<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Royal Rumble did not go as planned for Roman Reigns.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt was a lot worse than I expected,\u201D admitted Reigns. \u201CWith the internet and social media, I had a pretty good hunch it was going to go the way it did, but just not as much as it did. It seemed like a movement where Philly plotted against me for like a month, and it definitely left an impression. But I think I can say thank you\u2013I\u2019ve gotten better because of it.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reigns, speaking on behalf of WWE\u2019s \u201C&lt;strong&gt;Answer the Call&lt;/strong&gt;\u201D initiative benefiting the New York Police and Fire Widows and The Children\u2019s Fund, opened up about his career, as well as how grateful he is for the opportunity to give back.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200B\u201CPeople call us heroes, but we are nothing compared to our police force and fire fighters and everybody who protects us and makes sure our freedom is held to the highest standard,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CIt\u2019s a great opportunity and I\u2019m proud to have the WWE be a part of it.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The online auction allows a chance to bid on meet-and-greet opportunities with John Cena at a Monday Night Raw, \u201CStone Cold\u201D Steve Austin during a taping of his podcast, and even a head-to-head meeting with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt\u2019s such a great deal, and I just feel like the timing is perfect,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CSummerSlam is right around the corner, we\u2019re going to be taking over New York, and this is our home base. The history of our company goes hand-in-hand with New York, and it\u2019s such a great deal to help out the real heroes.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reigns had no problem discussing the highs and lows of his career, starting with this past January. As the boos reigned down upon the ring at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Reigns \u2013 whose real name is Joe Anoa\u02BBi \u2013 was simply a man disappointed he did not deliver on the biggest stage possible.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThis is art,\u201D said Reigns, who played college football at Georgia Tech and was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. \u201CIt\u2019s not like it\u2019s Week One of the season and we\u2019ve got to go out and play good defense and run the ball. We\u2019re telling a story.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CAnd I get it\u2013people want the Super Bowl today. But, in football, you have to do Week One and then Week Two and get to Sixteen, and then start talking about the playoffs. But we don\u2019t have a week off [in wrestling]. This is 52 weeks a year. If we\u2019re just throwing out pay per view matches every single night where we\u2019re going crazy, then what are we doing?\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fans revolted against Reigns\u2019 manufactured push to the top of the card at WrestleMania 31, but his body of work in the squared circle has been excellent ever since. His matches with Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, and the Big Show at Extreme Rules were three very different matches with high-paced action and incredible storytelling.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201COur fanbase is so hardcore and smart, and knows the history,\u201D said the 30-year-old Reigns. \u201CIt\u2019s almost like the underground in rap music. There is always the underground rapper people enjoy, and you want to see him come up. That\u2019s kind of how it is in wrestling. There\u2019s a lot of guys on the indies with the tight following from those hardcore fans, and this is that time for me to build to that respect and let people know I\u2019m here to win, I\u2019m here to kill it every single night.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Along with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, Reigns immediately captured the imagination of WWE fans upon his debut in November of 2012. The three men formed \u201CThe Shield,\u201D and worked seamlessly together as wrestling's self-appointed \"Hounds of Justice.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200BOnce the faction split after WrestleMania 30, Reigns continued to grow in popularity until an incarcerated hernia sidelined him from September to December. Upon his return, he struggled to regain his momentum and failed to connect with the hardcore fanbase.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reigns won the Royal Rumble and seemed destined to capture the world heavyweight championship at WrestleMania 31, but WWE Universe had spoken\u2013and Vince McMahon listened. A week before 'Mania, former Shield partner Seth Rollins was instead chosen to win the championship at WrestleMania.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt broke my heart to lose,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CWrestleMania was the best day of my life, the greatest opportunity I\u2019ve ever been afforded, but at the same time, no one wants to lose the main event for the WWE world heavyweight championship.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIf you watch the shots between me and Seth, after the 1-2-3, you can see on my face how emotional I was and how overwhelming it was. I\u2019m a competitor, and I want to win every single thing I do.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200B\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reigns will be competing at SummerSlam with former Shield partner Dean Ambrose against the Wyatt Family. He has embraced the opportunity to work again with Ambrose, but does miss the brotherhood he created traveling with both Ambrose and Rollins.