Roman Reigns Says Match with The Undertaker ‘Wasn’t Good Enough’

To say that last year’s WrestleMania main event between The Undertaker and Roman Reigns didn’t live up to expectations would be an understatement.

Though the match was especially memorable, given the way Undertaker left his gear in the ring and walked off into the sunset, from an in-ring action standpoint, it was on the awkward side. Some of it was the Undertaker’s health and hip issues going in. Some of it may have been a lack of chemistry with Reigns.

Either way, Reigns spoke about the match and it failing to live up to expectations during a recent interview with In This Corner, and he was particularly harsh on himself and shouldered the responsibility for the match’s failures.

On whether the match even lived up to his own expectations, Reigns said, “I don’t think it ever could, really. It’s a hard spot for The Undertaker to have such a storied career, to have such a huge list of ridiculously good matches, and to have that respect, and to have that mystique, and to have that reputation as the godfather of the professional wrestling and sports entertainment business. So, everyone’s thought about what it would be like to be in a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania to where you hype it up so much that it’s almost unfair to him.”

What he says makes sense; most everyone in the wrestling business has probably thought about what it would be like to wrestle The Undertaker during a WrestleMania, so when you get the opportunity, how could it ever live up to the expectations that one has in their own mind?

Admitting the match fell short from an in-ring perspective, Reigns continued.

“For me, what made it so hard was how heavy it was. You know, if I wrestled The Undertaker 20 years ago at the beginning or the middle of his career, probably not. But the positioning I found myself in, it just felt really heavy and so much more emotional than I was ready for it to be, so I think that was the hardest thing … but, you know, the coolest thing because I think that just shows the gravity of the situation, the responsibility of the placement [on the card] and just who I was sharing the ring with. And that’s just how special he is.

“I just feel like maybe I wasn’t good enough or maybe it could have been better on my behalf, but I always hold The Undertaker in so high in that regard that I just feel like maybe I could have done better,” Reigns said. “But I enjoyed it. I really learned a huge amount in the ring with him; you know, to being in the ring with him for one singles match and to have it be at that level, to be able to pick something up in just 30-40 minutes from another performer — it just goes to show how good he is.”

It’s easy to understand how someone young in his career like Reigns could have certainly felt overwhelmed being in the situation he found himself in at last year’s WrestleMania. Taking some responsibility for the shortcomings of the match shows how Reigns continues to grow as a performer.

[H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription]