Former AEW star says 36-year-veteran "elevated" Roman Reigns as a wrestler (Exclusive)
Roman Reigns is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation run as the undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Even calling it a once-in-a-generation may not be true, as this is a run that has only been seen in WWE before the late 1980s. A former AEW star and manager believes that Paul Heyman is responsible for elevating Reigns.
Roman Reigns' run as the Tribal Chief began at SummerSlam in 2020, but his heel turn was only fully cemented a few days later on SmackDown when it was revealed that he was aligning with Paul Heyman. He went from just having Paul Heyman by his side to having Jey Uso, then Jimmy Uso, then Solo Sikoa, and most recently, Sami Zayn.
Speaking to Bill Apter on a Sportskeeda Wrestling Exclusive, former AEW star Dan Lambert compared Roman Reigns' struggles between 2015 to 2018 to an up-and-coming MMA fighter who got thrust into a UFC title fight:
"Man, you want to talk about a guy [Roman Reigns] who found his groove. There were certain times where, and I don't know if it was just the learning process when you come in and you're immediately shot to the top. You almost don't get the time to learn all the little tricks in your craft. It's just like an MMA guy coming in there and his first fight is for the UFC Heavyweight title. That's not the way it works. You need to fight lower-level guys and learn how to fight, get comfortable in the cage and get some ring time and then you're not doing a lot of five-round fights until you've done three-round fights." (2:39-3:21)
Dan Lambert said that Reigns has only kept improving and believes that his pairing with 36-year-wrestling veteran Paul Heyman was the reason why he was able to elevate his game so much:
"Reigns just got better and better and better. I don't know if it was the grouping with Paul Heyman and working with him that elevated his game in my eyes. If it was just finally getting that nice, long run at the top where you hit your groove. The stuff he's doing now with The Bloodline, incredible". (3:22-3:40)
You can watch the full video below:
Dan Lambert gave Roman Reigns a flattering rating out of five
The Bloodline has arrived. ☝️
@WWERomanReigns @WWEUsos @WWESoloSikoa @SamiZayn @HeymanHustle #SmackDown https://t.co/09kOJv1wJN
Dan Lambert added that The Bloodline story is the best thing in all of professional wrestling. When wrestling legend Bill Apter asked him to rate Roman Reigns' current character out of five, he gave him a full score:
"I'm going five [out of five]. It's the best thing in wrestling right now, The Bloodline stuff. That's the competition over there! But you got to give credit where credit is due. What's more entertaining than what they're doing now?" (3:44-3:55)
Do you agree with Dan Lambert? Is there anything in professional wrestling now that is better than The Bloodline story? Voice your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!
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