WWE News: Ric Flair Says WWE Did The Right Thing With Roman Reigns
Ever since the three-man unit of The Shield split in 2014, Roman Reigns was clearly the WWE’s pick to become the company’s next top superstar. However, less than two months into his third reign as WWE World Heavyweight champion, the master of the Superman Punch still doesn’t have the full support of the WWE Universe.
A chorus of boos and droves of Bronx cheers accompany Reigns during his entrances. While Reigns and the company have acknowledged the crowd indifference — primarily by referencing Reigns as not a good or bad guy, just the guy — two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair see’s everything more positively.
The 16-time World champion recently appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast on PodcastOne and, among other things, praised Reigns for his versatility.
“You really don’t know what the crowd is going to do until you go out there through the curtain, right? You can have something all planned out and they’re not going to buy it. I mean, that’s the great thing about having Roman [Reigns]. I think they struggled with him at first, but with Roman, they’ve got the best of both worlds,” Flair said about Reigns’ abilities (H/T to Wrestling Inc). “They’ve got a guy that one day can wrestle Seth Rollins and be the hottest bad guy in the [professional wrestling] business, which that match will be huge when they have it or he can go out and wrestle Hunter and whatever, right? He’s good! Yes, [he is versatile], which is a good thing, I think.”
UP NEXT: @WWE World Hvt. Champion @WWERomanReigns speaks for the first time since @WWERollins‘ return! #RAW pic.twitter.com/9sutxiJsbG
— WWE (@WWE) May 31, 2016
Reigns is currently scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight championship at Money in the Bank against Rollins. It will be his third title defense on pay-per-view since Reigns dethroned Triple H at Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas, Texas. However, in his previous two outings, Reigns retained the title against “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles.
The matches between Styles and Reigns were the first time they ever faced each other, drawing the interest of several wrestling fans. While both matches were mired in controversy — primarily due to the interference of Styles’ friends from Japan, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson — Reigns received praise for having a good match with the athletic veteran.
Flair is among those impressed by Reigns’ evolution as a performer for the company.
“Look at the match him and AJ [Styles] had [at WWE Payback]. Holy cow! What a match. Start, restart, start, restart. And you know, AJ flies around. [Jericho] should know. He works [Jericho’s] style of work, but Roman hung right there with him for 30 minutes.”
Flair adds that while many second-guessed the WWE for pushing Reigns, he has proven himself to the point where fans need to respect his in-ring abilities.
“Roman [has] got legs. It makes him a better performer. You can’t [boo him] anymore. But he just had to work hard to win them over. But the company just proves everybody right. They did the right thing.”
Fellow WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart has been critical of WWE’s handling of Reigns. In past interviews and media appearances, Hart has said that Reigns has been poorly booked and mismanaged by the company.
“As long as this is on MY shoulder, I am THE guy…” – @WWE World Heavyweight Champion @WWERomanReigns #RAW pic.twitter.com/syUH6cBUFr
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 31, 2016
Flair confirmed Hart’s feeling on the matter but noted that former five-time WWE champion is in a good state of mind these days.
“Bret [Hart], I just saw Bret the other day, but Bret was hammering the company for the way they treat Roman. Roman’s as happy as can be. Bret’s fine now too! As long as he can put the Sharpshooter on me, he’s happy.”
[Image via WWE]
