Steve Austin was a guest on the most recent episode of 'Off The Board' with Jimmy Traina, promoting the upcoming season of Broken Skull Challenge. But Stone Cold also found time to comment on one of the most beloved and most be-hated superstars of the modern era: Roman Reigns.
Austin thinks it would be foolish to "arbitrarily" turn Roman heel, but that doesn't mean his current "pseudo-babyface-with-a-superiority-complex" character shouldn't evolve over the next few years, even as Reigns, the performer, continues to learn more about the business. Austin also says that Roman "would've thrived in the Attitude Era."
"I think Roman is a star and I think WWE needs to continue to go down the path they're going with him. They don't need to flip him heel just arbitrarily to make the fans happy... I think Roman is a star. Now with that being said, is there still room for him to learn and grow? Oh, hell yeah. By leaps and bounds. He's nowhere near where he will be in three or four years. But at this point in his career, with a few not-so-great booking ideas, but also a learning curve on his part, he is where he's at and he's a top guy on that roster and he's still gonna keep improving and he has to because he's not a seasoned veteran.
"You put that guy in that line up during the Attitude Era, with that roster of Hall of Famers, guys that have yet to be in the Hall of Fame, holy smokes, I think the guy could've been lights out because the competition was so hot, heavy, and fierce. It was sink- or-swim. You got a bunch of guys out there with knives and you get in the way and they will cut you, so, I think he would've thrived in the Attitude Era and right now, just with his looks, his size, his physicality, he's gonna be just fine and he's gonna be a big star."
Roman Reigns appears primed to start a feud with another controversial superstar, John Cena, who has just moved to RAW after over a year on SmackDown.
You can read a write up of the interview at Sports Illustrated, or listen to the podcast at this link.
