Acknowledge Roman Reigns as the best at house show banter

Roman Reigns is very good at a lot of things.

Keeping the Universal championship. Being central to show-long storylines on SmackDown. Putting on great PPV matches. Blending his real personality and his character in press interviews.

All excellent reasons to acknowledge him as the Tribal Chief of WWE. But not the only ones. During recent house shows, we’ve learned/been reminded of another — he’s among the best at reacting to fans in the moment.

It’s a skill not unlike a stand-up comedian dealing with a heckler (although in these cases, the “heckling” is much more good-natured, as wrestling fans are usually in on the joke when razing heels like Roman). Like this video, which shows Reigns thinking fast when someone leans on his resemblance to Game of Thrones & Dune star Jason Momoa, shouting out, “Roman, I loved you in Aquaman!”

The Head of the Table doesn’t miss a beat (and maybe starts a feud with the DCEU’s Arthur Curry), replying, “It woulda made more money if I was in it.”

The other one that made the rounds this week is decidedly less family-friendly, but no less effective. When King Woods grabs a “Roman Reigns Sits When He Pees” sign from the crowd, Jey Uso handles that. The Big Dog mimes how he actually does it, indicating that maybe his old nickname should have been The Big Hog instead...

These kind of interactions are one of the reasons untelevised live events are so much fun. And these two examples show why we should acknowledge that Roman Reigns is very good at them.