Roman Reigns says that if he could go back to the start of his first WWE main-event push, he would have pushed back more often on the promos and finishes he was handed. Speaking in a new interview with Sam Roberts, Reigns said he should have said no more frequently early in his career, and acknowledged that nearly 12 years later he is still tied to a line he was given during that period: “sufferin’ succotash.”
The remarks came amid a broader conversation about Reigns’ legacy, a topic that has generated online discourse in recent weeks, reportedly sparked in part by commentary from Conrad Thompson. Addressing the discussion directly, Reigns leaned on hard numbers rather than nostalgia, telling Roberts that metrics matter in evaluating a performer’s drawing power and cultural footprint.
As part of that argument, Reigns said his “Big Dog” persona moved more merchandise than LA Knight currently does. The comparison places two of WWE’s most prominent merchandise-driven characters side by side, with Reigns pointing to sales figures as evidence of his standing rather than relying solely on championship reigns or match history.
Reigns’ “Big Dog” nickname and persona became central to his identity during his lengthy run as a top WWE star, a period that included an extended world title reign as part of the Bloodline storyline. LA Knight, by contrast, has built his recent momentum on a grassroots-style connection with fans and consistent merchandise sales of his own, making him a natural point of comparison when discussing current box-office and retail drawing power in WWE.
Reigns’ comments tie together two separate threads from the same interview: a reflective look back at creative decisions he wishes he had resisted early in his main-event push, and a present-day defense of his standing in the company using concrete sales data. Neither Reigns nor the reports specify further detail on which particular promos or finishes he was referencing from his early run, nor do they provide exact merchandise figures for either performer.
