During a recent international media conference call, “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns talked about facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 earlier this year. Below are the highlights:
On facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33:
“It was a great honor. We have a whole new generation here. We have a young generation of talent coming up and it’s going to get to a point one day where there’s only a handful of us that can say yeah, I’ve been in the ring with John Cena, I’ve been in the ring with Randy Orton, I’ve been in the ring with the Undertaker, with Shawn Michaels, with Kurt Angle, with Triple H.
There’s a lot of young guys who are never going to have that experience and are never going to have that opportunity to learn from being out there with guys like that.”
On turning The Undertaker WrestleMania record to 23-2:
“Being in the ring with the Undertaker, I was able to feel that respect for the business from him. I was able to feel that responsibility and also to see that weight lifted off of him. That was one thing that was really neat, but it was semi-concerning.
The times that I’ve wrestled these legends, these guys who have plugged in all this time, you could see a sense of relief on their faces after the match. They could finally take a breath for once. And for me, I know that’s quite the responsibility.”
On his crowd reaction:
“I like to feed off of whatever they give me. Each night I look at it like I’m dealt a new hand of cards and I’m going to play them the way I play them.
I don’t say it much anymore but it still holds true: I’m not a good guy, I’m not a bad guy. I’m the guy. That’s why I think I’ve progressed so fast and become a veteran in the ring, because I’ve heard all of these reactions, I’ve had to learn from them night in and night out.
It’s not just at WrestleMania or SummerSlam or at these big pay-per-views; it’s in the smaller towns in front of 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 opposed to 101,000 people.”
On hopefully reaching The Undertaker’s level one day:
“He’s allowed himself the opportunity to take the ball and run with it, and garner all of that attention and all of that respect, and have people appreciate that. I just hope I can one day be on that level.”
