’. A dropkick is like the second movement you see in a wrestling match today. We are doing a lot more. And sometimes I think we are much more physical. And as the public saw so much more, we have to do a little more to pique their interest, to show them something different. What we call a fake finish, a pin that people believe will be the final move of a match, we go through those like Steamboat-Savage. You see this in a Smash. You will see 15 false finishes in one Smash.
Is weird. I really feel like he spoke badly. Because Mark is a very good guy. He’s very qualified. Obviously, he has a lot of respect for the company. Goldberg is just Goldberg. Who cares? But he is talking about guns and knives in the locker room. We will. You travel like us. Did you really get these things through security? Was TSA just letting everything happen at that time?
I choose to play video games sometimes in my spare time. I don’t do that at work. As you can see, part of my character is based on that. I have always been a person who worked in a network, did politics and I try to communicate and work while I’m at work. Some guys choose to stay in the locker room. And for guys like New Day who are super talented, they can get away with it. I hope the younger boys in the locker room don’t fall for that because we’re not all the same. I have to put my whole mind to work, because I come to work on a Friday. Sometimes, my wife has to tell me to hang up. She’ll be like, ‘Stop, be home, be present.’ Because sometimes I can’t hang up and I think that to be at the highest level of everything, you have to be almost obsessive. So yes, I don’t always think there’s space for video games in the locker room, but when we’re running our normal tour system and it’s a live event and there’s nowhere to go, you were kicked out of the hotel because you were unable to check out late, you already went to the gym, already got your food and is sitting in the locker room, I prefer that my guys are playing video games than breaking into some kind of bag.
It is a different time and I think we are smarter. I think you will see it from the financial side, of how we save our money, how we prepare for the future, having a life after business when we can no longer fall for our real health. “
Reigns ended his response to Undertaker by saying, “I think it was like a retiree trying to look like a gangster.”
The man nicknamed the Tribal Chief also couldn’t help himself when asked if he ever wished he could have been around during the Attitude Era, when WWE was not a family TV product.
“To be honest, this is going to make good headlines, but it would have been very easy,” said Reigns. “I feel like [John] Cena said that before. It is a challenge to be PG. It is a challenge not to have to take the cheap route. Being able to stick everything in everyone’s ass, do these things, just drink beer – and I’m not taking anything away from the performance and physicality of what they did and the stories they told in the ring – these guys were great performers and great fighters in-ring. But the development of the character was easier. If I could start drinking whiskey and smoking cigars, imagine what my character could be. We could go even further on this mafia boss thing.
It is more challenging what we do now. It’s the facts. That’s why the deal is bigger. That’s why we have a bigger platform now. And this was all due to the work done before us to get us to that point, but at the same time, if we don’t do it the way we do it now, it won’t be like that. That was at a different time. “
In addition to these topics, Reigns also discussed Sunday’s Royal Rumble, the possibility of facing Rock in WrestleMania, if he has any concerns about performing in front of a live audience, what it is like to have two pairs of twins, what he has in common with Tom Brady and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher.