Stone Cold on If Roman Reigns Would Make It in WWE's Attitude Era

In 2017, Roman Reigns only has to share WWE's market with John Cena. But how would he have fared in 1997 competing against The Rock, Shawn Michaels, and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin?

Perhaps no one knows the Attitude Era better than 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. So when SI.com asked him what he thought about Roman Reigns, we're all ears:

"I think Roman is a star and I think WWE needs to continue to go down the path they're going with him. They don't need to flip him heel just arbitrarily to make the fans happy... I think Roman is a star. Now with that being said, is there still room for him to learn and grow? Oh, hell yeah. By leaps and bounds. He's nowhere near where he will be in three or four years. But at this point in his career, with a few not-so-great booking ideas, but also a learning curve on his part, he is where he's at and he's a top guy on that roster and he's still gonna keep improving and he has to because he's not a seasoned veteran."

And for the million dollar question - would Roman Reigns make it in the Attitude Era?

"You put that guy in that line up during the Attitude Era, with that roster of Hall of Famers, guys that have yet to be in the Hall of Fame, holy smokes, I think the guy could've been lights out because the competition was so hot, heavy, and fierce. It was sink or swim. You got a bunch of guys out there with knives and you get in the way and they will cut you, so, I think he would've thrived in the Attitude Era and right now, just with his looks, his size, his physicality, he's gonna be just fine and he's gonna be a big star."

No mistaking those words from Stone Cold - he's digging the Roman Empire. Interestingly, on top of his compliments for Reigns, Austin alluded how beneficial the Attitudes Era roster would be for Reigns. Is he saying that today's supporting cast isn't helping Reigns too much?

We may be reading into that a little, but Roman has had fine opponents in his rise in WWE. Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, and AJ Styles have all been signature feuds. Which compares nicely to his Shield brother Seth Rollins, who was forced to defend his WWE championship against the likes of Kane and a Sting impersonator.

But we digress. One of the greatest wrestlers of all time just said Roman reigns would thrive in the greatest Era of all time. Reigns is a star, ladies and gentlemen, and it's time to stop pretending he isn't.