Roman Reigns has revealed that he recently signed a new WWE contract, while explaining his decision to reduce his schedule.
At WrestleMania 38 Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to become Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Since then, Reigns has continued to stand tall over the entire WWE roster, as his World Championship reign has now surpassed 700 days making it one of the longest in the modern era.
Around this time, the Tribal Chief also significantly reduced his schedule. The star no longer appears on every episode of SmackDown and every Premium Live Event, while rarely wrestles on live events.
Some had wondered whether this schedule was a sign that Reigns would be leaving the company altogether. However, it appears that the Head of the Table will be sticking around for at least a little while longer.
During an appearance on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina, Reigns confirmed that he had recently signed a new contract.
Yeah, I don’t really like to give specifics… especially….there are timelines, different ways to play with these things.”
When asked about his reduced schedule, Reigns laid bare the commitment it takes to be a top name in WWE, explaining that he chose to step back to spend more time with his young children.
The main thing is, when you’ve been on the road for almost ten years straight, and someone who has been at the highest level, the main event level, I’ve ran a full schedule for a long time. Even before we went to FOX, it changed to where it was SmackDown on Friday, two live events on Saturday and Sunday, and the occasional Monday Night Raw.
That’s a four-night schedule, which isn’t as bad as it used to be. We used to do Friday, Saturday, Sunday live events, Monday Night Raw, tape SmackDown on Tuesday. We were only getting a day and a half. This is before private travel, buses, and all that. Fly out Wednesday morning, get half of Wednesday, you get home and you’re tired. Half of Wednesday, then you have Thursday and are trying to handle personal life and family and everything that comes with that. Then you’re back out on Friday.
For me, it was trying to balance everything. Someone who has five children, we’re in a critical portion of their lives where they are so young and this is where we build these relationships and bonds and they get to know who their dad is. For me, it was extremely important that I can build my fatherhood as the priority and the number one hat that I wear. In WWE, Vince (McMahon) and everybody was very good about accommodating that and making sure to keep me in the WWE family.”
Continuing on, the star broke down that while he may not appear on every major event, for the ones where he does appear, he will always be present to build the story and the match.
“The main thing is, no, we’re not going to be on every single pay-per-view, but anything that I am on, which will be all the major ones and a couple of the other ones that fall in-between the big four and the Saudis. I’ll always support those with TV to build the story and rivalry going forward. Compared to what I did, technically, compared to a full-time, on everything, you only get a day and a half a week, yeah, it’s part-time compared to what I usually run.
I’m an annual character on WWE television. It’s done well so far. The reactions, it makes everything feel more special if you’re not as attainable or available. It puts a little mystique around you. Pretty much all of the houses have done well. The actual reaction, the decibel level is still very high. I couldn’t have planned for it to go any better. Hopefully, we’ll continue to build that.
I’ve done it to where, I could do it every single week, that’s no problem. At the same time, if the quality is high, the quantity doesn’t have to be crazy.”
Roman Reigns will be back in action at Clash At The Castle on September 3rd when he defends his prized championships against Drew McIntyre.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.