Ariel Helwani meets: Roman Reigns | An explosive interview covering John Cena, The Rock and CM Punk

Watch WWE #SummerSlam on BT Sport Box Office, Saturday, August 21st as Roman Reigns faces John Cena in Las Vegas.
Acclaimed combat sport journalist Ariel Helwani starts his BT Sport WWE career with a candid interview with Roman Reigns. The hottest start in pro-wrestling discusses his career trajectory, changing character and moving the needle in his most revealing interview to date.
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[@23jrza]

It’s crazy watching this over a year later and hearing Roman mention Sammy as a guy who just needs a little extra something to really be a top level guy. And now he’s in the bloodline and doing the best work of his career.

[@2pock]

Where did he mention that?

[@DuBrolyMusic]

​@@2pock In the interview

[@brigittemalibert6242]

YEP. Has been a rio

[@randysingh9334]

35:51 Roman talks about potentially working with Sami Zayn. This is all before Sami was in the Bloodline.

[@willytheklits]

the only timestamp we all cares about

[@jsn316]

These interviews are really great, and I love the blurring of lines between promo and reality. And, to Roman’s credit in this interview, he does it seamlessly.

[@ajstewart5127]

The way thay Román stays in his character is perfect. Acknowledge him!!

[@leejohnston7121]

Sign of a true pro, staying true to the character. Big up Roman !

[@Kayfabe-226]

Exactly...

[@pricey6184]

BT did a good job signing Ariel he has very good interviews

[@EspacioNX]

My man Heelwani brining out the best of Roman Reigns, firing on all cylinders .. what an awesome interview!! 🔥😄

[@-Alpeter]

@@1mehdifaraji nobody asked troll.

[@ajstewart5127]

Roman literally lives his character he is the head of the table in and out!!!

[@DayZElitist]

Acknowledge him!!!

[@MattDoesLife539]

Roman is the only true mega heel in the social media era, reminds me of Undertaker, who NEVER broke character in any interviews.

[@amit6844]

Roman has improved a lot

[@philipphilip5472]

Ariel Helwani is the best sports interviewer ever... thanks to BT sport

[@AndrewO11]

So damn happy and excited for helwani!

[@alternativesport3189]

Top class interview here! Need More Helwani with the WWE superstars!

[@LordofWrestlingYT]

Ariel and the head of the table, let's go. This is going to be a great weekend for Wrestling fans.

[@robertevans5205]

This was a epic interview believe that

[@davidstone7731]

WWE, Btsport, MMA hour, substack, Boxing guest interviewer, Spotify podcast........Ariel Helwani is a busy busy man!! Congratulation Ariel!!

[@gamsts]

Heelwani is the best man. This week has been a treat. A special treat.

[@volcano9574]

Very well spoken Roman, this video was a great listen , thanks for the advice 💪🏻

[@warsaw8149]

Good to see Ariel on BT in the UK.

[@choolakejinendra9652]

Keep this WWE interviews coming man. Top notch

[@dtruth5769]

HARDEST WORKING MAN IN WRESTLING. HE SHOULD BE IN THE DC UNIVERSE OR AN AVENGER.

[@r_a_w_g_e_r]

He wrestles like 10 times a year now lmfao

[@sliii9163]

Ariel, fantastic interview. That’s why your #1!!!!!!!! Les goooooo!!!!!!!!

[@achungtagru499]

This interview is so good.

[@ianomachino6233]

Ariel covering MMA and Pro Wrestling, is ours and his dream come true...

[@ShahPhilLeotardo]

Not a real sport

[@jackhughes7637]

@@ShahPhilLeotardo Who cares?

[@trainerdeano]

@@jackhughes7637 exactly, by that logic, they won't even be watching movies

[@TheDemonCaine]

@@ShahPhilLeotardo Only somebody who didn't watch the interview would say that lol.

[@alfa01spotivo]

@@ShahPhilLeotardo its harder than any sport

[@MafiaOnYourCase]

Independent Ariel is absolutely killing it. Great get by BT Sport.

