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What's the story?
Roman Reigns is one of the few WWE Superstars who has appeared regularly on both Raw and SmackDown Live since Vince McMahon introduced the 'Wild Card Rule'.
Speaking to Newsweek, “The Big Dog” gave his honest opinion on the storyline development and explained how tough the WWE schedule could be.
In case you didn't know…
The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up took place over two nights on the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live.
In previous years, the roster changes were finalised for the next year during the Shake-Up, with Superstars assigned to Raw only appearing on Raw and Superstars assigned to SmackDown Live only appearing on SmackDown Live.
This year, however, WWE's men and women continued to randomly show up on the opposing brand in the three weeks that followed the Shake-Up, prompting Vince McMahon to reveal that a new ‘Wild Card Rule’ is in place which enables a limited number of Superstars to feature on the other show every week.
As WWE’s biggest full-time star, Roman Reigns has taken part in several matches and segments with his current rivals – Shane McMahon, Elias and Drew McIntyre – on Raw and SmackDown Live over the last month.
The heart of the matter
Asked how difficult it is to work on both of WWE’s main-roster brands on a weekly basis, Roman Reigns told Newsweek:
“It’s not easy. It’s tough work. It takes special people to do this kind of stuff. I’m cut from a different fabric. I’ve always been someone who can handle this type of workload. To be honest, I feel good. We're all human and we all want to feel needed.”
Reigns, who returned to in-ring action in March 2019 after being diagnosed with leukemia in October 2018, cited the importance of doing whatever he can to help the WWE team.
“If I’m here to help the team and that’s my role, then that’s what I’m going to do. I was out so I wanted to get back and help the team. So if that’s what’s needed out of me I’ll do everything to the best of my ability to get the job done.”
What's next?
WWE has announced that Roman Reigns will face Shane McMahon at the Super ShowDown event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, June 7.
