Rumblings had been going around about whether WWE star Roman Reigns and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could face-off in this year’s WrestleMania, but a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer said the movie star has suggested he wouldn’t be ring ready in time for the April showdown.
Reigns addressed the speculation while on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week, acknowledging how “there’s been a huge buzz on that for a long time now.”
“But it’s really picked up in the past couple of years. I believe he just came out with a statement saying he’s not going to be ready in time, which that’s the face everyone’s making, like, ‘Hold on, this guy trains every single day. He’s huge,’” Reigns said to Fallon.
However, as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion noted, there’s a difference between physical appearance and the conditioning needed to compete.
“But to his defense, it’s one thing to train with weights, the bodybuilding, to look the part, but to be able to get in the ring and do a main event match, a championship match, an Undisputed WWE Championship match, it takes a lot of conditioning. It beats up your body,” Reigns explained. “So there’s more that goes into it than just training in the weight room.”
Fallon added, “It’s a different way to workout.”
Reigns responded, “It’s a professional athlete type of situation where you have to condition. He does two out of the three things perfectly. His nutrition and his weight training is on point, but you have to condition yourself. And, you gotta be ready to fall down.”