[@maxclay36]

Roman is a drilla since he turned heel, face of pro wrestling right there

[@matthewchristie2186]

Kenny Omega brother....unfortunately he lost one of his Belts to Christian who's just become a grand Slam Winner with all the title belts won now

[@matthewchristie2186]

I just can't watch WWE now it's so cringe if it's not NXT or NXT UK it almost feels way to phoney even for WWE standards

[@scotspurs100]

Face of Pro wrestling????? In your and Romans dreams. ROFL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@kelancameron1625]

@@matthewchristie2186 who

[@kelancameron1625]

@@scotspurs100 Easily the face of pro wrestling (active)

[@pprotectas8423]

Independent Helwani is all over the place! 💪👌

[@mariavictoriaabanes1881]

I can only say Roman Reigns he did the best in his character being a heel. It's really awesome. for all history of Wwe smackdown is the best wrestling show ever because of the tribal chief 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 everyweek everybody awaited for his appearance. He deserve the universal tittle. Roman Reigns is Roman Reings. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@pseudochef07]

Roman is spot on with Big E, showing flashes of talent, charisma, and in-ring brilliance as an overall performer. I wouldn’t be surprised if once he is able to unleash and take the training wheels off. He will be a huge star in the very near future. He is Mr. MITB right now and once he gets to successfully cash that in, that (MITB) rocket he got strapped on him will take off and so will his career.

[@kevinkelly1529]

I doubt it.

[@heyyoitsmebrian]

well we all saw how that turned out ... and yes he was injured but before the injury they took the title off of him and acted like he never had it to begin with

[@shaun_holkko]

Ariel is one of the best interviewers in the business.

[@jimmyc3786]

Cm Punk remarks around 37:30

[@Mathiu_Truhile]

Get him Roman, I'm watching Summer Slam right now.

[@anu9962]

Roman acting as negative character in wwe but out side he is a legendary good person

[@rodycaz8984]

Best wrestler in the world right now. The storytelling in his matches is fantastic.

[@rodycaz8984]

@ Clueless smark.

[@michaelnewton1332]

Put the crack pipe down, please.

[@rodycaz8984]

@@michaelnewton1332 I don't care if what I'm saying hurts your feelings, smark.

[@richardkennedy7941]

WWE is horrendous compared to AEW, only good thing about WWE at the moment is RKBro the rest is terrible

[@headofthetable7379]

@@richardkennedy7941 plus storytelling is better than wrestling half the time 🤦‍♂️

[@ptyten9718]

Roman's been at best in the world levels for a long time now, the heel turn has been incredible.

[@JJ17PlaysFM]

Not even close

[@Jeff_Pryce]

A few months isn’t a long time.

[@nouser4413]

@@JJ17PlaysFM this heel run has been the best

[@1KQ_]

@@nouser4413 it's been the best heel run of the year. No one comes close, Lashley Is bland and Omega is cringe. Roman Reigns is a man's man and no one is on his level right now and that's coming from a guy who HATED him a couple years ago

[@kushsmoke273]

Best in the world??? Cena: hold my promo & inring skills.

[@dereed5222]

Lol all the AEW fans mad over this. What Roman said about Punk & Moxley was from his “Tribal Chief” persona. It’s a work, relax.

[@AcknowledgeMeKid]

Everything true that Roman said, Thk U My Tribal Chief 😎

[@Andrew-xt8lz]

My boy Ariel doing his thing 🥲

[@Allah.Soldier]

People like that get slapped- nick Diaz

[@muhammedalwadaf7603]

His entring music is the greatest one I've ever heard. his entring music makes me feel greatness.

[@deezy5827]

Entrance*

[@wadeendris8238]

The fans kinda get to know roman better as a human being

[@ShaunInce123]

It's funny seeing people mad about the CM Punk comment, even though there's data that shows that CM Punk didn't move the needle at all. Most of the PPV's he main evented prior to him losing the title in 2013, did worse than previous years. Ratings fell during that time. The guy bitched about not getting a main event spot as Wrestlemania, yet he didn't bring any new viewers that would warrant that top position. They wouldn't have needed Rock to come back to boost the ratings & PPV buys if Punk was a draw.

