Roman Reigns Talks WWE WrestleMania 32, The Rock, Negative Fan Reaction, More

Despite negative crowd reactions, Roman Reigns walked out of WrestleMania 32 as the new WWE world heavyweight champion and the face of the company moving into the future.

While many fans are calling for Reigns to make a character shift to a heel, WWE officials continued to book him as a top face at WrestleMania against Triple H and then on Monday night's episode of Raw against a group of No. 1 contender hopefuls.

During a promotional tour for WWE’s partnership with Snickers, Reigns sat down with Ring Rust Radio to discuss main eventing WrestleMania 32, what it would take to close WrestleMania 33 next year, whether he would ever consider a match against cousin The Rock, the impact of the negative fan reaction on his psyche and so much more.

In the main event of WrestleMania 32, Reigns managed to defeat Triple H and capture the world title for the third time in his career. Headlining the show in Arlington, Texas' AT&T Stadium marked the second consecutive year Reigns was in the main event of WWE’s biggest show, and he is focused on making it three years in a row.

When asked about what it will take to make it to the WrestleMania 33 main event, Reigns spoke honestly about what he must do to keep himself in a position to be ready for next year:

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I haven’t really let that set in as much as I probably should have because it still doesn’t feel real. The only thing I can really say on it is I feel very fortunate.

I feel so blessed and I hope these last two years aren’t the greatest years I experience in my life, but if they end up being that way, I can’t complain. They have been incredible, wild, and it’s all felt like a roller-coaster ride. I have had a few ups and downs here and there. In the long run, it’s been a lot of great moments, good memories and awesome relationships.

I think the key for me to lock down another year like this comes down to health. If I can stay healthy and go in that ring to perform every single night, then that’s what I want to do. It’s very tough on the body, so the key is to maintain the healthiest body I can possibly keep.

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Reigns has remained relatively healthy throughout his WWE main-roster career thus far, and with WWE officials clearly being behind his character moving forward, there is a legitimate chance he could once again main event WrestleMania in 2017.

One possible challenger for Reigns in the future could be The Rock. The two men are related and have worked together on screen and behind the scenes in the past, and the idea that they could come face-to-face in the ring has many wrestling fans intrigued.

Reigns spoke before WrestleMania about The Rock and facing off against him:

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We haven’t spoken too much about wrestling each other. We speak, and I do see him quite a bit. We usually exchange different ideas, share different tips and advice. If I do win on Sunday, there are only a couple of people I want to see ,and that would be my wife, daughter, mom and dad. It would be my immediate family. If he comes out there I might be on high alert, and he might get it too.

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As the WWE Universe witnessed at WrestleMania 32, the fans in attendance did not want to see Reigns walk out of the event with the world title. While some fans will argue that any reaction is a good reaction, the chorus of boos was overwhelming.

Reigns understands the crowd reactions he has received in recent weeks but wants to remain true to himself first and foremost. When asked about the negativity, Reigns remained steadfast in his stance:

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That’s the beauty of this business, is that it’s changing and evolving. The crowd, the company, the business, the stories, everything is different now.

It makes it that much greater of an opportunity to become that much better of a performer. It helps when it’s that tough and that big of a learning curve. It’s intense, and you have to have that urgency to learn. I think that’s what makes us better and makes a great performer overall.

Dealing with tough crowds has helped me, and I am grateful for it. It’s not the perfect situation as far as receiving cheers and things like that, but it is the perfect situation to learn and get better with.

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On the episode of Raw following WrestleMania 32, Reigns embraced the hate from the fans more than before and played off it, possibility indicating a shift in his character. He may not be turning heel, but WWE would be wise to embrace the negative reactions and book Reigns as a wrestler who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him.

WWE officials obviously have faith in Reigns, as he has now been in the main event of back-to-back WrestleManias, but ignoring the crowd reactions is a foolish way to handle a Superstar they are looking to cast as the future face of the brand.

As a quintessential tweener who battles good guys and bad guys without changing who he is, Reigns could become a wrestler hardcore fans will want to support.

After the reaction at WrestleMania 32, it’s clear that change in some form or fashion is necessary.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player above (some language NSFW).