Roman Reigns gave his two cents on the Jon Moxley vs. Bully Ray situation while giving an interview on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast on Wednesday. In case you missed it, Moxley made his return to AEW television last week after checking himself into rehab for alcohol last October. And while he return speech was well-received, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray then went on Busted Open Radio and argued Moxley should have made some sort of apology to the fans for his absence. The take was blasted online, most notably by Moxley’s wife Renee Paquette, and while Reigns wasn’t nearly as critical he also argued there was nothing for his old Shield brother to apologize for.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I didn’t see the actual take from Bubba, but I’ve seen some of the responses to it,” Reigns said. “I look at it in kind of both perspectives. I understand what Bubba’s saying, only because I’ve been in these systems and worked for a billion-dollar promotion in the WWE and Bubba has too. And these are some of the mindset of kind of the direction that you can some of these situations. At the end of the day we are performers, we’re entertainers and we want to be there for our fanbase. We continued through a pandemic. Obviously it’s a business, we’re all trying to make a living, but that’s what makes our product special, for pretty much any promotion there’s no season to it. So we try to give our fanbases as much as we can.”
“I can see where he’s coming from, but I think in this day and age to where there’s not too much kayfabe — I might be one of the most kayfabe performers out there now — there’s so many cracks to see through, the blinds to peak into the backstage now (are open), there’s so many people getting rumors and info and breaking this stuff,” he continued. “But I think in this day and age, especially with how much awareness there is for mental health and taking care of yourself and prioritizing you, I don’t think he (Moxley) owes anybody an apology. I think the fact that he was responsible enough to do what needed to be done and also not shy away from it, to help other people — because you rarely talk about those people that are just 100% inspired and motivated by what Mox did — and having that brutal honesty with himself and everyone for that matter, I don’t think he owes anyone an apology.
Moxley returned to in-ring action this past Sunday at The WRLD on GCW. Reigns is scheduled to defend his WWE Universal Championship this Saturday at the Royal Rumble.
