Roman Reigns shoots down talk his historic run should end next year

Whether you’re a fan or a critic of his 27 month-and-counting Universal championship reign (during which he’s now also held the WWE title for almost eight months), your last conversation about Roman Reigns probably involved when and how it should end.

Most fans and observers have WrestleMania 39 circled as a milestone date. If WWE’s dream booking comes together and he faces his cousin The Rock in Southern California next April, that could either be the end of Roman’s reign or his last marquee win before someone else ends it. Or if Dwayne Johnson’s calendar is too full, maybe someone else (Cody Rhodes? Jey Uso? Sami Zayn?) takes the Tribal Chief’s belts at SoFi Stadium, or shortly thereafter.

Don’t tell Reigns or his wiseman Paul Heyman that, though.

In a profile by Jonathan Snowden for The Ringer, both men insisted there’s still a lot of story meat still on the bone of the former Big Dog’s dominance.

Comparing his guy to past WWF/WWE top guys, Heyman makes the case that Roman is just more interesting:

“I would suggest that after two years of television, you knew who ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was. After two years of television, you knew who the Rock was. After two years of television, you knew who Hulk Hogan was. After two years of television, you knew who John Cena was. After over two years of being the undisputed champion, you’re still finding out different layers of Roman Reigns.”

Asked about ‘Mania rumors and general talk he could drop one or both of his belts in 2023, the Tribal Chief outright dismisses the notion. His story, he says, has just begun:

“I’m right in the middle of it. People want these interviews, they want to do these documentaries. But this is the bottom of the third inning to me. We’re in the second quarter of the Super Bowl right now.

“Just wait, man. We’ve done this in turbulent times, through a pandemic, through the biggest change of all time in this business. And we’ve done it seamlessly. We’ve done it without falter. Down the road, 20 years from now when we start giving out all these crazy details of the inside, inside, there’s just going to be even deeper respect for the performances that we’ve been putting on. Man, it’s been a hell of a journey. But it’s only begun. It’s going to get bigger.”

Sami Zayn’s addition to The Bloodline, and especially his & Roman’s tension with Jey Uso (both of which are discussed in Snowden’s piece, which is worth a read for multiple reasons, not the least of which is as our latest reminder of how great Reigns is at doing shoot interviews that are still in character) have added to the story in amazing ways, extending its life in the process. And I’m sure the behind-the-scenes details of pulling of everything we’ve seen since SummerSlam 2020 will be a great tale in its own right. But another year or two of The Head of the Table holding Raw and SmackDown’s top prizes?

Let us know what you think, Cagesiders.