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt\u2019s a bit of a double-edged sword,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CSeth was really big on CrossFit. I\u2019m not, but Dean and I just go with the flow and try new things. To be honest, I didn\u2019t really like it because a lot of the functional moments reminded me a lot of my football training, and I was completely over that.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CBut I\u2019ll admit I miss that comradery with all three of us in the gym. We were just drenched \u2013 the sweatiest guys on earth \u2013 a couple hours into a good workout. That was a cool feeling, and that\u2019s what I miss the most.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;WWE\u2019s \u201CAnswer the Call\u201D auction is also allowing fans the chance to attend the season finale of WWE \u201CTough Enough\u201D and meet Daniel Paige and Daniel Bryan.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps unbeknownst to the WWE Universe, Reigns considers Bryan a very close friend.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200B\u201CBryan is the best,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CIf anybody says any different, they\u2019re an idiot. You can learn anything from him. I got to work a lot with him with the Shield\u2013that was like the band with those six man matches [against Bryan, Kane, and Ryback], we were doing those every night. So I had plenty of chemistry and experience with Bryan.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe is such a journeyman with so much experience, and that\u2019s a key ingredient to what we do\u2013just logging in those man-hours. Bryan is a journeyman, and he\u2019s one of the few that we have, with Seth and Dean also in that category. He\u2019s just so smart. He has a great take on everything, and he doesn\u2019t just think about his product. He thinks of the grand scheme of things in the WWE world, and he\u2019s a privilege to be around, not only in the ring but also as a person. The last European tour was a great tour, sitting on the back of the bus with Bryan in a conversation for an hour-and-a-half covering everything under the sun\u2013we talked about from evolution to lotions to how to treat swelling. He has so much knowledge on life. I feel very blessed to made a friend with Daniel Bryan.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[youtube:https://youtu.be/-V2eYX3xySw\u200B]\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another critical voice for Reigns behind the scenes is that of Paul Heyman. The two verbally sparred with one another on the road to WrestleMania, and Heyman worked with Reigns behind the scenes so he could better connect with the crowd.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe\u2019s known me since I was just a little guy, when I was glued to my dad\u2019s leg backstage,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CBefore I even got to that point [in the buildup to WrestleMania], he\u2019s definitely been a help.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reigns was quick to name the qualities that separate Heyman from nearly everyone else in the world of wrestling.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt\u2019s his knowledge, a lot of wisdom, and he\u2019s got some cowboy to him, too,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CYou can\u2019t replace experience, and the time he\u2019s logged in this business is irreplaceable. He\u2019s seen damn near everything under the sun with what he\u2019s done in front of and behind the camera. There\u2019s so many different facets to this business\u2013it\u2019s not just hip tosses and body slams. This is chess, and in no way is it checkers, and I think that\u2019s what sets him apart.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reigns has a lot left to accomplish in the business of professional wrestling. Beyond his current feud with Bray Wyatt, he wants to make a return to the world heavyweight title picture, and the thought of a triple-threat between the Shield at a WrestleMania still lingers in the back of his mind.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI\u2019m about building the future,\u201D said Reigns. \u201CI\u2019m about building a huge crew. When the business was the most successful, there was a whole gang of top guys making a lot of money, so the bigger our crew is and the more competition we have, and if we can create the stiffest competition from within the company, that is how we\u2019re going to go to the next level.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In order to accomplish his goal, Reigns admitted that staying healthy is his top priority.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIf I can stay healthy, then I can wrestle every single week,\u201D he said. \u201CI want to make every single town that I can, see the whole world, feel every crowd in every arena, and pull those emotional strings. I can\u2019t explain what it feels like to be in the center stage connecting with thousands of people, but I\u2019m having the best time doing it.\u201D\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong &gt;Justin Barrasso can be reached at &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JBarrasso@gmail.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong &gt;. Follow him on Twitter &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong &gt;@JustinBarrasso&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong &gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/08/12/roman-reigns-daniel-bryan-shield-paul-heyman>