Last week at Extreme Rules, A.J. Styles participated in his second-ever WWE main event, once again challenging Roman Reigns for the Heavyweight title. It was a great match, not to mention a continuation of an ongoing feud between The Club and The Bloodline. Recently Styles had a chance to sit down and be interviewed for Rolling Stones magazine, where he discussed working with Reigns.
Underestimating Reigns
Styles stated that fans underestimate Reigns and that he’s a lot better than the fans realize. Here is the full content of what Styles said during the interview on the matter of working with Roman Reigns:
“Absolutely. I think he's a better athlete than a lot of people realize. He should get a lot more credit for his athleticism. He's unbelievable, he can do a lot of stuff. I think he's been able to showcase that with me. We're doing something right – I don't think people gave Roman a chance; in fact. I think a lot of fans jumped on the bandwagon when someone started booing, instead of taking the chance to see what he could do in the ring.”
A.J. Styles himself is a highly talented wrestler. From Total Nonstop Action to Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro, Styles is known all around the world and has fans everywhere. He has made a name for himself in the wrestling business and before coming to the WWE, Styles would be given the same question as did Sting. Will he ever compete in a WWE ring? Of course Sting no longer needs to be asked this question as he is now a retired WWE wrestler and Hall of Famer. Styles too made his way to WWE.
A.J. Styles isn’t wrong with his thoughts of Roman Reigns. Fans haven’t really given Reigns a chance before booing him. Yes, it was a rough start to his singles career after the implosion of the Shield, but Reigns has come a long way since then.
Improvements have been clear
For starters, Reigns is very intelligent and does assess the situation. Reigns came up with his Drive By signature move after looking at ways he could use the ring to his advantage. The Drive By is essentially a drop kick but has the opponent getting hit from being draped over the apron, which means Reigns doesn’t have to jump as high as he would for a regular drop kick. Also, who else in wrestling uses a Superman Punch?
Coming up with wrestling moves isn’t everything in the business but Reigns has been working hard to get over with the fans. There’s truth to Styles comment about fans jumping on the bandwagon when someone starts booing, there’s also a name for those fans: sheep. It only takes one person to herd the flock. Fans should at least attempt to put their bias aside and focus on the effort that all of the wrestlers put forth in their matches to entertain those very same fans.