4-time WWE Champion thinks Roman Reigns didn't deserve a push, but now he's "the best wrestler in the business"

Kurt Angle thinks Roman Reigns “probably didn’t deserve” his initial WWE push, but he believes the Universal Champion has now proven his doubters wrong.

Reigns was immediately presented as WWE’s next top star following his separation from fellow Shield members Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in June 2014. By March 2015, he had already won the Royal Rumble, main-evented WrestleMania, and become one of the most unpopular babyfaces in WWE history.

Angle, a four-time WWE Champion and 2017 Hall of Fame inductee, is widely regarded as the best technical wrestler of his generation. He said on The Player’s Experience that Reigns has overcome many obstacles to become the best wrestler in the world:

“I think what he did is he went through his lumps. In other words, the company was pushing him when he probably didn’t deserve it, but he stepped up to the challenge and he overcame it and he actually did better than everybody expected him to, and he became the best athlete in the business, the best wrestler in the business,” stated Angle. [11:34-11:53]

Reigns often received boos during his run as a top babyface between June 2014 and March 2020. After a five-month absence, he turned heel and aligned himself with Paul Heyman upon his return to WWE in August 2020.

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Roman Reigns is set to headline WrestleMania again

Roman Reigns main-evented WrestleMania 31 against Brock Lesnar before going on to face Triple H in the headlining match at WrestleMania 32. He featured in the main event with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 before taking on Lesnar again in a show-closing match at WrestleMania 34.

Last year, the former Shield member defeated both Daniel Bryan and Edge in the WrestleMania 37 main event to retain his Universal Championship.

Reigns is set to defend the title against Lesnar, the current WWE Champion, at WrestleMania 38. Unless either superstar loses their title before the show, both the Universal and WWE Championships are due to be on the line on Sunday, April 3.

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