Ricky Steamboat has high praise for Roman Reigns

Ricky Steamboat says he always saw big things for Roman Reigns.

The Dragon discussed Reigns during a recent interview with WrestleBinge, where he recalled his days as a coach with FCW and getting an early look at the future Tribal Chief. Steamboat praises Reigns for living up to his expectations as he always knew he would be world champion material. Highlights from the interview are below.

How Reigns never wanted to use The Rock to get ahead:

Roman was the kind of guy that would open up and try and do anything to get better. He didn’t want to be the shadow of [his real-life cousin] The Rock. He didn’t want that. And he had a Hollywood, movie star face, and that was a big plus right there for the girls. But he’s a very tight family man with his family and his kids, very tight.

Says Reigns struggled early with in-ring psychology:

That took a little extra time with Roman. I will say definitely he wasn’t the type of guy that said, ‘It’s either my way or no way.’ That’s definitely not Roman. He would ask you more so he would understand better.

Says he felt Reigns always had what it takes to become a world champion:

I just thought he was a super guy and I felt that he had a place with the company and he had everything that it would take to be a World Champion and represent the company.