Roman Reigns will go head-to-head with Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel for the Universal Championship. The story of Reigns and Lesnar has been one of many high storylines of WWE programming particularly with Paul Heyman within the center. But the place will this head to? Before the pay-per-view- the Universal Champion spoke to wwe.com and spoke about what followers can anticipate from the most recent chapter in his rivalry with Brock Lesnar.
“I think the most obvious thing is how the roles have reversed and how the whole dynamic has shifted one-eighty. The direction of where each personality has been, and where it is going, all the way through to the alliance of Paul Heyman – everything has changed with me and Brock.”
“In the past, Brock was probably the most prestigious Universal Champion we have had, definitely in terms of Title reign – but that pales into comparison against what I have been able to achieve in the last year and a half. Being a full-time performer and being able to showcase weekly on Smackdown, and then every month, and sometimes more, being able to defend that Title on every major pay-per-view from the Big-Four down, has made a big difference to where we are both at. A lot of things have changed for me and Brock – but one thing that hasn’t is our physicality in the ring. Brock has done well against me years ago, but anything recently I think I have had the upper hand – and that upper hand lies with me in so many ways.”
On his relationship with Paul Heyman, Reigns mentioned, “Paul Heyman has a very wide skillset, and there is a lot of great behind-the-scenes details he can keep in check. A lot of people don’t get to see the little things he does for a performer, so for me that is something that is now in place and it is something Brock is lacking.”
“There are so many responsibilities and tasks I don’t have to worry about now, the only thing I have to focus on is the battle plan – what is going to happen when I walk out of the curtain and defend the WWE Universal Championship – Paul has everything else covered. I just have to show up and make sure the ring announcer is saying ‘and still’ at the end of the match. But that’s not the same for Brock anymore, everything falls on him.”
Reigns additionally recalled the jaw-dropping second on the Greatest Royal Rumble the place he went via hell with the Beast advert delivered a spear via the cage.
“I feel like I was robbed of the victory on that night. The object was to get out of the steel cage, and I feel like I did all the work to get both of us out – and not only that if we were to review the tape and I had a Special Counsel, a Paul Heyman in my corner, we could have gone back to the replays and took a better look at it. This is another moment that justifies my reasoning for working with someone like Paul Heyman to make sure some of these robberies never happen to me in my career again.”
“Creating a moment like spearing Brock Lesnar through a steel cage in Saudi Arabia, and for me not to come out of that night as the Universal Champion is one of the biggest screw jobs in the history of WWE. Nonetheless, it was an electric finish and the live crowd ate it up, but that is just one of many moments myself and Brock Lesnar can create, and it is what makes people excited when they see a couple of alphas facing off – the measure of destruction, physicality, intensity and that level of energy we bring to table,” he added.
On a few of the new challenges, he faces on Smackdown, the Big Dog mentioned, “My position as the Head of the Table, the Tribal Chief, is a very busy position, especially when you have the likes of Brock Lesnar lurking and dropping in from time to time. There are always going to be crosshairs on me and I will always be targeted – not only because I’m the Universal Champion, but I am the face of the WWE. A lot of people talk about the top guys, well if you round up all of those top guys and ask who the top, top, guy is – it’s me. I’m the flag on top of the mountain. I have to stay within my own process and focus and keep doing what I am doing, and let everyone else try to catch up.”
Watch the Extraaa Dhamaal Show at 8:30 pm (IST) adopted by WWE Crown Jewel 2021 – LIVE on SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil and Telugu) channels on October 21, 2021, from 9:30 pm (IST).