Roman Reigns allowed WWE debutant to call the finish of major pay-per-view match against him
Roman Reigns has been a locker room leader in WWE for a few years now, earning praise from current and former superstars. He even helped elevate several talents, whether or not the company capitalized on them afterward.
One such name is Keith Lee, who spoke about his enthralling encounter with The Tribal Chief at the end of the 15-man Survivor Series elimination match in 2019 — his first bout on WWE's main roster. Reigns left him to come up with the finish, which saw the former NXT Champion lose after a back-and-forth battle.
Speaking on Talk is Jericho, Lee discussed being in the 'final three' stage of the contest with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins:
"Roman left it up to me to call the last bits of me, him, and Seth. Me and Seth had the time, (Roman) was busy, so we kinda put things together. It was weird, coming from NXT and having to do that, but I also felt honored and kind of trusted by those guys to be able to do that. And I think it was odd for Seth to just have to do the favor for me unexpectedly, but graciously he did it and we had a good time doing it." [25:59-26:30]
This will NOT be the last time we see @WWERomanReigns and @RealKeithLee in the same ring.
It was MUST-WIN for #SmackDown, and #TheBigDog made it happen! #SurvivorSeries https://t.co/nh2tTt7swg
The former NXT star also felt that WWE booked him in the match's final stages instead of Tommaso Ciampa just because of his size.
Roman Reigns told Vince McMahon he had a new star after another match in 2019
.@WWERomanReigns turns @WWE_Murphy INSIDE OUT with a ferocious spear! #SDLive https://t.co/rgleH3tRvp
Survivor Series wasn't the first time in 2019 Roman Reigns "made" a star out of his losing opponent. He took on Buddy Murphy two nights after SummerSlam that year, in what was the latter's first televised SmackDown match.
The recent AEW debutant has spoken about how Reigns praised him in front of Vince McMahon after their match. Here's what Murphy said on his Twitch channel, SecretNoMore:
“Roman was all about it. Roman was all to make me in that moment. Roman tried to make a star that night, and I believe he did. He even told Vince after that, he goes, ‘You’ve now got a star.’ But that’s all Roman, man. Roman’s the King.” (H/T Danny Hart of Sportskeeda Wrestling)
Would either Keith Lee or Buddy Murphy have been formidable challengers during Roman Reigns' current Universal Championship run? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Talk is Jericho and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.