Roman Reigns Says He’s Entering a “New Phase” of His Career

WWE held a Saturday Night Main Event themed house show event this past Saturday in Trenton, New Jersey. Following the Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre, Reigns gave a speech to the crowd stating that he was starting to enter a new phase of his career and hinted at possibly taking a break from wrestling.

“I’ve been around for a minute. Me and the Shield, we started in 2012 and we’ve been running this business for almost a decade, so it’s been very fortunate buddy. We were in Uniondale last night and now we made our trail back here, and now we head to Providence for 5 hours. Man, I can’t tell you that this can be a grueling schedule. Everybody back there, they bust their butts to do what we do, but we wouldn’t be able to do it without you (the audience). You give us the energy to allow us to kick out every single night, to put our bodies through this struggle, and do this thing. I think it goes without saying, the WWE Universe is the best fan base in the world of entertainment. I’ve been here many times for the last 10 years now and I’m starting to work in a new phase of my career, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be back here ever again. But hey, if that’s the case, I want to say thank you for all these years, for all the support, and for y’all showering up to see us do what we do. We appreciate y’all and we want y’all to get home safely. Thank you and have a good night.”

Fightful Select reported that the backstage reaction to Reigns’ speech was one of WWE officials not expecting Reigns to leave the company any time soon. One source spoken to stated that Reigns is still heavily figured into WWE’s creative plans for the “foreseeable future” and don’t see him actually leaving the company any time soon. Another source spoken to stated that Reigns has been “accommodated and incentivized” to keep WWE at the top of his priority list as they continue building their product around him.

It was reported that those spoken to stated that they feel Reigns might have been implying he would be lightening up his work schedule and working fewer house show events going forward.

It was also reported that backstage producers, staff, and high level WWE officials have not been recently informed of any upcoming extended absences for Reigns.

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com