Roman Reigns makes the media rounds ahead of WWE SummerSlam.
This coming Saturday at SummerSlam, Roman Reigns will be defending the Universal Championship against John Cena. Reigns has been champion since the Payback pay-per-view which took place last year at the end of August. Alongside him for his current run are Jimmy and Jey Uso who are the reigning SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
In early July, Jimmy Uso was arrested for a DUI in Florida. He was driving with a BAC of .205. Uso was not taken off TV and several weeks later, he and Jey captured the tag titles. Reigns was asked about the incident during an interview with the New York Post. He said he nor his family condone the actions of Jimmy, but everyone is human and makes mistakes. Here’s an excerpt from the article followed by a direct quote:
Reigns said he loves his family but doesn’t ‘condone that kind of behavior or decision-making.’ He called it ‘not a great light to be shining’ on his family or WWE. Reigns chose to handle the situation in a positive way. He called the first conversation with Jimmy a ‘mental checkup’ to make sure he was OK.
We’re all human, we’re all cynics, we all make mistakes. Instead of what some people might feel you should give up on somebody or maybe turn your back on that type of behavior, that’s one way to do it. But I don’t think that’s the way to push through and gain experience or make progressive movements of becoming a better man or a better human. So for me, it was diving into it with great attention, great love and very thorough communication to make sure my family is continually bettering themselves and putting themselves in a position to make better decisions.
Former two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi has been moved over to the SmackDown brand once again. Reigns touched on the idea of Naomi being added to the ‘Bloodine’ story and feels she can be put in a good position.
I do believe if she was put in that position, coupled with all of us surrounding her along with Paul Heyman and the rest of our creative brainstorming system that we have and how we craft our narratives, I think we could put her in a good position. It’s just not something we’ve had time to come up with a thorough game plan. If we did, I think she’s definitely a superstar who could step up and take advantage of it.
There are currently eight matches announced for SummerSlam in Las Vegas and here’s the lineup:
- Raw Women’s Championship — Triple-Threat Match: Nikki A.S.H. (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
- WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. John Cena
- WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) vs. Goldberg
- SmackDown Tag Team Championships: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) (c) vs. Dominik & Rey Mysterio
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Sasha Banks
- Edge vs. Seth Rollins
- WWE United States Championship: Sheamus (c) vs. Damian Priest
- Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal (w/ Veer & Shanky)
