If he wasn’t already, Roman Reigns became the most hated man in WWE the instant he pinned The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. Although Reigns has rehabilitated his image since, the effects of being the one to retire arguably the greatest wrestler of all time still linger today.
The Big Dog recently spoke with The National to promote WWE’s upcoming tour in the United Arab Emirates. It didn’t take long for the conversation to shift towards Reigns historical moment with The Deadman. For the Intercontinental Champion, being Taker’s final match is a concept that is still hard to digest.
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“It was a lot heavier [than expected emotionally]. They teach and prepare you in a lot of different ways in this business when you go through developmental and you are mentored and go through your training. But they never teach you to handle those kind of situations,” he said.
Reigns would admit that as the match approached, he experienced an unexpected shift in perspective.
“The magnitude of retiring the Undertaker and possibly it being of one his last matches. For me it was very heavy. Everything felt very smooth going into it but once we got through that day it was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be and I am excited that it was,” explained Reigns.
Reigns is refreshingly revealing on this subject. Until now, we’ve only heard his kayfabe answers on beating ‘Taker and that usually ends with him unapologetically telling us it’s his yard now. However, The Big Dog keeps it real here and give fans access to what it actually felt like to extinguish one of the best careers professional wrestling will ever see.
At this moment, it looks like Reigns is on track to face the only other mortal man to defeat The Deadman at WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar, at 2018’s WrestleMania 34. With the Undertaker as their common denominator and the Universal Championship on the line, their prospective match in New Orleans can’t get any bigger.
