Tuesday night brings our weekly dose of "Off the Top Rope" on ESPN SportsCenter, and last night (May 17), Jonathan Coachman welcomed back a performer who joined him in December of 2015. Fitting that someone who holds the top prize in WWE and proudly labels himself "The Guy" should be a two-time guest.
His chat with Coach clearly shows the progression Roman Reigns has made between his first and second title reigns of late last year and now, after his coronation at WrestleMania 32. Whether it's having been through those fires that's made him more comfortable, or if his current persona of nice-but-supremely-confident dude is just a better reflection of his true character, this guy is the kind of performer it's easy to see as THE GUY:
I say it for a reason, I'm THE Guy around here. I show up every single day and that's what I do. I bust my butt, I come to work, every single night. This is 52 weeks a year and I'm proud of it. I'm really excited about the responsibility. I'm excited to have my family on the road with me. I have a great support system, an awesome family around me and we're looking to do nothing but make history here.
Not only does he sound comfortable as being the main event for the foreseeable future, he's ready for the other responsibilities that come with his spot, like leading the roster:
When I came in, there were a lot of old dogs here. A lot of guys who were rooted in, and I'm proud of the fact that myself and the other Shield guys came in and we dug them up. Now we put our roots down. And this is my house, this is the way I look at it, this is my locker room, this is my arena right now.
He puts over the talent coming up from NXT, and says he's excited to do business with them. When Coachman asks if Reigns has advice for those just arriving on Raw and SmackDown, the Big Dog does - although some of those haters (who hate their lives) might not like it:
Believe in yourself. That's the most important thing. You're gonna hear a lot of things nowadays, on social media, there's so many different platforms for people to run their mouth... just believe in yourself, know what you're doing, know why you're doing it - and just keep doing it.
A big part of his appearance was to promote Sunday's Extreme Rules show, and the rematch against AJ Styles for Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight championship. The Georgia Tech alum said there was natural friction between himself and the Georgia Bulldogs' fan, but put over their "competitive chemistry".
Even talking about his next main event turned into a discussion of Roman as the face of the company, and how he's dealing with the pressure of the role:
Every night's a different night, and that's the beauty of what we do - it's live. It's "I do this, they react this way" and you can learn a lot from that. Especially when you're thrown in the fire and you get different mixed reactions every night, you have to deal with different psychology and different crowds. So for me, I'm learning every single night and that's why I love this. This is the part of the game I love is learning and progressing and getting better. And that's what I'm gonna do is continue to be the champ, continue to be the guy around here... and as I long as I get better? Can't nobody touch me.
In addition to chatting with Romey, Coach also got to play his own theme music - and give us a stylish recap video of this past Monday Night Raw:
We'll find out on Sunday how THE GUY's latest match at the top of a pay-per-view (PPV) goes, and we'll see how truly secure he is on top when John Cena and Seth Rollins come back in the next month.
But if this interview is any indication, love him or hate him, Roman Reigns is settling in nicely - and that's gonna make him even harder to unseat from the throne.