Roman Reigns Addresses Criticism, New WWE Rumors on 946 and TNA Champ Leon Slater

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Reigns Discusses Fan Criticism, Regrets, More

As one of the faces of WWE for well over a decade, Roman Reigns has faced his fair share of criticism, but he attempted to put things into perspective this week.

During an appearance Wednesday on Club Shay Shay with Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Reigns talked about the lighter work schedule he has employed in recent years, particularly in relation to untelevised live events.

Reigns noted that while he regularly worked between 150 and 200 shows per year earlier in his career, it no longer makes sense for him to do that based on the risk of injury and the value lost by the company if he is out of action.

"We're trying to get that back," Reigns said. "I think we're trying to run more live events, and they are good. But we're just at a business model where TV rights are TV rights, and there's just so much money on the line that we got to that point where it's just like, it doesn't make sense for me to do live events anymore. What if I got hurt?

"You know, there's so much money that's riding on Mondays and Fridays and our PLEs now that I can't just go out there and wrestle for, you know, 4,000, 5,000 only, just for those eyes only. Right now, I gotta conserve it."

Reigns also spoke with Sharpe (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) about the infancy of his WWE career and whether he has any regrets from that time.

The OTC acknowledged that the one thing he wishes he did more often back then was speaking up when he didn't feel creative decisions made sense for him and his character.

"I probably would've said no a few more times early on," Reigns said. "But I just didn't have the equity within the company. I wasn't rooted well enough in the main event scene. I was still auditioning. I was still proving myself. I was still earning that equity."

Reigns even mentioned the infamous "suffering succotash" promo he cut in 2015, saying, "This was like 14 years ago, and they'll still quote me for saying 'suffering succotash.' You know what I mean? This was so long ago. It was 12 years ago. I've delivered unbelievable work since then, but still, I'll be tied to that."

The world heavyweight champion went on to say that there are "two or three promos or scenarios, segments, or finishes of a match" that he would change if he could go back in time and do it over again.

Even so, there is no denying the remarkable career Reigns has carved out for himself, highlight by seven world title runs, numerous WrestleMania main events and some of the most memorable matches and rivalries of his generation.

Reigns overcame fan backlash early in his career that might have sunk lesser performers, but he rose above it and established himself as an all-time great.

Backstage Rumors on 946 and Hayes' Inclusion

The 946 stable continued their dominance Monday night on Raw, as they left The Bloodline laying and added another new member.

In the main event of Raw, which pitted Royce Keys, Bronco Nima and Lucien Price against Solo Sikoa and The Usos, The Bloodline felt the wrath of 946.

Carmelo Hayes shockingly joined 946 when he showed up and hit Sikoa with a crowbar. That led to 946 decimating all three Bloodline members, and the show ending with Keys, Nima, Price, Hayes and Jaida Parker standing tall.

According to False Finish, WWE officials are pleased with how 946 has been presented, and they feel the group has "knocked it out of the park" thus far.

False Finish added that Hayes joining the group has been part of the plan since back in July.

On Sunday, speculation ran rampant on social media that Hayes was potentially on his way out of WWE.

That is due to the fact that Hayes blacked out his profile pic of X, along with AEW star MJF posting an old photo of himself and Hayes facing each other in a match on the independent scene:

However, Melo showed up just a day later on Raw, joining 946 and inserting himself into the biggest storyline in WWE.

Per PWInsider.com (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), WWE purposely kept Hayes out of the spotlight in recent weeks and months in an effort to make his surprise appearance more impactful.

Hayes had not competed in a WWE match since the Aug. 14 episode of SmackDown when he lost a United States Championship bout against Baron Corbin.

His absence from WWE programming since then got people talking, but it was reportedly always part of the company's larger plan to align him with 946.

WWE Reportedly Keeping Tabs on Leon Slater

After Leon Slater beat Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship last weekend at Bound For Glory, WWE is reportedly monitoring Slater's situation.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Mukherjee), WWE is interested to see what happens with Slater's TNA contract since it is currently believed his deal is set to expire at the end of 2026.

WWE reportedly feels Slater could either drop the title quickly and leave TNA at the end of the year, or sign a short extension before dropping it a bit further down the line, much like Cruz Montana.

Either way, people in WWE have reportedly long expected Slater to eventually sign with the company upon departing TNA, likely starting with a run in NXT.

The 22-year-old Slater is one of the brightest, young stars in pro wrestling, and he already has a hugely impressive résumé to his credit, having held the TNA World Championship once and the X-Division Championship twice.

Slater also already has some experience under his belt when it comes to working in WWE because of the partnership between WWE and TNA.

In addition to competing in a handful of matches in NXT, Slater teamed with Je'Von Evans against AJ Styles and Dragon Lee last December at Saturday Night's Main Event, competing on the undercard of John Cena's retirement match.

He also challenged Carmelo Hayes for the United States Championship on SmackDown in January.

Since Slater already has some roots in WWE, it may only be a matter of time before he officially makes the leap, just like several other TNA stars before him.