Hulk Hogan Analyzes Roman Reigns’s “Adapted Old-School” WWE Style

Roman Reigns has redefined the “less is more” concept. Since unifying the WWE and Universal Championships, Reigns has worked a part-time schedule, only popping up for episodes of WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown that build to the bigger premium live events. When he does actually step into the ring, Reigns works a storytelling-based style. Matches begin at a methodical pace, with Reigns and his opponent soaking in the roar of the crowd for minutes on end before ever locking up. This allows the match to crescendo with thought-to-be simpler maneuvers, as standard suplexes and DDTs elicit edge-of-seat near-fall reactions from the crowd.

Hulk Hogan Praises Roman Reigns’s WWE Style

The Hulkster acknowledges the Tribal Chief.

“It takes a really long time to be able to transition and pivot on a dime the way he does,” Hulk Hogan told Sports Illustrated. “That’s how he paints masterpieces you’ve never seen before. He’s working on a whole different level.”

Reigns embodies a concept that former AEW World Champion MJF famously declared in his June 2022 “pipebomb” on AEW Dynamite, where he pointed to the fact that he is the “only guy that makes you feel” and he doesn’t need “a bunch of bulls–t to get you there.” Reigns’s two biggest moves are a spear and a leaping strike, two relatively standard maneuvers that come packed with emotion based on the build-up to hitting them.

These concepts are considered to be fairly old-school, which Hogan recognizes.

“Roman’s dad, Sika, he explained the ABCs of it all to him. Watch his matches and you can tell. You can see it in the way Roman creates emotion, understands how to make the crowd mad, and how he puts people on the edge of their seat calling for that comeback,” Hogan continued. “Roman Reigns learned this all old-school from his dad, but he adapted to the newer era, too. He can do it all. Roman is adaptable to whoever he is wrestling. That’s important. At any moment in time, he can switch gears on you. He’s amazing, and he’d fit in any era.”

Reigns defeated LA Knight, AJ Styles, and Randy Orton at WWE Royal Rumble this past weekend. He is expected to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Cody Rhodes in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 40 in April.