[@WrestlingIsReal649]

U can say the same thing about Roman but at least with punk when he left he took the rating with him 😭😭😭

[@WrestlingIsReal649]

They literally had cena come back because of raw and smackdown rating

[@syedriswi899]

@@coldevans5583 star power?? Punk is only famous and over inside wrestling community outside of that roman is way more popular and famous then cm punk....

[@itsX2024]

Rating's have been on a constant decline since 2001. NOBODY in the last 20 years has been a needle mover. Not Punk, Cena, Roman, Goldberg or Lesnar.

[@gatootakufilms5629]

Cm punk= bitching

[@Spongebob-gt7rg]

From his expressions The most fun he had as a wrestler was the days on SHIELD

[@ammar675]

He's having more fun now cuz he's heel

[@andy-uj3de]

Always liked roman reigns his a really hard worker the shield and wyatt family got me back into wrestling and have been watching his career to this day just such a shame that bray wyatt never had the chance even after the creative genuine mind he has

[@The.Vintage]

Great interview, Roman dropping some knowledge.

[@mariakhalid5006]

i liked cena when i was youn but nobody above Roman Reigns for me. i love this guy and the unnecessary hate towards him always made me love him even more.

[@R33CE]

rah the fact that the bookshelf isnt even real is kind of upsetting ngl

[@spacemankad2108]

Face of Pro Wrestling at the moment...for all the snowflakes who talk about kenny omega...this is how a champion in general must be...heel or face...kenny is nowhere near the charisma or the character that roman has elevated himself to.

[@TheTennesseeFistMachine]

@@lolhdhdhsvsgsi 🤡

[@whyareyoureadingthiis886]

@@lolhdhdhsvsgsi Only to marks and people who don’t get what wrestling is actually about…

[@albondeb3364]

THIS INTERVIEW IS AWESOME

[@bradswint3035]

Ariel excellent job MMA and some pro wrestling . Great interviews all week

[@agyeimaxwell.]

Much love from Ghana.

[@ranganathan223]

Acknowledge the Head Of The Table.

[@AcknowledgeMeKid]

Roman's absolutely right, Punk never respected The WWE, nor HHH and Vince that's why He never got The Push He wanted and that's why Rock and Cena were always a Huge Step above Him. Much Respect and Love to My Tribal Chief 💯💯👑💯💯.

[@yr9858]

Can't belive colby stays more in character than wwe guys

[@IAmRockReigns]

Roman was staying in character quite often, like how he mentioned being the head of the table, but Helwani continued to take it OOC.

[@philiposbrooks3337]

Roman Reigns. The Rock’s cousin. Couldn’t get over at the Rumble when the Rock raised his hand. In fact, they were booing The Rock. He had 5 WM main event pushes and even beat Taker…He still wasn’t getting over. Being a product of nepotism and corporate greed, Roman Reigns doesn’t have the right to say CM Punk was never over when CM Punk debuts in AEW and makes grown men cry out of pure joy.

[@starmovies4580]

Cm punk is not a Cena Rock is above to any wrestler not even close

[@philiposbrooks3337]

@@starmovies4580 Correct. CM Punk doesn’t get booed in his own home town, unlike Cena. The Rock is not even a wrestler at this point…

[@aksham7233]

Hey BT pls keep Time stamps

[@dotpngpic]

Great interview

[@danw4490]

Our tribal chief. He's the top guy in wrestling and rightfully so.

[@daehkidreturns]

People chant CM Punk during your matches

[@Rohit-ez7pf]

someone's mad

[@wasifshaffaq]

@@Rohit-ez7pf lmfao i know right some people just can't stand the fact he's doing good for himself

[@nedflandershome]

It is true

[@Ali_Raza808]

@Snake Bite Don't make me laugh, he has more fans worldwide than spunk.

[@Ali_Raza808]

@Snake Bite yes, he has millions of fans worldwide including me, nobody knows about punk where I live.

