Roman Reigns: I Leaned On The Shield Upon Returning
Roman Reigns talks to his hometown paper.
Former Universal Champion Roman Reigns is fully back in the swing of things following his battle with leukemia that kept him sidelined from October 2018 to February 2019. But upon his return, Reigns was still feeling the effects from the time away and treatment.
Speaking to Pensacola News Journal, Reigns discussed how he’s feeling right now compared to when he first returned.
“Man, I’ve been killing it lately as far as my nutrition and my training so I feel really good right now, but, yeah man, there was definitely that transition getting back, just before (WrestleMania). And I think that’s why you saw me kind of leaning on The Shield at the time, in that very first match back. I mean, it’s live out there, anything can happen, so they just wanted to make sure to kind of keep the training wheels on me for that match, and I was gliding in there. I felt really good with the role I was playing,” said Reigns. “Then we made the next move going into ‘Mania against Drew (McIntyre) and I felt really good there. It gave me a good result. I was able to go in there and kind of feel like my old self and kind of do my thing. Over the past few months now, I’ve really been able to hone in and take my time, work through things, and get my feet down back solid to where I’m rooted in my routine. Everything’s just running on all cylinders now, it’s smooth.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Reigns discussed why he is billed from Pensacola instead of a bigger city in Florida.
“With this job, you do a lot of shows and you just keep going and find yourself in new places. But it’s just something that’s so special about being at home. And like you said, I’m still billed from Pensacola, I was born and raised in Pensacola. No matter where I go I never forget where I’m from and I think that’s why if anybody ever asks how I am in real life, I like to think I’m a pretty laid back, grounded dude and that’s ’cause I’m from Pensacola. That’s just how we do it,” he said. “The generation of people that were around me when I was growing up, that’s how we were. We had fun, we competed, we played all the sports. We were always at the beach. It was just a good upbringing, and I think that’s shown. And that’s why I’ve been so successful because people can trust in that I’ve been a good person and that reflects where I’ve come from.”
Reigns continued, “And so I’m so proud of Pensacola. That’s why I’ve said from day one, regardless of the character, ‘Hell no, I want to be billed out of Pensacola, Florida. I don’t care if it’s not a big city, that’s where I’m from, that’s what people need to know.”
Fightful will have full results from WWE live in Pensacola this Sunday following the conclusion of the event.
