Exclusive Roman Reigns interview: talks Dean Ambrose and The Usos possibly leaving WWE and pours his heart out on fan support during leukemia battle
Roman Reigns has returned to the WWE after battling leukemia and will join his Shield Brothers in a match at Fastlane on Sunday
Roman Reigns is back in the WWE just five months after announcing he would have to step away from the business to battle leukemia for the second time.
This Sunday, Reigns will reunite with his Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to take on Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre at the Fastlane pay-per-view.
Yesterday, Reigns was in Tampa, Florida - his hometown - to announce the destination for WrestleMania 36.
After he did that, The Big Dog took part in a conference call and talkSPORT got to ask Reigns some pressing questions.
Ambrose is set to leave the company after WrestleMania 35 in a move that even the WWE has announced and The Usos - Reigns' real-life cousins - are yet to sign new deals with their contracts up at the end of April.
So does Roman put the onus on himself to convince his closest friends in the industry to stay?
"I think I put a little bit more pressure on myself to be more than just a friend and a peer," Reigns started. "The Usos... obviously they are my family. But Dean is the same way.
"A lot of these guys are. That's what people don't realise, it's not just these names that you know, but I'm so close to so many of these guys.
"All the way from the B Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) to Finn Balor, the Good Brothers - there's so many guys that I'm so close to. Heath Slater - all up and down the card.
"It doesn't matter who you are and what you do for this company, if you're a good person, you care about what you're doing, you're passionate and have fire for it every single day, then you're probably going to be one of my guys.
"That's the hardest part for me. These situations where the business comes up and I'm always for giving advice, giving my perspective and what I might do in that situation, but when it comes down to it this is business and these men are businessmen and they're going to have to take care of themselves and get the numbers and the years on the contracts that they want.
"Obviously, in my locker room, I want the very best performers and young men around me, but I honestly think that's on them to know what's going to make them happy, where they want to be and what's going to bring that satisfaction to themselves," Reigns declared.
"Because at the end of the day, only we know what we want as an individual, as a person.
"But yeah, for me, I can only give them the advice that I would want and that is to be happy and that's what I'll tell them.
"Whatever that entails, do what you have to do to make you and your family happy.
"For me and my family, that's having the same people around me that I've had and that's the hard part is seeing people go.
"But, the cool part is, when people go, some people are introduced. As some old faces leave, we have new faces and new relationships and new bonds and new chemistry.
"Regardless, I'm so close with this locker room, the majority of these guys are going to hear from me when I'm grey talking about the pops we used to get and the towns we used to make!
"That's the most important thing for me, that we all achieve that happiness and we get that closure we need to move on."
It's interesting that Reigns notes that Ambrose and the Usos get the 'numbers and years' they want. That suggests that all three men could yet stay.
Reigns has often had an indifferent reaction from the crowd. However, upon his triumphant return and victory over cancer, WWE fans universally welcomed him back.
After such a turbulent relationship with the WWE fans over the years, we asked the four-time world champion how it felt to get that reaction and he poured his heart out.
"It felt awesome. The reaction ... you can't really predict. You can assume, but for me, at that point, I was just so grateful for the outreach of support from when I broke the news.
"I was immediately insecure about how people would take to it and there's obviously a very certain and particular view of what people look like and how they act and recover to cancer and leukemia, so I had my concerns about just how this story would develop and how people would take to my real life situation, how they would take to Joe.
"At the end of the day, this was real life," Reigns affirmed. "I did not care at all about the storylines.
"The only thing that truly hurt me was having to drop the title because I just put so much time into chasing it - I just wanted it.
"Not only did I want it, but I just wanted to be that champion that I said I would be and I wanted to defend it and put it through its best run that it has had thus far.
"But, at the end of the day, I was more concerned with my real life relationship with the crowd.
"I didn't care what the reaction would be when I got back, I was just happy to be able to share a piece of me and the fact that they were accepting and they were there to kind of cradle me and take care of me and give me that support when I was insecure... I could care less what they do for me out there [in the ring].
"The fact that they were there for me in real life, it speaks volumes to our fans and the people of this world and how we can rally behind each other even if we are indifferent to each other.
"For that I'm grateful and they can react to Roman as much or as less as they want, that's not a concern of mine.
"I'm just extremely proud and extremely grateful for the way they reacted to Joe and the warm love and embracement they gave me and my family.
"To secure us and let us know we're not alone and to not have those insecurities and to not be afraid - that's the only real thing that mattered to me.
"Storyline stuff, character stuff? We'll take care of that, we'll bust our ass to get back on point and get all that rolling, but when it comes down to it, as Joe, I'm just grateful and happy to be here, happy to clock in."
Elsewhere on the call, Reigns addressed how he heard about Ambrose leaving WWE and it turns out he found out just like the rest of us - with no warning from Ambrose.
"First of all, I had to read it through an article or Twitter or something like that, so I didn't really take it too seriously.
"I've always known Ambrose and we've talked about it - he likes to stay unpredictable.
"He likes to march to the beat of his own drum and I know one thing is, he just wants to be happy.
"He's kind of always been preparing to get to a point where he doesn't have to rely on anybody and we've been fortunate enough to have a crazy rollercoaster ride and such a great job over the past few years and we've been fortunate enough to secure ourselves.
"So, I'm not surprised because I know if he wants a break or needs a break he's going to take it and do it his way.
"But, it was a big shock and we still haven't really gotten into it or really talked much about it because since I got back it's been pretty much foot down to the floor, hitting the gas pedal pretty hard. But it's something we're going to have to get into a little more, it concerns me a bit.
"I never want one of my close friends to leave but if he does leave this company, we're still going to be close and talk all the time," Reigns stated.
Reigns was also asked about a potential off-season in the WWE, something that fans have suggested for a while. Reigns gave it his endorsement and is easily the biggest star to do so thus far.
"We do it the way we do it, and I'm never opposed to trying something new.
"This formula has worked and Sports Entertainment is a 'what have you done for me lately' industry.
"Unfortunately, we don't have an off-season like most sports or other kinds of forms of entertainment or competition but, you know, I think if we could make it work, it would give a great benefit to our performers and our fans as well.
"It would definitely give our performers another couple of months if not a full quarter to rest and recover, not only just from a physical standpoint, but creatively.
"When you go year-round, we're always trying to evolve, trying to grow as far as our stories and our character goes and when you're doing it over and over and over it can be tough.
"I think that's what makes WWE and its superstars so tough and it's an accomplishment to get to where we are.
"Only we can handle this and we've proved it, so it's just a part of the gig.
"I don't think it's something that shouldn't be looked into, but if the schedule stays the same I'm gonna be the guy that'll run it."
WWE's business model has always factored in live events and earning from those gates, but with that side of the business down and TV deals now in astronomical figures, the WWE could lighten the schedule. Especially with their big paydays in Saudi Arabia, Australia and so on.
However, the whole point of the new, ultra-lucrative TV deals are that networks are paying for a weekly show that is almost guaranteed to draw between 2.5-3 million viewers. WWE are unlikely to insert a break there.