Roman Reigns Discusses the Challenges of Portraying Akuma in Street Fighter

WWE Superstar and World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns recently spoke to Men’s Health to discuss his career, his starring role in the new live-action Street Fighter movie, and more. During the interview, Reigns spoke at length on the challenges and process of becoming Akuma in Street Fighter. Below are some highlights:

On What Was Tougher Between Training for Football, WWE, and Street Fighter

“I would have to say the football training was the hardest and the most intense, but I was also my youngest. As I’ve gotten older, training for wrestling in the WWE, it’s not easy at all. But with wisdom you get a little smarter. You learn how to handle things and adjust things. I would definitely say I was much stronger [at Georgia Tech], because I was a bigger human and a younger human at the time. But when you couple the lifting and the conditioning of football, it’s pretty wild.”

On the Challenges of His Training To Portray Akuma

“I got lucky because Akuma…his physique is kind of bodybuilderesque. He’s a big brother, so he’s very muscular. That helped me out, to kind of stay in my regimen. But when you add in the martial arts, the fighting disciplines…you have to be able to have your legs in a sumo squat, but then you can pop up on your toes and also hit a unique pose with your arms. There’s so much isometric work in that. There’s so much to that body control, almost like a ballerina type of work. And the footwork was pretty extensive.”

If There Are Any Exercises He Used for Street Fighter He’d Still Use Now

“There were a lot of parallels for me to be able to transition. I mean, they’re obviously different things you’re asked to perform, within wrestling and within martial arts. But the physical disciplines are a bit adjacent to each other, where it wasn’t as big of a gap for me to figure out. The fact I’m in professional wrestling helped, but [martial arts] is still its own rite. It really makes you go back and look at all of the great martial artists: Jason Statham, Chuck Norris…all these guys who were able to do all these stunts and movies and have it be so good.”

On the Crossover With Training

“The crossover is huge, because we want to look like we can save the world. There’s that fine balance, where you want to look that part. But if that movement, that physicality, that athleticism is not there, it will take people out. [The audience] won’t be able to get lost. There will be no escapism. That’s the most important thing about being well-rounded. You can see when guys have a super strength over here, but then there’s a deficit here. But then they’re good here, but they don’t have all the tools sharpened. It’s important to have both those tools.”

Street Fighter, starring Roman Reigns as Akuma and Cody Rhodes as Guile, hadokens its way into theaters on October 16. Six days earlier, Reigns will defend his World Heavyweight Title against his rival, LA Knight, at WWE Money in the Bank.

WWE Money in the Bank, featuring Reigns vs. Knight, takes place on Saturday, October 10. The premium live event emanates from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. It will air live on the ESPN App in the U.S. and on Netflix internationally.