Roman Reigns Was on Board With the Dean Ambrose Heel Turn and Thinks It Came Off Great, Discusses the Emotions of His Hiatus and Comeback

– Yahoo! Sports recently interviewed WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, who shared his thoughts on the recent Dean Ambrose heel turn that started on the night of his hiatus. According to Reigns, he was on board with the angle with Dean Ambrose turning heel and thought it was great. Below are some highlights.

Reigns on the fear he felt when he announced his hiatus in October: “It’s funny because there were so many different emotions going on but the one that really stood out … was fear. I was insecure about letting people know, I was insecure about how they would react.”

Reigns on the support when he announced his diagnosis: “Once I got the feedback and the level of support that I got, it was a huge weight off my shoulders. I thought ‘God, I wish I would have told people about this a long time ago and not hide it and ball it up inside.’”

Reigns on his comeback speech: “When we got to the comeback speech, I was scared because I wanted it to be perfect and I wanted people to really understand and really feel my gratitude toward the outreach. It was one of those situations where the closer we got, I was getting writer’s block, everything was going fuzzy on me. I couldn’t think straight and I think it was just my nerves. I kept telling myself, when you get out there, you’ll know what to say. Instinct will take over.”

Roman Reigns on Dean Ambrose turning heel the night he announced his hiatus: “That’s where it’s hard. The majority of the time, we’re just factoring in Roman, the character, but who I really am, Joe, was all over that first segment. We really broke the fourth wall down and it was so real it changed the dynamic of the crowd and emotion. It’s like hitting a wall almost in a car wreck, getting that kind of news. For me, as Joe, it was hard to tell, but as Roman, I just thought ‘next man up’ like in any professional sport or form of entertainment, the show must go on. I felt comfortable with that fact that we need to continue to entertain our fans, push these storylines and our product. As long as I was on board with it, it wasn’t going to be tasteless. I think it came off great, it had such a huge impact that night.”

Reigns on his return at Fastlane with The Shield (Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins): “I’m super excited because to have gone through what I have gone through and have the perspective that I have, a lot of my heart is on my sleeve and in what I am doing right now. With the future being a little bit blurry, I just want to take advantage of the three of us being around, what we’ve built, this crazy foundation that we all stand on together. If this is going to be the last opportunity that we have, I want to make the most of it and enjoy it.”

Reigns on being proud of his career: “I’m really proud of the things I’ve done, my career, and the moments I’ve had, but I’m not ready to be done. I’ve achieved stuff in WWE, for this team. With football, I didn’t really put any work in besides Georgia Tech and my college. There was no deep attachment. Even now, with the amount of work I put into this company, it wouldn’t have felt right for me if I was never able to return to the ring and wrestle a match. The comeback wouldn’t be official if I didn’t have this match. The true checking of the box will be whenever that bell rings on Sunday and once we get that match completed I know everything is all good and we’re going to be alright.”