Interview: Roman Reigns comments on facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania, becoming Intercontinental Champion and WWE India
Roman Reigns is a busy man. Even when he's not defending the Intercontinental Championship that he won from The Miz, he's touring the world.
In addition to giving it his all in the ring, Reigns is also a man who does a lot of media, around the clock. Always gracious, always polite, he answered a few of our questions, ahead of his second trip to India.
Q. How did it feel to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania?
A: It was heavy. You know, I always say, they teach you, they prepare you in a lot of different ways when you go through developmental, when you're being mentored, when you're going through training. But they don't ever teach you how to handle those types of situations.
You know, the magnitude of retiring The Undertaker, possibly being one of his last matches. For me, it was quite heavy. Everything felt very smooth and good, going into it. And you know, once we got to that stage, it was a lot more emotional than we thought it could be.
I'm proud and honoured to be a part of his career, and to be the last chapter in his book. Just very grateful that I got to work with him, learn from him and especially for this new generation, there's not many of us that can say we did that. So, it's cool to be in that group.
Q. What did it mean to become The Intercontinental Champion?
A.: It was extremely important for me. Not just a checklist of holding all the titles, working towards the grand slam achievement, but just the fact that it is known as the 'workhorse title'. That title has been known to be present at every single TV, every single live event.
I don't care who I'm wrestling. As long as someone's willing to get in there, compete and push me, I believe iron sharpens iron. If you want to get in there with me, just be willing to step up. That's the thing. I'm a fighting champion.
The most important thing is that I keep the standard of that championship tip-top and defend it like the champion I am. So, if anybody wants it, get in line.
Q. How proud are you to become a Grand Slam Champion, in such a short period of time?
A.: It's really neat. I'm so driven at this point that it feels really good, but I still know that there's another out there. Even though, with the new generation, the new era, you can switch it up due to creative and storyline but that Universal Championship is still very important to me.
Right now, the most important thing and priority is to represent this Intercontinental title. That's my goal, to make it 'the' title, not only on RAW, but in WWE. It's what everybody wants to see. Everybody wants to see Roman Reigns defend the IC Championship. That's what I want. That's the reputation of this title.
Q The Shield will be facing Cesaro, Sheamus and Samoa Joe at WWE Live India. What are your plans for the match?
A.: Well, I don't want to give away too much because we plan on winning. The Shield's going to go out there and do what The Shield does. Throw a bunch of fists and we're going to come out on top, because we're the better team.
That's the thing you know. We're one of the best teams ever to have been formed in the WWE. Even though we've had our troubles in the past, when we come together, nobody runs on all cylinders like us. We're the best.
The Shield's going to come to India and dominate. No doubt.
Q. Do you have any special message for the Indian fans, and what they can expect?
A.: I just want to say, last time I came, they were excellent. I felt that, it was real. I felt goosebumps being there, it gives me goosebumps thinking about it right now. I just want to say thank you for the way they received me last year.
We're going to come there and we're going to give it our all. That's all we can do. It's going to be a great show, and I hope they can enjoy it. We're looking forward to it. Can't wait to get there.
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