Roman Reigns Says He Doesn't Worry About Fan Backlash - An Excellent Audio Interview Inside

Birthdate: 05/25/1985 (age 29) Height: 6'3" Weight: 265 Ib A member of the Anoa'i family, a renowned Samoa...

Roman Reigns spoke with Sam Roberts last weekend before the Royal Rumble. Check out the highlights…

On fans criticizing him for being shoved down their throats: “I’m aware of all of these things. You have to look at it through many different perspectives. For me, as a provider and as a man, I have a responsibility to provide. I can’t look at it like and get down on ‘oh, this is what they’re thinking and this is what they’re saying.’ To be honest I really don’t care. I can only do my thing and do the best that I can. The majority of critics, I would say, are people who have no clue what they’re talking about and have never been in a wrestling ring. They’ve never been a public speaker. They wouldn’t even know how to lock up with me if I allowed them to. If I gave them the opportunity to lock up and tangle with me in the ring, they would have no clue what to do so for them to critique or ever say anything about any performer is asinine and just blows my mind.”

On WWE’s booking of him: “It’s one of those situations where obviously the company is gonna do what the company does and the fans are definitely gonna do what they do. That’s what’s so great. The fans have to realize that as opinionated as y’all are in the way you want it, the company is the same way and they’re gonna do what they wanna do…at the end of the day I’m just a guy getting rich.”

On his paying attention to criticism: “I see all of my criticism. I’m in a position now that I get a ton of love which is great and a ton of criticism which is great. As long as I’m in people’s mouths that’s all that matters to me. As long as people are talking about me…The majority of the time…the people that are critiquing and bashing me, they’re making me more relevant, I would think. If you didn’t want me around then just don’t talk about me and try and make it silent out there. That’s not the case [because] they make it even more overwhelming. You know, noise is noise. That’s the thing.”

Listen To An Excellent Interview With Jim Ross Discussing Russo & McMahon, More

Birthdate: 08/24/1945 (age 69) Height: 6'2" Weight: 248 Ib Vince McMahon is credited with being the greate...

Jim Ross did a new interview with Ring Rust Radio. Check out the highlights and the interview below:

On if his perspective on the wrestling business has changed: “Well, I don’t watch as much or religiously as I used to. I’m more dependent now on my DVR rather than watching live. I try to watch as much as I feel I need to so I can maintain my accuracy and have a valid opinion for my podcast. I feel obligated to watch as much product as I can so that the Ross Report is accurate and I can give valid opinions on things I have seen. If I told you I watch just as much as I always did and was just as excited as I was when I was working in it, I would be less then truthful. I miss game day and a lot of my friends, the adrenaline rush with a live crowd. I certainly do not miss the travel in a non-seasonal business. It’s a mixed bag. I’m still a fan. I’m not bitter or angry; just busy. I just don’t have the time to make sure I’m watching a show live like I probably would when I was working in WWE.”

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On which signing he’s most proud of: “Well, it’s a difficult question. You’re essentially asking someone to select their favorite child. I think the biggest steal that we got was signing Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince didn’t really have any familiarity with him, but I did when we worked together at WCW. When he was available and healthy after a short run in ECW,I thought that was a big get and a steal. The biggest overachiever I hired was Mick Foley. He was another guyWWE did not want. I finally through dog named salesmanship, convinced Vince to give him a try. We were running out of heels for Undertaker to work with at the time. It’s very challenging when you have a seven foot babyface to selectively match him up with heels to work with. Mick and Undertaker knew each other from previous promotions. Undertaker thought it was a good idea to bring Mick in.

“The guy that’s gone on to obviously become the biggest star of the group as it relates to his movie work and notoriety around the world is Dwayne Johnson. We had a good run there with him. Several classes were good. I saw Heyman talk about the class of 2002 on Raw Monday and that was one of our better groups with Batista,Cena, Orton and Brock. I pride myself in the fact that we were diligent in finding people, recruiting and coaching up people. We had a great staff with great instructors and great scouts. It was a total team effort. I felt very honored that I got to facilitate and open the door for some of those guys to live their dreams. It was a lot of fun.”

Brandon Galvin: You’ve always been credited with having a fantastic eye for talent and your track record in that role speaks for itself. I’m sure you can understand how confusing it is for fans to hear people in a company talking about wrestlers like Steve Austin, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and other fan-favorites not being seen as top-tier talents. Is it possible for you to give us some insight into the decision-making of a company and why a wrestler fans deem as a top-tier talent may not be viewed in the same light?

On how talent that fans are getting behind may not be seen as top-tier talent: “Well, it’s real difficult for me to relate to management now since I’m long gone from the WWE. I don’t know how they manage their day-to-day or how their meetings are. I had a very unique relationship with Vince back when I was hiring talent. I was talking to J.J. Dillon, who is coming up on my podcast, he would get tapes and recommendations from talent, but he always had to go through Vince. When I took over for J.J., Vince wanted me to retool and redesign the talent relations department. One of the things I had to have to make it better, in my opinion, was his trust. That my judgment and seeing talents was viable. I hired talents that Vince had never seen and he trusted me. They were my responsibility and they were on my watch. I can’t really tell you what’s going on there now. You gotta believe that WWE listens. They don’t do my ideas so they don’t listen. Well, we don’t know what they are planning next month, week, Monday, Sunday, well I don’t anyways.

“At the end of the day, the cream will rise to the top. The fans will steer the course and support their favorites. The...