Over the past few months, wrestlers both in and out of the WWE have voiced their frustration with the company’s creative process. Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose) stated it was “killing” the company. Batista described it as being “worse” than when he was with the company five years ago. Even this week Paige voiced her anger over her new tag team, Asuka and Kairi Sane, not getting an time on television.
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But not all of the public comments have been about doom and gloom. While promoting his upcoming role in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and the tie-in promotion with Brisk Iced Tea, former WWE Champion and multi-time WrestleMania main-eventer Roman Reigns spoke with ComicBook.com about the advice he gives wrestlers who are be upset with how they’re being used on television.
Simply put, it’s about putting the work in.
“Everybody just wants to be in that [top guy] position,” Reigns said. “But people forget about the grooming period. People forget about the equity and the building of grassroots on TV, and also the audience that we’re in front of. People, they can forget that I’ve been on television for years now. Every week, your really … the day in age we are content heavy society and there is just so much. … So we’re competing with all of that. So you have to consistently remind them of what you are and who you are and what your doing. I feel like some people just feel like, ‘Hey, I’m going to become a big star tomorrow.’ It doesn’t work like that. So you have to really show that you have [the equity with fans].”
“[John] Cena’s a prime example of a guy before me that [the company] was built around him in a certain sense. But it took him a long time, a lot of equity,” he continued. “He had to drive that car many many times with somebody in that passenger side watching him before he was able to just get the keys and drive and go wherever he wanted. You have to really put your time and show everybody that they do count on you. And that’s exactly why I’m against people being ‘ahh, I’m just going to go up there and perform, and I’m just going to go tell my story and then it’s done.’”
On top of being able to put in the work and prove that you can perform at a high level on a consistent basis, Reigns said wrestlers also can’t be afraid to be unselfish about selling for other members of the roster.
“That’s what I tell young performers, don’t be scared of the promised land,” Reigns said. “Go through these humps and lumps and trust the brass and then all of a sudden your going to find yourself in a very cool place. Your going to find yourself extremely happy. Take everything you had always hoped was true. I will confirm, we’ll always be your family.
“Just follow the process unscathed, stick to you guns, keep you head down and work really hard and you’ll find yourself on the other end,” he continued. “You’ll be very happy and very glad that you stuck it out. There are some frustrating times, there are some spots wish you could bang you head on the wall but you just get through those I guarantee you will be happy on the other side.”