[@mrshezza5028]

Wow roman has certainly triggered a lot of marks 🤣

[@DADON99]

@Eteuati S bro all of the hate Roman has been getting for the past 5 years are from those neckbeards. Roman has always been over with the general audience

[@alexpolanco7885]

Man, the Punk marks are literally crying lmao

[@ChrizzyYeahh]

CM punk is definitely not close to John Cena when it comes to worldwide popularity but he was very over amongst pro wrestling fans. And when it comes to moving the needle like The Rock even John Cena can't do that. And no I'm not a die hard CM Punk fan I'm just stating facts.

[@dukeofmilan2814]

@@ChrizzyYeahh lame facts :) lame comment 🙂.

[@tylangibbs3381]

The CM Punk stans are so defensive and feel like they finally have a leg to stand on now that he's found a company to agree to his price point. But Roman wasn't wrong. Punk's AEW debut pop was historic but that was his company debut. Roman saying move the needle is about maintaining the buzz. Punk had the WWE title for 400+ days and his drawing numbers during that period were far from historic. He's a genius on the mic but in the ring he's not very exciting at all.

[@theuniverse7227]

Helwani is the best in the business

[@itsxavier6173]

Ariel will always be here whether we like it or not

[@anasshahid224]

Incredible interview as always Ariel, Roman Reigns is the best 🙌😃

[@ThaTruth223]

roman hurt a lot of the neckbeards feelings, and i love it

[@hs4a085]

Lol hell yeah

[@khizar5474]

If someone can label out the important parts of the vid. It’d be appreciated

[@faithless-games3893]

I will say, the reason his promos are entertaining af is cos they aren't scripted!!

[@hs4a085]

Yup

[@nunu850]

Damn Roman got cm punk fans mad mad today😂😂

[@skepticsphere5930]

nah, cm punk is in his head rent free. Roman knows he killed the ratings once punk left. Nice projection tho

[@WrestlingIsReal649]

Punk is still more than Roman well ever be and he hasn’t wrestled for 7 years so idk what he talking about 😭😭😭

[@philkennedy5758]

@@WrestlingIsReal649 i said it before and I'll say it again. Roman can get as heelish as he wants, he can main event as many ppvs as he is booked to, but he will never ever ever ever ever ever infinity reach the level of cm punk. Not now, not ever

[@holzman00]

Not really. It’s pathetic on WWE’s part to take lil shots at him while also pretending like they don’t care. They’re so salty and it shows.

[@emilyjones212]

the funny thing about him making those comments is the same can be said about him. even with everything being thrown at him he still can barely move the needle smackdown still struggles draw more then 2 million viwers and arguably they should be drawing more since they are on a bigger network yet they dont even with roman. people can downplay punk all they want but somethings gotta be said about the fact that even after years of not being in a wrestling ring the fact that punk has still remained as relevant and as over as he has without doing a thing thats gotta mean something right and thats without having every legend in the book thrown at him.

[@peoplearestupid4276]

When he’s not doing interviews n trolling Dana white with dumb questions n he’s actually fun to watch.

[@JDiaz94]

NOONE DOES IT BETTER THAN ARIEL HELWANI

[@v2btrthnu24]

All Hail the Tribal Chief!

[@T-800skynett]

Who tf is John Cena? I only know John China

[@NeverTrustaSocialist]

👏👏

[@mustaquimahmedtanbeer2437]

It's Jang xina.

[@mahadsudi6863]

Much like “John Xena”

[@ed3124]

Ariel really is the 🐐

[@ramainmcfarlane7828]

The WWE fans treat Ariel better than the MMA fans lol I mean look at these comments

[@tollostollosy8662]

My favorites Ramon

[@JagUriel]

Let's GO!!! The 👃🏾 Knows! 💪🏾👊🏾

[@playmaker4700]

Fun fact：Roman never lost at Summerslam and Hell in the Cell

[@johncenastatus2791]

I love John cena 🔥💪😍❤️

[@pseudochef07]

Keep killing the game, Roman!

[@michaelmyers4053]

Turning heel was the best thing for him because when he goes face again he will get the credit he deserves from the fans that didn't like him before

[@SuperGDP]

Them Samoans make great heels, come to think of it seems like they were mostly all related lol

[@BarbaraBoronda]

Joe and his family are great and the best people to know

[@kenancappin5037]

he just assuming that punk will be a part timer 😂 the man is 42 not 70

[@wasifshaffaq]

lmfao cm punk is gonna be a part timer and i'm not saying that to support roman but because he cut a deal with aew to make apparencies and do a couple of matches per year.

