"It kind of broke me down" – When WWE star made Roman Reigns cry in real life

On-screen, Roman Reigns portrays himself as one of the most confident WWE Superstars in history. Behind the scenes, the current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion has not always possessed the same level of belief as his on-screen persona.

Before moving to the main roster in 2012, Reigns spent two years in WWE's Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and NXT developmental systems. His cousins, Jimmy and Jey Uso, had already appeared on RAW and SmackDown by that point in their careers.

In a 2017 interview with CBS Sports, The Tribal Chief recalled a time when he and Jey Uso discussed the wrestling business:

"We were just kind of talking and stuff and he just laid it out there," Reigns said. "He put me in a situation. He was like, 'If you're about to win this and that, what would you do?' And I had no clue what I would do because I was just so green."

Jey Uso wanted Reigns to fantasy book his own FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship victory. Struggling to come up with ideas, the former football player became emotional and expressed concerns about his lack of wrestling knowledge:

"I just wasn't on that level with him, and it kind of broke me down because I felt like I wasn't going to learn fast enough and become what I should be and what my family needed me to be," Reigns continued. "I think the pressure and just the emotion of that made me crack that night."

Reigns held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton (aka Tyler Breeze) in developmental, but he never won the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.

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Roman Reigns overcame his WWE confidence issues

WWE's higher-ups moved Roman Reigns to the main roster in November 2012. He initially performed as a member of The Shield with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins before becoming a singles competitor in June 2014. Since then, he has established himself as one of WWE's star attractions.

Reigns added that he always had the passion to succeed, but it took time for him to grasp the wrestling industry:

"I didn't know what to do and it was so frustrating because I wanted to be the best. I want to be the absolute greatest to do that, and I had that mindset since day one. Like anybody who is attached to anything or has a deep passion for it, it can strike those nerves and that night it did."

A decade on from his emotional conversation with Jey Uso, Roman Reigns is now a six-time WrestleMania main-eventer. He is expected to headline WWE's biggest show of the year for the seventh time at WrestleMania 39.

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