[@chriscollins3225]

@@wasifshaffaq he’s stated he’s full time fool

[@wasifshaffaq]

@@chriscollins3225 yh your right I had to recheck my facts My bad I'm sorry

[@jamarithedripking]

Roman reigns 🔥🔥🔥

[@hocuspocustherespizzaonurf7874]

I forgot Ariel works for BT Sports now.

[@toxiciwctweets5191]

I love Roman , but that CM PUNK comment didn't age well 😂

[@HeadShotBoy_123]

Yeah cm punk is number #1 trending on Twitter and KZbin

[@Iliketoeatallday]

@@HeadShotBoy_123 and nearly doubled Rampage ratings

[@167kinggam]

It did age well since summerslam was the most viewed and highest grossing in history. Clearly roman knows his worth.

[@HeadShotBoy_123]

@@167kinggam your point isn't about cm punk

[@ammar675]

@@Iliketoeatallday Stats?

[@embracethevision2162]

NOW THE WHOLE WORLD CAN ACKNOWLEDGE ME

[@danielg4368]

Look at this. We want ariel. We got ariel.

[@ajstewart5127]

Great work of Ariel Helwani he make we all hear about what we all did want to hear about!!!!

[@tonybayarea]

No matter what Roman does as in Individual wrestler, will always remember him as being a part of the best tag-team of All-Time. The Shield.

[@domingorubies656]

Shield ‘s good but the all time best is Legion of Doom, only team to win World Titles in All Big Three WWF , WCW , AWA plus New Japan and All Japan.

[@maharajar376]

Roman Reigns great natural athlete like The Rock

[@TheDemonCaine]

Roman putting over Sami was so awesome of him.

[@wasifshaffaq]

i know right even roman sees the enormous talent in sami all we need a very good storyline and sami as a babyface and i promise he's knock it out of the park.

[@richard612]

I also agree with Roman, cos Sami really had true potential as major star.

[@TheDemonCaine]

@@richard612 He still has what it takes to reach the top.

[@AjayThakur-kn7un]

Where can we see cena

[@tech1238]

@3:19 When the camera switches back to Ariel ☺️😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@niceandflyy]

Honestly looking at it cena vs Roman should have been at wrestlemania

[@nedflandershome]

Dude, punk's return pop was sooooo loud, neither of current wwe roster can even dream about

[@ammar675]

It was in chicago. Also. I've heard louder pops. It was a return. Roman is there every night. Use your head.

[@politicalgamer9956]

Punk wasn’t as over? Lmao. Punk was outselling everyone in merch. Roman mad cause his cousin was called out and isn’t and never will be as over as Punk.

[@markcollins6635]

Punk is about to be number 1 merc seller in the world, right now. But he's not as over as John Cena.

[@politicalgamer9956]

@@markcollins6635 thats highly arguable

[@aaronnunya]

@@markcollins6635 He just crashed 2 sites because of how many people were buying his merch.

[@markcollins6635]

@@aaronnunya I expect the next PPV to pass 150k as well, might even get close to 200k, which is why they paid for Punk, the merc pays for Punk.

[@TheDemonCaine]

Ooh damn Big E getting called out by Roman.

[@LoadingNPC04]

Heelwaniiiiii 🐐

[@ahmadrahees1409]

roman reigns is my traibel chief

[@rainman42]

Its cool that Ariel does some wrestlimg too...i feel DC should join him cause isnt he a big fan too?

[@alexpolanco7885]

He is

[@AbzKfc]

Wwe need to sign up Ariel, I feel like he will be a dope commentator

[@curryman3628]

They can't pay him enough for it

[@AbzKfc]

@@curryman3628 they don’t need to pay him millions. I feel like he would be a good addition in the current wwe era

[@My2cents.]

Narrative of Self is the result of a feedback loop between “Separate Self” & Cosmos🎈

[@MrSelfDestruct88]

Lol

[@Paul-ts5qw]

Who left the gate open at the goofy farm.